James A. Banks Sylvia Ashton-Warner Paulo Freire Three Inspiring Educators

1. James A. BanksSylvia Ashton-WarnerPaulo FreireThree Inspiring Educators

6. Paulo Freire Inspired by Marxist ideals and praxis - the doctrine that when actions are based on sound theory and values, they can make a real difference in the world • Freire was born September 19, 1921 in Recife, Brazil. • Freire enrolled to Law School at the University of Recife in 1943 and recieved his legal bar but never practiced law, instead worked as a teacher in secondary schools teaching Portuguese. • In 1944, he married Elza Maia Costa de Oliveira, a fellow teacher. The two worked together for the rest of their lives and had five children. • Working primarily among the illiterate and poor, Freire began to embrace liberation theology • In 1962 Freire taught the sugarcane workers that would be a great stepping-stone for his success • In 1964, a military coup put an end to Freire's efforts to teach the sugarcane workers and was imprisoned as a "traitor" for 70 days and was exiled to Bolivia. • In 1967, Freire published his first book, Education as the Practice of Freedom. • He followed this with his most famous book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, but because of the political feud between Freire (a Christian socialist) and the successive authoritarian military dictatorships, Freire's most popular book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, wasn't published in his own country of Brazil until 1974, when General Ernesto Geisel became the then dictator president • Freire was took a short visiting professorship at Harvard University in 1969 for his popular book • In 1970, Pedagogy of the Oppressed was published in both Spanish and English. • Worked in Geneva, Switzerland to work as a special education advisor to the World Council of Churches • In 1979, he was able to return to Brazil, and moved back in 1980. • Freire joined the (Brazil) Workers' Party in the city of São Paulo • In 1986, his wife Elza died. Freire remarried to Maria Araújo, who continues with her own educational work. • Freire died of Congestive heart failure on May 2, 1997.

7. Paulo Freire’s Main Contributions • In 1962, Freire taught 300 poor sugarcane workers how to read and write in just 45 days • This led to the creation of better sanitation facilities for the workers (made by themselves) • His book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed published in 1968, brought his ideals out to the public that teaching people of poverty actually improves their lives both mentally and physically (helping health conditions, etc…) • Acted as an advisor on education reform in former Portuguese colonies in Africa (particularly Guinea Bissau and Mozambique) • Supervised the adult literacy project for Sao Paulo, Brazil, while participating in the (Brazil) Workers’ Party • Appointed Secretary of Education for Sao Paolo in 1988 and appointed for several other high positions in the Education field in the years before