Paulo Freire’s Continued Relevance for U.S. Education

In this chapter, Carnoy and Tarlau analyze how Paulo Freire's educational ideas have been relevant to U.S. educators and activists over the past 50 years. First, Carnoy discusses Freire's first visit to the United States in 1969, and the influence of his educational thought during the subsequent decades of neoliberalism and structural adjustment, reflecting in particular on Freire's participation in 1983 in a seminar at Stanford University. Next, Tarlau analyzes Freire's significance for social movements and educators in the 2000s when “another world” seemed possible and resistance to neoliberal globalization was at a peak in the United States and Latin America. Tarlau synthesizes the major lessons that Freire offers educators and activist, from the concept of unfinishedness to the tensions between manipulation and directive teaching. In conclusion, Carnoy and Tarlau reflect on the current context, and the lessons Freire continues to offer in the context of Donald Trump's election.