Paulo Freire's Revolutionary Approach to Literacy Still Threatens Those in Power

In 1963, Brazilian educator Paulo Freire helped launch a revolutionary literacy campaign in the impoverished northeastern Brazilian town of Angicos, where hundreds of rural workers learned to read and write in just 40 hours of instruction. Freire’s approach was about much more than literacy. Rather than emphasizing memorization and repetition, he developed "Culture Circles" where participants discussed their experiences, examined the conditions shaping their lives, and developed the critical consciousness to challenge oppression.

The experiment helped lay the groundwork for Freire’s groundbreaking book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, which would become one of the most influential works in the history of education. But the literacy campaign was violently interrupted when a U.S.-backed military coup overthrew Brazilian President João Goulart in 1964. Freire was imprisoned and forced into exile, while students burned or buried their educational materials to escape persecution.