Understanding Freire, Understanding Myself.

Abstract

What started as an assignment in my Theory in Education class during my PhD studies in a Canadian university ended up becoming a journey to my past, my mind, my soul, as a necessary historical understanding of my own situation (Freire, 1992/2014). We were asked to choose a theorist to enrich and deepen our knowledge and understanding of their theory. I chose Paulo Freire as I wanted to be permeated by his thoughts through reading his original texts of Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Pedagogy of Hope. I wanted to be able to reflect on and compare Freire’s ideas to the current reality of education in vulnerable contexts in Latin America in order to contribute to a transformative education that can lead us to a fairer world. As a PhD student, I recognize myself as being at the point of departure, immersed in the never-ending process of becoming an unfinished and uncompleted human, or trying to become a true human being. In this paper, I will share with the readers my own life experiences that have led me to my “here and now” (Freire, 1992/2014, p. 85) and have built my reading of the world as an invitation for readers to do the same