About the Book
This book introduces a variety of ways for educators to empower students as critical global citizens and agents of change using the educational theories of Paulo Freire. It covers key themes including social and planetary justice, ecopedagogy and sustainability education, diverse learner agency, restorative justice, women’s leadership, and social change. The contributors offer practical strategies for educators battling against oppressive action that aims to repress teacher and student voice, offering an alternative to the increasing standardization of a neoliberal curriculum and competitive meritocracy.
Table of Contents:
Series Editor’s Introduction, Greg Misiaszek (Beijing Normal University, China): In Defense of Student Activism with Reflexivity
Introduction: Empowering Students from a Freirean Perspective, Michaela Ensweiler (UCLA, USA)
Part I: Transformative Education Models
1. : Reading Bourdieu and Freire in National Educational Systems: Implications for Teachers’ and Students’ Empowerment, Fadhila Hadjeris (UCLA, USA)
2. Women’s Leadership and Social Change, Maria Guajardo (Soka University, Japan)
3. Using Freirean Dialogue to Overcome the Impasse in American P-12 Education, Monte J. Joffee (The Renaissance Charter School, USA) Sara A. Tirschwell (YesCare, USA), T. Willard Fair (Urban League of Greater Miami, USA) and Tai Abrams (AdmissionSquad, USA)
4. Liberation from the Banking Model of Education by Teachers as Politicians, Ota Yoshida (UCLA, USA)
5 Place-based Learning and Indigenous History and Identity in Chicanx Communities, Brian Zamora (UCLA, USA)
Part II: Education for Social Justice
6. Theater of the Oppressed and Restorative Justice, Brent Blair (University of Southern California, USA)
7. Critical Pedagogy of Storytelling in Elementary Classrooms, Moraima Machado (UC Berkeley, USA)
8. Ecopedagogy and Sustainable Education, Micheala Ensweiler (UCLA, USA)
9. LGBTQ+ Student Empowerment in an Era of Censorship, Darek Ciszek (UCLA, USA)
Conclusion, Micheala Ensweiler (UCLA, USA)
References
Index
About the Author :
Michaela L. Ensweiler is a PhD Candidate in the School of Social Sciences & Comparative Education at UCLA, USA. She is also Program Officer for the Paulo Freire Institute, USA.
Review :
The edited volume, Freire and Student Empowerment, demonstrates how Paulo Freire’s pedagogical ideas continue to have a material reality today, inspiring educators to develop innovative approaches to learning that they are currently using in both K-12 and higher education classrooms. The authors show how Freire can and should be put into conversation with other theories and pedagogical strategies, such as queer pedagogy, place-based learning, eco-pedagogy, anti-racist education, counter-narratives, learning through political activism, theatrical performances, global citizenship education, and more. The Freirean praxis that you find in these pages is not the same popular education of the last century, it is creatively adapted for the unique challenges and diverse students of the twenty-first century.
Freire and Student Empowerment is a powerful and timely collection that brings Paulo Freire’s enduring legacy into direct conversation with the urgent realities of today’s classrooms. Across its nine compelling chapters, the volume weaves together critical theory and lived experience, offering educators concrete, context-sensitive strategies for fostering voice, agency, and justice in education. Whether through ecopedagogy, place-based learning, LGBTQ+ inclusion, or counter-storytelling, this book exemplifies Freirean praxis in action—grounded, reflective, and deeply transformative. A vivacious resource for educators, scholars, and change-makers committed to humanizing and liberatory education.
