Paulo Freire's last work published during his lifetime, Pedagogy of Autonomy is a concise book, short in pages and rich in lessons. Here, Paulo Freire defends thought, praises freedom, preaches love, and extols authenticity. He teaches each person to Be More.
Pedagogy of Autonomy reaffirms Paulo Freire's profound ethical commitment to defending a dignified existence. In this, his last book published during his lifetime, in 1996, the educator delves deeper into his ethical theory of a life focused on freedom, truth, and the authenticity of individuals, opposing the logic of capital. Drawing on revolutionary love and critical rigor, he reflects on what the act of teaching demands of both educators and students.
This book transcends the classroom experience and, like the great educator that he is, Paulo Freire invites us to become better, more autonomous human beings, to build a more just, ethical, and democratic society, in which everyone has opportunities. In this, one of his most important books, the educator teaches us how to position ourselves with respect, critical curiosity, and beauty, recognizing ourselves as social and historical beings, capable of transforming the reality in which we live. To achieve this, we must be open to knowing the world and its beings, without any form of discrimination, considering ethics and coexistence in society, and aware that, with joy and hope, change is possible.
A completely necessary book that motivates us to continue resisting in difficult times.
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In 1963, in Angicos, in the interior of Rio Grande do Norte, three hundred rural workers were taught to read and write in just 40 hours using the method proposed by Paulo Freire. This was the result of the pilot project of what would become the National Literacy Program under the government of João Goulart, the president who would later be deposed in March 1964. In October of that same year, Freire left Brazil to protect his own life. He only returned to the country in 1979, with the democratic opening.
Throughout his career, Paulo Freire has received more than one hundred honorary doctorates from various national and international universities, as well as numerous awards, including the UNESCO Education for Peace Award and the Brazilian government's Order of Cultural Merit. He is a member of the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame and the Reading Hall of Fame.
"I like being a man, being a person, because it is not taken for granted, unequivocal, or irrevocable that I am or will be decent, that I will always bear witness to pure gestures, that I am and will be just, that I will respect others, that I will not lie and hide their worth because envy of their presence in the world bothers and enrages me. I like being a man, being a person, because I know that my passage through the world is not predetermined, pre-established. That my 'destiny' is not a given, but something that needs to be made and from whose responsibility I cannot escape. I like being a person because the history in which I make myself with others and in whose making I take part is a time of possibilities, not determinism. Hence, I insist so much on problematizing the future and rejecting its inexorability." - Paulo Freire
