Editorial - One hundred years of Paulo Freire: material culture, education and freedom

Abstract

In the year of the centenary of educator Paulo Freire, we invite all archeologists and specialists in the themes of heritage, memory and education to collaborate with the construction of reflections on the relationship between Education and Material Culture, promoted in school environments or not, as practices of freedom . Paulo Freire was received as subversive by some sectors of society throughout his life as an educator and, even today, he is rejected by certain fields of power. What in his work and in our practices can make education so dangerous? What is the potential of shared education linked to material culture? Would education as a practice of freedom be able to break the existence of the “simple man crushed, diminished and accommodated (...) tragically frightened, fearing authentic coexistence and even doubting its possibility” (Freire, 1967: 44)? Would it be able to expose society as a means to unravel it and allow an active and active understanding of the political and historical contexts in which we operate (Freire, 1986: 15/17)? Education as a practice of freedom remains a current and urgent issue. At the end of the dossier, we can openly state that the thematic proposal was well received by archaeologists, educators, historians, public administrators, among other specialists in the field of memory, heritage and material culture. In total, eleven texts were approved, including articles, an interview and an unpublished translation of an interview given by Paulo Freire, in Geneva, in 1970. In common, the texts have active reflection on material culture, education and freedom. The theme is provocative, and, of course, serves as a platform for building new dialogues and action practices. In this edition, therefore, you will find the following structure: