For Freire,
the purposes of education are to enlighten the masses about the inequities that their social order has inflicted upon them and to empower them to acquire their freedom. Whatever is learned is a function of these purposes. Thus, reading is taught not to prepare people for a job or for the sake of coming to know great literature, but so that they may become aware of the oppression that characterises their lives. (Longstreet Shane 1993: 66-7)