AUTONOMY AND CLARIFICATION IN PAULO FREIRE: NECESSARY ISSUES FOR EDUCATION BASED ON THE PRACTICE OF FREEDOM

Abstract

: The purpose of this article is to present reflections on autonomy and clarification. These two terms are essential to the environment of contemporary education, given that for the human being to become a social and seemingly free being, he needs to be educated and aware of how much his independence is worth. In this sense, the proposed discussion is relevant at a time when heteronomy is much more experienced than autonomy itself. Authors such as Carlos Rodrigues Brandão, Norberto Bobbio, Immanuel Kant and others were referenced in this study, but the emphasis is on Paulo Freire. In Freire’s work, considered one of the influencers of the movement called Critical Pedagogy and one of the most celebrated educators in Brazil, the core of autonomy is found, especially for those students who enroll in educational institutions only in adulthood. To Freire, schooling is the starting point for the conquest of self, because by self-identifying the student can situate himself in society in an analytical way and deny everything that leads to oppression, thus evolving to the construction of his critical thinking. To discuss the proposed theme, a literature review was carried out mainly in the works Pedagogia do Oprimido and Pedagogia da Autonomia, which specifically deal with autonomy based on the condition of oppression. These and other works by the author highlight the importance of building an education based on freedom, respect, and ethics because only this way individuals will be able to perceive and put efforts into the struggle against the dominant classes ideologies and seek a fairer and more dignified society for all.