José Martí and Paulo Freire: Education as a work of infinite love

Abstract

Latin America holds a considerable space in the international pedagogical panorama, recognized today especially in the work of the Brazilian Paulo Freire (1921-1997), which dates back to dialogues with another great educator, José Martí (1853-1895), responsible for the construction of pedagogical theory on Cuban soil. José Martí's contribution helped to think about an educational action focused on the reality of our Latin American schools. The objective of this work is to present Martí’s ideas about education from his perspective focused on popular education, emancipation from colonization (in this case, Spanish) and the achievement of self-determination for Cuban citizens, including black slaves. At the same time, we intend to observe some points of convergence between the work of Martí and Freire, in an attempt to bring together the fields of scientific knowledge produced by them, with the practice of freedom as their driving force. Thus, the methodology is based on the analysis of the books Educação em nossa América – Textos selecionados by José Martí, and Educação como prática da liberdade, by Paulo Freire. Like Martí, Freire conceives education as a practice beyond pedagogical issues. For the Brazilian pedagogue, revolution implies the conscious participation of the masses.