EDUCATION AS THE PRACTICE OF FREEDOM: A FREIREAN PERSPECTIVE ON THE SOCIO-EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

This study investigates how pedagogical practices aimed at fostering freedom can enhance the educational function of programs for adolescents in conflict with the law, considering legal guidelines and the need for social reintegration. The central objective is to analyze how principles that value dialogue, problematization of reality, and youth protagonism, inspired by Paulo Freire’s pedagogy, can be incorporated into this context to promote meaningful and emancipatory learning. The theoretical framework adopted articulates concepts of liberating education and public policies focused on integral protection, exploring their convergence within socio-educational practices. The research was conducted through an integrative literature review, with searches in national and international databases using specific descriptors and predefined inclusion criteria. The results indicate that practices based on active participation and community integration contribute to reducing recidivism and strengthening citizenship, provided they are accompanied by intersectoral policies and continuous training of teams. It is concluded that the articulation between emancipatory pedagogical principles and normative guidelines enables concrete advances in the effectiveness of socio-educational actions, although structural and implementation challenges remain. The implications for the scientific field include the need to expand applied research and develop evaluative models to measure the impact of such practices on social and school reintegration.