This paper discusses the emergence and development of popular education in Indonesia. It studies the emergence and development of critical education after the translation of Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed in 1985. In addition to Freire's influential book, the Frankfurt School's critical theory has influenced the development of critical pedagogy in Indonesia, where critical pedagogy and critical theory are developed in a dialectical and humanizing manner to build people's self-consciousness and establish justice and democracy in society. The evolution of critical thinking in education happened during the reign of the Indonesian dictator Suharto's centralized government (1967-1998). The diffusion of Freire's ideas contributed significantly to people's education in Indonesia during 1980-1990, when many activists and NGOs developed forms of emancipatory and participatory practices in building grassroots organizations and civil society activities. Popular education is a praxis of critical pedagogy in Indonesia's experience. This paper uses critical pedagogy for the contemporary debate in this field.