Freire endorses students' ability to think critically about their education situation; this way of thinking is thought by practitioners of critical pedagogy to allow them to "recognize connections between their individual problems and experiences and the social contexts in which they are embedded".
Freire mendukung kemampuan siswa untuk berpikir kritis mengenai tinjauan situasi pendidikan mereka; cara berpikir demikian dianggap oleh praktisi pedagogi kritis akan memungkinkan mereka untuk "mengenali hubungan antara peninjauan masalah masing-masing dengan pengalaman dan Konteks Sosial di mana mereka berada."