Paulo Freire’s reflections on the relationship between technique, humanism, and education began to take shape in his 1959 thesis for a competitive examination for a professorship, Education and Brazilian Actuality.

Drawing in part on the contributions of philosopher Álvaro Vieira Pinto concerning the concept of “technique,” Freire laid the critical foundations for what we now discuss in the field of Information and Communication Technologies in education.

In the contemporary context, this analysis allows us to understand digital literacy as an anthropological and epistemological issue within the virtual environment. Based on Brazilian research and experiences, it can be observed that such literacy goes far beyond mastering basic operational skills, such as using a mouse, dragging, copying, pasting, or conducting searches on the internet.

However, with the emergence of Artificial Intelligence and the growing influence of Big Tech companies, public education policies do not always adequately keep pace with this reality, although the debate has intensified.

Against this backdrop, Paulo Freire’s thought remains remarkably relevant, as it brings back fundamental principles for the construction of a democratic, critical, and humanizing education, with or without the mediation of technologies.

In this sense, we still consider the reading of the article Contemporary Spheres for The Teaching Education: Freire’s Principles, available here, to be highly relevant, given its contribution to reflecting on the relationships among technique, education, humanism, and teacher education. This issues that remain central in the face of the transformations brought about by digital technologies and Artificial Intelligence.

Cite: Gomez, M. V. (2006). Contemporary Spheres for The Teaching Education: Freire’s Principles. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 7(2), 52-65.