Paulo Freire and the praxis of liberation: Education, organization and ethics

Abstract

The appropriation of Paulo Freire’s ideas by academic and educators of the West often reduces them to a pedagogical method. This article’s argument affirms that considering his contributions from a strictly pedagogic perspective would empty the educative act of its political content and, according to Freire, would make it as dominating as any other. The text is written in a close relationship with the words of Freire. It is recognized, in the discussion of the challenges we face if we intend to explore the possibilities of practicing a liberating education at the space of management schools, that it is always possible to make something to contradict the dominant and to open space for creativity and hope. In this situation, it necessarily includes the critique of management and its insertion in the process of cultural invasion. The aim is not to provide a conclusive contribution; it is an invitation to future dialogues that embrace Paulo Freire’s ideas mainly around themes such as organization, leadership and education, always keeping in mind the praxeology and the critical ethics that are at the fundament of his propositions.