Bendor-Samuel, M. 1977

Bendor-Samuel, Margaret. 1977. "Paulo Freire: His use of literacy in social revolution." Notes on Literacy 21:10–18. Interest level: lay specialist.

Summarizes the contributions of Paulo Freire. Describes background, philosophy, and educational methods. Points out ways SIL can take advantage of Freire's philosophy and methods.

According to Freire, the goal of educational programs is not economic development or even literacy, but liberation and lifelong education. Education should arouse in individuals a critical awareness of social reality, and enable them to understand, master, and transform their destiny. Freire rejected the traditional model of a school where teachers dispensed knowledge and students were passive knowledge recipients. Worked with "culture circles" where teachers were group discussion leaders and students were group participants. Used visual aids and group discussion with underprivileged people, and guided them to see themselves as subjects rather than objects in society. Began with vocabulary of the people, used keywords with a high level of experiential and emotional content, then broke words into syllables and made new words. Freire's National Literacy Program was terminated in 1964 by a military coup in Brazil.

Excellent summary of the work of Freire. Bendor-Samuel points out "it is of prime importance for SIL literacy workers to be aware of Freire's philosophy."

• Bibliography module: Bendor-Samuel, M. 1977
• In overview module: Bibliography (Literacy): B
• In modular book: Bibliography (Literacy), by Doris Gallemore, Trudi C. Hunt, Jeanne Swanson, and Stephen L. Walter
• In document collection: Reference materials
• In bookshelf: Literacy

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 28 June 1999

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