Paulo Freire: His continued impact on popular education

Probably no other educator from the so-called "Third World" has had as profound an effect upon contemporary education as Paulo Freire of Brazil. This persistent philosopher and ideologue has struggled throughout his career to fashion strategies that promote the education of the world's poorest populations. The significance of his thought and methodology has not gone unnoticed in the United States where his problem-posing pedagogy has been the object of scrutiny by scholars and implemented in myriad projects throughout our country. This article will acquaint the reader with some of Freire's major ideas, account for what has happened to these ideas during the twenty-two years that have elapsed since the publication here of Pedagogy of the Oppressed, and discuss some of the controversies and disputes about his method and thinking that continue to attract attention.