Is freedom social achievement? Freire and Vygotsky from the perspective of human rights education

Abstract

Freedom as a concept has been investigated by countless areas of human knowledge such as Art/Poetics, Philosophy, Law, Education, Psychology, among others. In the present article, we develop a theoretical essay on freedom emphasizing the contributions of Paulo Freire and Lev Vygotsky from the perspective of education in and for human rights. Therefore, we also discuss some historical, etymological and philosophical contributions of the term in question. In this regard, we highlight the relationship between freedom, education and politics, enduring since antiquity. The relations between education, freedom and politics are also emphasized when dealing with Freire’s contributions, which discuss education as praxis of freedom, considering the capacity for reflection/criticism, mobilization and human creation based on the concept of awareness. Lev Vygotsky, on the other hand, while developing his psychological theory which emphasizes the social constitution of the psyche, reflects on consciousness and freedom, pointing up the emotional dimension. In this bias, based on some approximations between authors, we aim to contribute to the debate regarding freedom, education and democracy or, still, to the creation of more just and solidary social models, which take affectivity and responsibility/commitment as fundamental aspects of freedom itself.