Assignment 1b

Paulo Freire's father taught him that it is important to respect other people's beliefs. His mother was Catholic, but his father had no religion. His father always respected his mother's religion, and then Paulo Freire's when he chose to be Catholic. His father's lessons taught him to always respect people with differences, which helped him to want everyone to have opportunities. He did not work just for people like himself, because he respected everyone.

He also thought that teachers need teach their students to question what they learn, go deep into the subject, and explore. He thought that the idea of students as empty vessels needing to be filled with information by their teachers was not a good way to educate. He saw the importance of teaching students to think critically and be able to question what they learn. Good teachers teach their students to think critically and teach their students much more than facts. Paulo Freire's ideas lead, in part, to modern teaching, which is similar to his ideas.

He worked hard to teach adults to read and give them an education. He taught 300 sugarcane sharecroppers to read quickly, and he was so successful, he was put in charge of a program to teach 5 million more adults how to read. The first program with 300 sharecroppers was called "Bare feet can also learn to read," which shows his attitude about everyone's right to an education. He worked to teach everyone to read so that everyone had the right to vote and have an education. That is important because even today many adults do not know how to read and there are not enough places that can help them learn to read. He did not think that adults were too old to read or not smart enough, he had respect for them and fought to give them more opportunities.