Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
Oh! man, this book hits different.
It’s basically Freire calling out the old-school classroom vibe where teachers just dumps facts into students’ heads like they’re empty bank accounts (he calling it the “banking model”). He say that the system keep people down and obedient. Instead, people is supposed to asking real questions about how to exit the matrix.
The big idea is critical consciousness—waking up to how each form of oppression work so you can fighting it, not just complains about it.
You finish it thinking, “Yeah, education could actually help free people instead of controlling them.”
If you care about teaching, activism, or just making the world less shitty, it’s one of those books that stays with you. Definitely worth reading.