Freirean Inspired Trialogues to Empower Youth to Solve Local Community Challenges

Abstract

Paulo Freire, the Brazilian philosopher, educator, and a leading Southern theorist, has been extraordinarily influential worldwide. He is considered one of the founders of critical pedagogy, and influenced educators in Latin America, Africa, and Asia with his ideas of liberation, freedom, and emancipation. This essay presents an example of an educational program developed in Brazil, where Freire’s dialogical theory and principles were adapted to address the challenges faced by youth in education and the skills they need for the communities in which they live. It shows how a Freirean-inspired pedagogical model and active-learning methodologies can become transferable trialogues for other Southern educational experiences. These can empower the youth to solve local community challenges and transform societies in unequal places.