This book contains letters that show why a teacher's success depends on a permanent commitment to learning and training, as part of an ongoing appraisal of classroom practice. It challenges all teachers to reflect critically on the meaning of the act of teaching as well as the meaning of learning. Freire, Paulo Foreword -- Preface: A Pedagogy for Life -- Introduction -- First Words: A Pedagogical Trap -- First Letter: Reading the World/Reading the Word -- Second Letter: Don’t Let the Fear of What Is Difficult Paralyze You -- Third Letter: I Came into the Teacher Training Program Because I Had No Other Options -- Fourth Letter: On the Indispensable Qualities of Progressive Teachers for Their Better Performance -- Fifth Letter: The First Day of School -- Sixth Letter: On the Relationship Between the Educator and the Learners -- Seventh Letter: From Talking to Learners to Talking to Them and with Them; From Listening to Learners to Being Heard by Them -- Eighth Letter: Cultural Identity and Education -- Ninth Letter: Concrete Context/Theoretical Context -- Tenth Letter: Once More the Question of Discipline -- Last Words: To Know and to Grow—Everything Yet to See -- Afterword