Freirean Pedagogy in Street Education: Unveiling the Impact on Street Children in Brazil

This chapter reports an evaluation of programs serving street children in Brazil during the mid-1980s. At the time, several hundred independent programs for street children had emerged all over Brazil. Paulo Freire's views and concern for an appropriate educational process that regards the cultural identity of these children and youth as well as their self-acceptance were fundamental to the conception and development of many of these programs. UNICEF commissioned a groundbreaking study that would provide a methodological basis for more comprehensive evaluations in the future. This chapter shows how Freirean pedagogy influenced both the interventions and the evaluation.