Irai Freire

Paulo Reglus Neves Freire was a Brazilian educator and philosopher born in Recife, renowned for developing critical pedagogy and authoring Pedagogy of the Oppressed, which views education as a tool for liberation and social justice. His methods gained prominence through literacy programs in Brazil during the 1960s, but following the 1964 military coup, he was imprisoned and exiled, working internationally on education reforms in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Returning to Brazil in the 1980s, he served as Secretary of Education in São Paulo, implementing democratic educational reforms.[1][2][3]