Assignment 1b

Paulo Freire grew up in the Northeast of Brazil where he his life was influenced his life’s work. He was forced to know hunger and poverty at a young age, when the world economy crisis fell. Because Paulo Freire lived among the pour he gained a deep understanding of the importance of education to all people. He became an educator, as a grammar teacher while in high school, where he strived to understand students. Paulo Freire met his wife Elza Maia Costa de Oliveira who also was an elementary school teacher and who was a great strength to him, in his life. In addition, in 1962 Freire’s method of teaching was experimented on 300 farm workers who were taught to read and write in only 45 days, which caused the government at that time to approve thousands of culture circles to be set up all over Brazil, helping people to read and write. However, the military coup of 1964 hated the work, so the work was stopped and it changed Freire’s life.

In June 1964, Paulo Freire was imprisoned in Brazil for 70 days as a traitor, just because of helping people to read and write. Freire lived in Chile for five years working in the Christian Democratic, the Agrarian Reform Movement. Moreover, in 1967 he published his first book, “Education as the Practice of Freedom,” which brought him a position as a visiting professor at Harvard in 1969. In 1968, he wrote his famous “Pedagogy of the Oppressed.” He wrote it only in Spanish and English, not in his Brazil tongue. Freire understood the importance of the knowledge to read and write, (for without knowledge and the understanding of knowledge, people, especially the poor were doomed to live in the dark and not receive an education.

Freire has been recognized for his profound impact on education in thought and practice. He received numerous awards including honorary doctorates, the king Balduin Prize for International development and the prize for an outstanding Christian Educator in 1985 with his wife Elza, and the UNESCO prize for Education for Peace.
Freire’s wife Elza died in 1986 and he remarried to Ana Maria Araujo Freire. Paulo Freire died on May 2, 1997 from heart failure at the age of 75 and his wife Ana Maria continues with her own educational work. People who encountered Freire though his deep respect because of his intellectual writings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Freire
http://dmnierweber.iweb.bsu.edu/teachingguide/Freire%20bio.html
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Wz5y2V1af0&feature=related