FREIREAN THOUGHT IN CONTEMPORARY TIMES: UNDERSTANDING EDUCATION AS SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION

Abstract

This article analyzes the applicability of Paulo Freire's pedagogy in Elementary School I, within the contemporary educational context marked by digitalization and active methodologies. Starting from Freire's principle of the non-neutrality of education, the study investigates how this approach can foster critical awareness, student autonomy, and social transformation. The methodology adopted is qualitative, based on bibliographic research of Freire's works and analysis of the "Brazilian Identity" project, a case study developed in a school in Votuporanga-SP. The results demonstrate that Freirean principles such as dialogue, problematization of reality, and criticism of "banking education" remain urgently relevant. The project analysis shows that transforming prejudiced statements into generative themes and using Culture Circles and active methodologies (such as rotating stations) promotes the collective construction of knowledge, converting "naive curiosity" into "epistemological curiosity." It concludes that Freirean pedagogy is a powerful tool for resisting the homogenizing and mercantilist logics of current education, being viable and necessary for the formation of critical and autonomous individuals from the early years of elementary school.