ABSTRACT
Paulo Freire (1921–1997) was a radical educator in Brazil. His (1972) book is a standard text on adult education courses but may be less well-known on social work programmes, and yet we believe he has so much to offer social work. His notion of ‘conscientization’ (critical consciousness) provides a beacon for practice, as social workers struggle to help those with whom they are working reflect on the social forces that shape their lives; his critique of the ‘banking concept’ has much to teach educators and trainers, as social work students leapfrog through an increasingly prescribed and cluttered curriculum, with limited opportunity for building from their own experience. We have chosen to present the occasion when Freire formally addressed a social work audience for the first time, at the biannual conference of the International Federation of Social Workers in Stockholm, Sweden in 1988. The extract begins with the words of the article author and translator, Marilynn Moch, and then moves onto Freire’s own words.
