Two greatest educational thinkers of the Geographical South: Freire and Gandhi

• In Event: New transdisciplinary readings of Freire

Proposal

Gandhi from India and Freire from Brazil (both BRIC countries) were two of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century. Although known globally for his non-violent resistance to colonial rule in India, Gandhi is not known for his educational experiments and theories. Freire is known for his theories on education and the politics of liberation in the West perhaps because he was exiled from Brazil and came to the USA. Both brought a message of hope for oppressed people. Both developed educational models which would liberate the minds of people. This presentation briefly looks at commonalities in their lives and thinking, the intellectual roots of the main ideas developed by Gandhi and Freire, compares their educational philosophies, and discusses their main contributions to education that aimed to end injustice and oppression. Gandhi and Freire were more complex than is immediately apparent. Both struggled with contradictions and both had ideas that were transformational.

Author

• Ratna Ghosh, McGill University