Paulo Freire's phrases about education: Top 30

George Alvarez 03-10-2023
George Alvarez

Table of contents

Paulo Freire (1921-1997) is one of the greatest and most important Brazilian pedagogues, who had a great influence on the educational system. He created innovative teaching methods, due to his motivation that the transformation of society happens through education. So, for you to know more about his ideas, we have chosen the best ones Paulo Freire's phrases about education .

Table of Contents

  • Paulo Freire's best phrases about education
    • 1. "Teaching is not transferring knowledge, but creating the possibilities for its own production or construction."
    • 2. "The educator eternalizes himself in each being he educates."
    • 3. "It is by deciding that one learns to decide."
    • 4. "It would be naive to expect the dominant classes to develop a form of education that would enable the dominated classes to perceive social injustices critically."
    • 5. "Reading the world precedes reading the word."
    • 6. "There is no life without correction, without rectification."
    • 7. "Only, in truth, those who think right, even if they sometimes think wrong, are the ones who can teach right thinking."
    • 8. "No one educates anyone, no one educates himself, men educate each other, mediated by the world."
    • 9. "Nobody ignores everything, nobody knows everything, so we always learn."
    • 10. "You can't talk about education without love."
    • 11. "I am an intellectual who is not afraid to be loving.I love people and I love the world.It is because I love people and I love the world that I fight for social justice to be implanted before charity."
    • 12. "It is not enough to know how to read that 'Eve saw the grape.' One must understand what position Eve occupies in her social context, who works to produce the grape, and who profits from that work."
    • 13. "Dialogue creates a basis for collaboration."
    • 14. "If education alone does not transform society, without it neither does society change."
    • 15. "Teaching is not transferring knowledge but creating the possibilities for apprehension."
    • 16. "There is no teaching without research and research without teaching."
    • 17. "Wherever there are women and men, there is always something to do, there is always something to teach, there is always something to learn."
    • 18. "To educate oneself is to imbue every moment of life, every daily act, with meaning."
    • 19. "To educate is to imbue with meaning what we do every moment!"
    • 20. "There is no knowing more or knowing less: there are different knowledges."
    • 21. "For me, it is impossible to exist without a dream. Life in its entirety has taught me as a great lesson that it is impossible to take it on without risk."
    • 22. "I move as an educator because, first, I move as people."
    • 23. "When education is not liberating, the dream of the oppressed is to be the oppressor."
    • 24 "It is not in silence that men are made, but in word, in work, in action-reflection".
    • 25. "What strikes me about the application of a truly liberating education is the fear of freedom."
    • 26. "No one walks without learning how to walk, without learning how to make the path by walking, remaking and retouching the dream for which he set out to walk."
    • 27. "An education that is not liberating makes the oppressed wish they were oppressors."
    • 28. "Education, whatever it is, is always a theory of knowledge put into practice."
    • 29. "Education is an act of love, therefore, an act of courage.It cannot fear debate.The analysis of reality.It cannot evade creative discussion, otherwise it will be a farce."
    • 30. "He who teaches learns by teaching, and he who learns teaches by learning."

Paulo Freire's best phrases about education

1. "Teaching is not transferring knowledge, but creating the possibilities for its own production or construction."

Paulo Freire was against the traditional teaching system, which he understood to be a transfer of knowledge. The Pedagogue proposed methods to stimulate the dialogue between teachers and students, according to the daily and real needs of these students.

2. "The educator eternalizes himself in each being he educates."

For the author, the teaching process is based on the trust established between the student and the teacher, in such a way as to value the student's previous knowledge. This is one of the ways that teaching will be shared

3. "It is by deciding that one learns to decide."

The educator brought to society several issues with practical proposals to stimulate the student to be independent and make his own decisions.

4. "It would be naive to expect the dominant classes to develop a form of education that would enable the dominated classes to perceive social injustices critically."

Among the main Paulo Freire's phrases about education Where we saw that several of his students, after becoming literate, began to reflect on their social rights, especially in relation to their labor rights.

5. "Reading the world precedes reading the word."

Language and reality are intimately linked. For Paulo Freire, a text is understood only after a critical reading, which implies understanding between the text and the context.

Language and reality are dynamically linked. The understanding of the text to be reached by its critical reading implies the perception of the relations between the text and the context.

6. "There is no life without correction, without rectification."

He believes that every person needs to be able to reflect on his or her actions, to recognize his or her mistakes, and to correct them. Thus, this sentence highlights that life is not static and that progress is only possible through correction and rectification.

Thus, Paulo Freire's phrase refers to the need to make conscious and responsible decisions so that we can evolve and improve.

7. "Only, in truth, those who think right, even if they sometimes think wrong, are the ones who can teach right thinking."

In this sense, to think correctly, we need to be open to new ideas and not think we are infallible. To think correctly means to maintain purity and avoid puritanism, and to be ethical and generate beauty. This is different from the arrogant behavior of those who consider themselves superior.

8. "No one educates anyone, no one educates himself, men educate each other, mediated by the world."

Among Paulo Freire's phrases about education he emphasized his disagreement with what he called "banking education", where the teacher was placed in a position of knowledge holder, while the student was only treated as a depository.

For him this is totally wrong, since it was necessary to understand the student's experience and what he knows, so that he could then proceed with the teaching process.

9. "Nobody ignores everything, nobody knows everything, so we always learn."

This phrase means that no one can ignore all the information and no one has all the knowledge. Therefore, we must always be open to learning, because it is the only way to acquire more knowledge.

10. "You can't talk about education without love."

For him, love is the best way to develop skills and knowledge. Love is what can motivate students to seek new knowledge and to realize their goals. Moreover, love is essential for the relationships between teachers, students and families to be harmonious and constructive.

11. "I am an intellectual who is not afraid to be loving.I love people and I love the world.It is because I love people and I love the world that I fight for social justice to be implanted before charity."

Among Paulo Freire's phrases about education is stating that it is important to fight for social justice before charity. He is arguing that charity alone is not enough to solve social problems, and that a more structural approach is needed to ensure that people can live dignified lives.

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12. "It is not enough to know how to read that 'Eve saw the grape.' One must understand what position Eve occupies in her social context, who works to produce the grape, and who profits from that work."

In this sentence, Paulo Freire is emphasizing the importance of understanding the context and social relations behind a story, beyond simply reading and understanding the narrative.

13. "Dialogue creates a basis for collaboration."

Freire proposed the so-called dialogical education, that is, an education based on the dialogue between student and teacher. Thus, he ended up inducing the students to have critical postures in the midst of the oppressing reality.

14. "If education alone does not transform society, without it neither does society change."

Among the Paulo Freire's phrases about education This shows the author's understanding that all men have a vocation to be better, as subjects of their actions, in such a way that they have the capacity to transform the world.

15. "Teaching is not transferring knowledge but creating the possibilities for apprehension."

Different from the teaching methods of his time, Paulo Freire's phrases about education stand out, for being different from the "vanguardism" of some intellectuals of his time.

For Freire, this was called activism.

16. "There is no teaching without research and research without teaching."

This quote from Paulo Freire about education is a call for a comprehensive approach to education, in which teaching and research are inseparable. In this sense, he advocates that teaching should be innovative and based on research, and research should take teaching into account.

17. "Wherever there are women and men, there is always something to do, there is always something to teach, there is always something to learn."

Freire had the belief that knowledge is not static and is not possessed by one person, but is constructed and shared among people.

18. "To educate oneself is to imbue every moment of life, every daily act, with meaning."

Paulo Freire was defending the idea that education should be something that goes beyond formal teaching in school. In this way, he suggested that teaching should be a continuous process of learning and discovery, which involves paying attention to one's experiences and the environment around us.

In other words, he wanted people to learn to find meaning and purpose in every moment and every action of everyday life in order to create a full and conscious life.

19. "To educate is to imbue with meaning what we do every moment!"

Among Paulo Freire's phrases about education, this one means that teaching is not only about providing knowledge, but also about helping people to use that knowledge to become better, more aware, and more responsible.

20. "There is no knowing more or knowing less: there are different knowledges."

Paulo Freire stated that there is no more or less valuable or important knowledge, but different knowledge that complements and relates to each other.

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For Freire, knowledge is produced in a collective way and should be shared among everyone.

21. "For me, it is impossible to exist without a dream. Life in its entirety has taught me as a great lesson that it is impossible to take it on without risk."

Paulo Freire was stating that life is full of challenges and that it is necessary to face them with optimism and hope. Thus, he believed that dreaming was an essential part of facing all of life's challenges, since dreams give us a goal and direction to follow.

See_also: Id, Ego and Superego: Three Parts of the Human Mind

22. "I move as an educator because, first, I move as people."

This quote from Paulo Freire emphasizes the importance of relating to others who seek the good - being with one. He believes that before being an educator, it is important to be a person who fights for a better world.

23. "When education is not liberating, the dream of the oppressed is to be the oppressor."

Here Paulo Freire explains that when education does not offer freedom to people, they end up conforming to their oppressed situation and start wanting to adopt the same attitudes as the oppressor.

As a result, a vicious circle is created, where the oppressed would give up seeking their liberation and become content to occupy the place of the oppressor.

See_also: The Animal Farm Revolution: George Orwell's book summary

24 "It is not in silence that men are made, but in word, in work, in action-reflection".

In short, Freire believes that the way human beings develop is through the exchange of words, hard work, and critical reflection on their actions. Thus, for him, silence is useless if it is not accompanied by action.

In other words, this quote by Paulo Freire about education is a statement about human nature and the importance of communication, work, and reflection to build oneself as an individual.

25. "What strikes me about the application of a truly liberating education is the fear of freedom."

Paulo Freire was referring to the practice of education as a means to free people from oppression. In the meantime, he was referring to the discomfort people feel when they are freed from their chains, because freedom can bring with it responsibilities and challenges not yet faced.

Therefore, Freire believed that education should serve as a means to help people face these challenges with courage and determination, rather than fear of freedom.

26. "No one walks without learning how to walk, without learning how to make the path by walking, remaking and retouching the dream for which he set out to walk."

The educator, throughout his trajectory, presented countless proposals so that, in a practical way, the teacher could stimulate the student's independence.

27. "An education that is not liberating makes the oppressed wish to be an oppressor."

In his book Pedagogy of the Enemy (1970) he portrays how an unjust society lives, so that there is the oppressor and the oppressed.

In his studies, among Paulo Freire's phrases about education, in this one he argues that education must allow the oppressed to recover their humanity. Thus, to overcome this condition, they must play their role in society for this liberation to occur.

28. "Education, whatever it is, is always a theory of knowledge put into practice."

In short, education is more than just teaching content and knowledge. That is, it is also a means by which knowledge is acquired, be it methodologies, techniques or skills.

29. "Education is an act of love, therefore, an act of courage.It cannot fear debate.The analysis of reality.It cannot evade creative discussion, otherwise it will be a farce."

In this sentence, Paulo Freire is advocating an education that is an act of love, not only for the students, but also for the reality in which one lives. However, Freire believed that education should not be seen only as a transmission of knowledge, but also as a space for reflection and criticism.

Therefore, he believes that it is necessary to face the debate and the analysis of reality, so that education is true and not a "farce". Thus, the act of educating requires courage to face the issues of reality and create a path for transformation.

30. "He who teaches learns by teaching, and he who learns teaches by learning."

Teaching and learning are closely related activities, so when teaching, educators learn new information and skills, and when learning, students also teach the educators.

In other words, this is a form of education in which teaching is a continuous process of exchanging knowledge and skills. Both sides enrich the learning process.

Finally, if you know more quotes from Paulo Freira about education, don't forget to leave your comment below. Also, if you liked this article, don't forget to like and share it on your social networks. This will stimulate us to continue producing quality content.

George Alvarez

George Alvarez is a renowned psychoanalyst who has been practicing for over 20 years and is highly regarded in the field. He is a sought-after speaker and has conducted numerous workshops and training programs on psychoanalysis for professionals in the mental health industry. George is also an accomplished writer and has authored several books on psychoanalysis that have received critical acclaim. George Alvarez is dedicated to sharing his knowledge and expertise with others and has created a popular blog on Online Training Course in Psychoanalysis that is widely followed by mental health professionals and students around the world. His blog provides a comprehensive training course that covers all aspects of psychoanalysis, from theory to practical applications. George is passionate about helping others and is committed to making a positive difference in the lives of his clients and students.