Speaking before a General Session audience at ASCD's 51st Annual Conference in New Orleans, Brazilian activist Paulo Freire said educators must be guided by "dreams and utopias."
"I can't respect the teacher who doesn't dream of a certain kind of society that he would like to live in, and would like the new generation to live in," Freire said. Educators should pursue "a dream of a society less ugly than those we have today," he urged—a society that is "more open" and less marred by prejudice.
Freire has won worldwide renown for his efforts to empower oppressed people through education. In the 1940s, he developed innovative, grassroots methods to combat adult illiteracy. In the 1960s, he suffered government persecution—including imprisonment and exile—for teaching the poor to read. His book Pedagogy of the Oppressed has inspired educators around the globe.
Freire captivated his General Session audience with his modesty, gentle humor, and idealism. "My dreams, and the dreams of students, should have a strong role" in shaping the curriculum, he asserted. "I have to put my understanding of curriculum to the service of this dreaming."