Commitment and hope in education: Cross-curricular themes for teaching practices according to Paulo Freire

Abstract

“Pedagogy of Autonomy“ is a text in which Freire discusses how every educational endeavor is political and ideological, which is conditioned but not determined, and which goes beyond the mere acquisition of knowledge.  It considers the knowledge required for teaching practices and highlights at least five cross-curricular themes: the dialectical relationship between learning and teaching, the importance of taking into account emotional aspects, the political implications, the fact that teaching is more than providing information, and educators’ ethical commitment.  It also argues that educational practices, as political endeavors, are deliberate and depend on the worldview (ideology) of educators.  Such endeavors must entail the development of intentionality:  the autonomy of the learner. Freire foresees the process of globalization and the impact of digital technologies on education and warns of the intent of such process: the subordination of education as an appendix to the world economy. Therefore, he recommends considering educational practices as holistic, dialectical, humanistic and ethical relationships in which both learners and teachers learn from one another which seems to indicate that education raises hope for a better world.