For Paulo Freire, a democratic education could not be conceived without a profound commitment to humanity and a recognition of the dialectical relationship between cultural existence as individuals and political and economic existence as social beings. Freire believed that to solve the educational difficulties of students from oppressed communities, educators have to look beyond the personal to the historic realm of economic, social, and political forms. To embrace a pedagogy of freedom, Freire further believed, educators need to see how the domesticating power of the dominant ideology causes teachers to become ambiguous and indecisive in the face of injustice. Critical educators need to struggle against punitive and threatening methods used within schools to instill a fear of freedom. In his writings, in his work with the illiterate in Brazil and elsewhere, and in his own life, Freire possessed an unwavering faith in the oppressed, and he identified this respect for and commitment to the oppressed as an essential ingredient for the cultivation of democratic schooling. (SLD)