Stephanie Schneider from SUNY Old Westbury examines Paulo Freire’s fascinating work on social justice, and the democratic potential of education
In contemporary debates on educational equity, Paulo Freire’s work remains a touchstone for reimagining what schooling can and should be. More than five decades after the publication of Pedagogy of the Oppressed, his critique of educational systems and his call for humanizing, dialogical learning continue to illuminate the deep social justice woven into the very fabric of teaching and learning.
At a moment when inequalities in educational access, outcomes, and experiences remain stark worldwide, Freire’s ideas offer not only analytical clarity but also a constructive framework for action.
Freire’s central claim – that education is never neutral – remains profoundly relevant. For him, schooling either reproduces existing structures of power or becomes a practice of freedom oriented toward justice. This insight challenges contemporary educational systems that often assume their own neutrality through technocratic language: standards, metrics, “quality assurance,” or efficiency.
While these frameworks aim to improve outcomes, they can inadvertently obscure the social, political, and economic contexts that shape learners’ lives. Freire directs our attention back to these contexts, insisting that education must be evaluated not merely by performance indicators but by its commitment to human dignity.
Rejecting the “banking model” of education
Freire’s famous critique of the “banking model” – in which students are passive containers into which teachers deposit knowledge – remains strikingly recognizable. Today, we see its echoes in standardized testing regimes, rigid curricula, and forms of accountability that prioritize memorization over meaning.
The banking model’s deeper problem, according to Freire, is that it reduces learners to objects rather than subjects of their own educational journeys. In such a system, students are acted upon but rarely invited to act – to question, interpret, critique, or co-create knowledge.
For Freire, this is more than a pedagogical issue; it is a justice issue. When students, especially those from marginalized communities, are positioned as passive recipients, their voices and lived experiences are devalued. The result is not only disengagement, but the reinforcement of structural inequalities. A banking approach implicitly communicates that some students are not expected to think critically or to participate fully as democratic citizens.
To counter this, Freire proposes a dialogical pedagogy grounded in mutual respect, inquiry, and shared responsibility. Dialogue, for Freire, is not mere conversation; it is a process through which teachers and students collaboratively make sense of the world.
In a dialogical classroom, knowledge is not transferred, but it is constructed. Students’ experiences are not supplementary but central. This approach redistributes epistemic authority, opening the possibility of more democratic and just learning environments.
Conscientization and critical literacy
Central to Freire’s work is the concept of conscientization – the development of critical consciousness that allows individuals to perceive social, political, and economic contradictions and to take action against oppressive forces. Education should, therefore, nurture not only academic knowledge but also critical literacy: the capacity to read the word and the world. This intertwined literacy allows learners to see how their lives are shaped by larger structures – and how they can participate in transforming them.
In modern contexts, conscientization resonates strongly with efforts to incorporate social justice and equity frameworks into the curriculum. Work on anti-racist education, decolonizing the curriculum, or addressing gender and socio-economic inequalities all echo Freire’s insistence that education must cultivate an awareness of power relations.
However, Freire also reminds us that critical consciousness is not simply cognitive; it is ethical and practical. The goal is not only to analyze injustice but to act in ways that challenge and reconfigure the social order.
This orientation to action remains a crucial contribution to contemporary thinking. Social justice in education cannot be understood purely in terms of policy statements or inclusion strategies; it must shape the lived practices of teaching and learning. Freire’s conceptual vocabulary – praxis, dialogue, hope – provides educators and policymakers with tools to articulate this more expansive vision.
Freire and the everyday politics of schooling
One of Freire’s most powerful insights is that oppression is not only systemic but also enacted in everyday interactions. Classroom practices – who speaks, who decides, who is listened to – are themselves political. This is not to reduce education to ideology, but to recognize that teaching is always positioned within a matrix of cultural norms, social expectations, and institutional constraints.
For Freire, the teacher’s role is not to withdraw from this reality but to engage it critically. Educators must recognize their own authority while using it responsibly and reflexively. They must create spaces where students can question, challenge, and reimagine. This does not imply abandoning expertise or structure, but rather reorienting them toward empowerment rather than control.
In practice, this means fostering classrooms where diverse perspectives are valued; where student-led inquiry is encouraged; where mistakes are understood as integral to learning; and where difficult conversations about inequality are not avoided but handled with care and courage. Such practices cultivate belonging and agency – essential components of a socially just education.
Global relevance and contemporary challenges
Freire’s ideas have been adopted in contexts far removed from the Brazilian communities where he first worked: adult literacy campaigns in postcolonial nations, participatory action research, community development, and critical pedagogy movements worldwide. His work has been particularly influential in contexts where education intersects with social transformation – whether in Indigenous education, feminist pedagogies, or movements for racial justice.
Yet contemporary educational systems face challenges that Freire could not have anticipated: the digital transformation of learning, increasing marketisation of education, global migration, and deepening socio-economic divides. Nevertheless, his principles remain strikingly applicable. In an era of artificial intelligence-driven content delivery, Freire’s insistence on dialogue and humanization serves as a necessary counterweight.
As educational institutions grapple with inequities exacerbated by the digital divide, Freire reminds us that access alone is insufficient without critical engagement.
A renewed Freirean vision for social justice in education
To bring Freire’s insights into contemporary educational policy, we must rethink what we consider the core purposes of schooling. A Freirean approach suggests three priorities:
- Humanization must be central. Educational systems should cultivate dignity, respect, and agency – particularly for students whose voices are most often marginalised.
- Curricula must foreground critical engagement. Beyond acquiring knowledge, students must learn to interrogate the world and participate in shaping it.
- Educational relationships must be democratic. Teachers and students co-create learning, share responsibility, and recognize each other as partners in inquiry.
At its heart, Freire’s vision is profoundly hopeful. Social justice in education is not merely a matter of policy reform or resource redistribution – though both are essential. It is also a matter of cultivating dispositions, relationships, and pedagogical practices that affirm the capacity of every learner to think, to question, and to participate in shaping a more just world.
As we confront the educational challenges of the 21st century, Freire’s work offers an enduring reminder: education is a political and moral act. The question is not whether education will shape society, but what kind of society it will help build. Freire invites us to choose a path that honours equity, dignity, and the transformative possibilities of human beings learning together.
