Chapter 21: Touching the Sacred Garment: Paulo Freire, The Frankfurt School and Beyond

Critical Theory emphasizes that all knowledge is historical and biased, and that “objective” knowledge is illusory. Critical pedagogy, particularly the version popularized by Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, has its roots in the theories of the “Frankfurt School,” a term used to describe the neo-Marxian social theory characteristic of the Institut für Sozialforschung (Institute for Social Research). The institute was founded on February 3, 1923, at the University of Frankfurt, albeit the only issue of its research journal published in Germany was its first (Ludwig Pongratz in Fischman, McLaren, Suenker, & Lankshear, 2005, p. 154).

This chapter examines four critical theorists in the field of education with an accompanying annotated bibliography of the selected works of a few others. The selections included in this paper emanate from the author’s belief that these works best represent the most important intellectual contributions of each theorist and his influence on practioners associated with social education and social issues. Included in the annotated bibliography are a few critical theorists whose writings have directly influenced academic disciplines such as science, language arts, and social studies.