Blueprinting a Freirean Pedagogy of Imagination: Hope, Untested Feasibility, and the Dialogic Person

Abstract

Paulo Freire, a radical Brazilian educator, developed a libratory pedagogy that contributes to an important discussion on the imagination, though this aspect of his work is not emphasized in critical pedagogy and adult education literature. Theorizing a Freirean imagination as a productive educational faculty connects with the work of philosophers such Maxine Greene, Elizabeth Ellsworth and Elliot Eisner who have written on imagination in education. Through critically examining Freire's writing, this article explores what Freirean thought contributes to our understanding of the role the imagination plays in formal and non-formal education. The article also theorizes imaginal literacy and how one might develop imaginal literacy in educational settings.