Lately I have been thinking about teaching and learning, reviewing the work of Paulo Freire in a book edited by Ira Shor called "Freire for the Classroom". Freire was a Brazilian educator who created literacy programs in Recife, Brazil in the 1950s and 60s, and was jailed in 1964, because of his progressive teaching practices, when the Brazilian military overthrew civilian rule. He was forced into exile with his family, but eventually returned to Brazil in the 1980's, and in 1986 received the Unesco Prize for Education.

In his literacy work Paulo Freire saw "learning to read as a political act, as a necessary step toward making decisions and sharing power." He developed materials that enabled adults to learn to read in 30-40 hours, and was convinced that "for adults learning to read should be a process of analyzing reality, becoming critically conscious of their situation, and that when that occurred enormous energy was available for learning to read."

empowering education, critical approaches to learning, and democratic models of social change.  

Freire challenges teachers to reflect on what they themselves are bringing to the classroom, how they structure a learning environment, the assumptions they make about the learning process, and how the practices of teaching and learning can be the foundation of a greater social change movement. 

In his analysis of Freire's work the book's editor, Ira Shor, addresses teachers, stating that, "equality is excellence. because inequality leads to alienation, excellence without equality only produces more inequality. Inequality leads to learning deficits and to alienation in students. alienation is the #1 learning problem." 

In contrast, he continues, "equality empowers people and raises aspirations in the classroom and in society. Power and hope are sources of motivation to learn and to do." The book invites teachers to "promote democracy by practicing it", teaching with "an interactive approach rather than a passive one, and replacing a "mechanical notion of education with one that emphasizes the quality of the learning process." 

Shor suggests that a teacher think of herself "as a creative artist whose craft is instruction", that "an exciting instructor is a communication artist", modeling "the aesthetic joy of discourse, the pleasure of thinking aloud with others. 

Read more about an educator influenced by Paol Freire; Augusto Boal.