Paulo Freire Democratic Project

"The act of learning to read and write has to start from
a very comprehensive understanding of the act of reading the world,
something which human beings do before reading the words."
-Paulo Freire

Paulo Freire has written that educators need to be clear about what he calls their ontological vocation. The Paulo Freire Democratic Project's (PFDP) vocation, broadly stated is to bring to bear a synthesis of progressive/critical and ethical/democratic practices upon both formal and informal educational contexts. To accomplish this mission, PFDP gathers together a number of constituencies from all levels of education to promote the full democratic, intellectual and critical development of students, teachers, administrators, parents and other community members.

Research
Essential to the Project's purpose is the inclusion of participatory and collaborative modes of research honored for their empowering potential by which individuals become actively engages as researchers of their own conditions. The premise is that people gain knowledge about social and educational reality through analysis of their own lived situations, through their own investigation and not by relying on expert, external knowledge created for purposes to their common interests. Special emphasis is placed upon participatory research within schools and associated settings.

Social Literacy
Freire's theory of the levels of consciousness (magical-conforming, naïve-reforming, critical-transforming) and his problem posing methodology (naming, reflecting, acting) guide the Project's efforts to assist schools in their quest for democratic, safe and violence-free cultures.