From Brazil to the Tribe: A Comparative Study of Educational Justice from the Perspective of Two Educational Educators (Paulo Freire and Mohammad Bahmanbeigi)

Educational justice, as one of the fundamental indicators of sustainable development, is a multi-layered and multi-dimensional concept that goes beyond the level of distribution of resources and also includes cognitive, cultural, and participatory dimensions. In an era when educational inequalities continue to challenge societies around the world, the discourse on literacy and educational justice assumes particular importance. This article, with a comparative approach, examines justice from the perspective of two educational educators, Paulo Freire and Mohammad Bahmanbeigi, and their approaches to literacy and emancipatory education. Freire, a Brazilian educational educator, emphasizes emancipatory education based on critical awareness in the heart of colonial structures; while Bahmanbeigi, with an indigenous perspective, considers education as a tool for dignity and self-confidence in the deprived nomadic society of Iran. Both pioneers defended educational justice; of course, from different cultural and educational perspectives, they highlighted the global struggle against illiteracy and the effort for educational justice.
In this study, we first examine approaches to educational justice, and then, after examining Paulo Freire’s educational philosophy and his advocacy of active engagement and critical education as a means of liberation, and examining Mohammad Bahmanbeigi’s educational approach focused on addressing the unique challenges of Iran’s nomadic population, we will conduct a comparative analysis of Freire’s and Bahmanbeigi’s educational theories, examining the convergence and divergence of the practices of these two educators based on approaches to educational justice, and then examining their perspectives on social change through education. By interweaving the methodological complexities and impacts of their work, this study aims to shed light on the broader implications of their contributions to adult education, literacy, and the ongoing struggle for educational justice.
The findings show that, according to the theoretical background, educational justice has diverse approaches, but Paulo Freire's position can be analyzed mainly in three areas: critical justice, educational existentialism, and educational postmodernism. In light of the theoretical background, Bahmanbeigi's thought can be linked to the approaches of equal opportunity, educational adequacy, educational existentialism, educational feminism, and social utilitarianism.