Daring to Dream is a posthumously published collection of some of Freire's writing, speeches, and dialogues, assembled by his second wife.
The book is premised on Freire's idea of history as possibility rather than as determinism. In other words, we can take the attitude that things are the way they are, and there is nothing we can do about it (fatalism, determinism), to say, "that is the reality of things;" or that we can play a part in making history (possibility), by taking the attitude that, "reality can and must be mutable; it must be transformable."
Freire wants the oppressed peoples to realize that history is not determined, to raise their consciousness that they have agency in this world, to transform the world rather than adapting to it, to participate in history rather than being subject to it.
They can act upon history, rather than merely being acted upon by those in more powerful positions. Freire's teaching philosophy includes the notion that by discussing the notion of culture with learners, the teacher can help learners to be creators of culture, "not simply as a spectator of the world, but as someone who intervenes, who is capable of intervention in the world, are able to change the world." Freire is inspired, even in his old age, by "the possibility of surpassing the condition of object and reaching the condition of subject, maker of the world, remaker of the world." In order to realize the view of history as possibility, we have choices when we confront "limit situations:" decide that we cannot possibly overcome the situation, decide that we don't want to overcome it, at least for the time being, or decide that it is something to be overcome.
But the key theme of the book is the notion that in order to sustain this idea that you can be a participant in history, the idea of history as possibility, then you also must have a vision or dream of what the future might look like. Why should this be a 'dare?' For a few reasons, I think: you might dream of something better and find your current situation so depressingly far from that, that you give up trying to do anything about it; or, looking at the current situation, you might limit your vision of the future, whereas Freire wants you to go way beyond a vision that might be constricted by current conditions; and, in your dream of the future, you might be ridiculed by those around you, precisely as a "dreamer."
I see a parallel here with Christian values, which influenced Freire's thinking. A person who holds the Christian values of beneficence, forgiveness, and helping the poor and the weak, might envision a society that eradicates poverty, one in which the poor are taken care of. Although it may be impossible to bring about this society right now - or even to imagine it as a real possibility - it is important to hold that idea in your mind, be inspired by it, and let it guide your actions.
Freire is writing for people who, in his words, "refuse to settle," who hold in themselves a dream of democracy and liberation. He is realistic about what people can accomplish. He does not believe that today's struggles will necessarily accomplish their goals, but they may lay the ground work for future generations. This is why the book is subtitled, "Toward a pedagogy of the unfinished."
Read this to deepen your well of knowledge of the transformational possibilities of education, as well as education's limits; let it inspire you to conceive your own 'dream' by which to be guided as an educator.
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Alan Broomhead
Utopian vision as moral compass for educators
Reviewed in the United States on 19 October 2010