wfn.org | Tribute to Paulo Freire

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World Council of Churches
Press Release
For Immediate Use
6 May 1997

Tribute to Paulo Freire (1921-1997)

The following is the text of a tribute to Paulo Freire made by Rev. Dr
Konrad Raiser,  General Secretary of the World Council of Churches.

"On 2 May, the world-renowned Brazilian educator Paulo Freire died of a
heart attack at the age of 75. The World Council of Churches, which
received seminal inspiration from Paulo Freire during his association with
the WCC staff in the 1970s, mourns the passing away of a friend and
one of the great minds of our century.

Paulo Freire was born in 1921 in the state of Pernambuco in the
Northeast of Brazil. After having received comprehensive training in
classical philosophy and educational theory, he became one of the most
important contributors to the development of adult education and a widely
influential thinker in the field of popular education. Together with his first
wife Elsa, who was an active educator herself, Paulo Freire developed
his creative method of literacy training for adult people in the city of
Recife. His method starts from the conviction that education should be
based on dialogue, allowing all people to make their contribution to
personal growth. Further, the key words through which people learn
how to read and write should be related to their daily experience. Thirdly,
Freire affirmed that education is always a collective experience. Literacy
training should take place in the context of communities of learning.

Paulo Freire recognized through this experience that learning which
affirms the dignity of people can enable even poor men and women to
become producers of culture, ready to overcome the culture of silence.
The central objective of this method was to create a new level of
awareness, to bring about a new consciousness among the people. His
term conscientizacao (conscientization) has since become the symbol of
Freire*s pedagogy. 

The initial success of Freire*s method in Recife moved the authorities of
the state of Pernambuco to adopt his methodology for adult education
throughout the whole state. In 1964, the Brazilian government introduced
Freire*s method for the entire country of Brazil. A few weeks later,
however, the civilian government was overthrown by a right-wing
military coup. Freire*s method was banned and he himself detained. After
release from prison, Freire went into exile, first to Bolivia and then to
Chile. In 1969, while he was teaching in the USA, his book Pedagogy of
the Oppressed was published and later translated into many languages.
In 1970, Freire was invited to join the newly-established Office of
Education of the World Council of Churches as a consultant on popular
education. During his nine years of association with the WCC, Paulo
Freire deeply influenced the orientation and methodology of ecumenical
education; the concept of "ecumenical learning" has largely benefited
from Freire*s insights. He was also invited by the government of the
newly independent Guinea Bissau to supervise the development and
introduction of a new educational system and became the theoretical
guide for many of the new social movements and their efforts in the field
of popular education. In 1980, Paulo Freire returned to his native country
of Brazil where he taught at the University of Campinas as well as at the
Catholic University of Sao Paulo. Being close to the workers* party, he
was appointed Education Secretary of the city government of Sao Paulo
when the party won the municipal elections.

Paulo Freire always affirmed his Christian faith. Being a member of the
Roman Catholic Church, he was committed to ecumenism and has had a
strong influence on the development of Latin American liberation theology
and in particular on the life of the basic Christian communities. The World
Council of Churches gives thanks to God for the life and the outstanding
contribution of Paulo Freire, not only to the theory and practice of
education, but to the development of more humane forms of human
community. He will be remembered by his friends in the ecumenical
movement with affection and respect."

**********
The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 332, in
more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian
traditions.  The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but
works cooperatively with the WCC.  The highest governing body is the
Assembly, which meets approximately every seven years.  The WCC
was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Its staff is
headed by general secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church
in Germany.

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