Pedagogy of Praxis

Moacir Gadotti is Associate Professor of Education at the University of Sao Paulo, and Director of the Paulo Freire Institute. He is Regional Director of the International Community Education Association (ICEA) in Latin America, and a member of the steering committee of the World University Service (WUS). Gadotti has written many books including Reading Paulo Freire: His Life and Work also published by SUNY Press.

"Pedagogy of Praxis is a book about and from a critical philosophy of education. But, it is foremost a book about people, their actions, and their consciousness. Gadotti starts with the premise that human history is the product of the struggle of women and men against inequality. However, Gadotti does not seek to merely extend the Hegelian-Marxist tradition, but to reinvent it. Writing from the contradictory reality of his motherland, Brazil, Gadotti follows the footprints of educational philosophers such as John Dewey, Paulo Freire, and Maxine Greene who have tirelessly argued that the best way to honor the accomplishments of a tradition is not to canonize but to reinvent it. The dialectical conception of education that Gadotti lays out with craft and imagination sets the stage for what Gadotti calls 'an education for the future.' " — from the Foreword by Carlos Alberto Torres, UCLA"Traditional pedagogical views frequently undermine the language of hope. Gadotti challenges us to live a pedagogy of praxis, thus giving birth to new languages of optimism and confidence for transforming the world around us and empowering ourselves. He suggests that if we can begin to do that, we will also begin to diminish those bureaucracies that have governed our lives. We need to integrate Gadotti's vision of pedagogical praxis with our personal desires for an improved context for educating ourselves and those with whom we work." — Herman S. Garcia, New Mexico State University

• Foreword Beyond Humanistic Education: A Discussion with Moacir GadottiPeter L. McLarenForeword Dialectics, Conflict, and DialogueCarlos Alberto TorresPreface Paulo FreireIntroduction Why Pedagogy of Praxis?Moacir Gadotti1.  Dialectics: Conception and Method2.  A Critique of Bourgeois Education3.  A Critique of Critical Pedagogy4.  Education and the Class Struggle5.  A Single School for Everyone6.  School As a Sociocultural Project7.  Citizen School8.  Sociocultural Diversity and Education for AllConclusionBibliographyIndex