Paulo Freire and the methodology of thematic investigation for permanent teacher education

This text presents the principles which were the basis of permanent teacher education, as it was constructed and applied in the city of São Paulo’s public school system, during the period in which Paulo Freire was the Municipal Secretary of Education. The article also highlights the method-ology of thematic investigation (Freire, 1987), within the paradigm of Action Research, as it brings a new perspective to teacher education, under-stood as a path to help teachers gain a deeper understanding, and to critically evaluate their own practices. The research on the relevance of Paulo Freire’s thought nowadays is presented, in this text, as part of the work that has been developed at the Paulo Freire Cathedra at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP), in Brazil. Amongst the em-pirical works, within the ambit of this research, emphasis will be given to a doctoral thesis which adopts Freire’s concept of permanent teacher education and, at the same time, applies the methodology of thematic investigation as the principal methodological process, recreating this proposal in the context of teacher education-research.