Theater and the Liberating Education of Paulo Freire in health education: experiences in a Brazilian public school

Abstract This work has been carried out with a group of Youth and Adult Education in southern Brazil. The theoretical framework was based on Paulo Freire’s Liberating Education, on Augusto Boal’s Theater of the Oppressed, and on Jacob Levy Moreno’s Theater of Spontaneity, and was guided by participant observation research. The results point to the need to develop health actions articulated with the social aspects involved, constructing . research that will contribute to the resolution of problems from a dialogical process with the community. Similarly, the use of the Theater of Spontaneity was fundamental in understanding the “other’s perspective”, and for the success of the actions carried out by professionals in Education. Against the backdrop of the association between low schooling, vulnerability to diseases, and reduced quality of life, what becomes clear is the urgent need for the construction of educational practices to raise the awareness of the population as a whole.