Popular education is a concept grounded in notions of class, political struggle, critical theory and social transformation. The term is a translation from the Spanish educación popular or the Portuguese educação popular. The term 'popular' in this case means 'of the people'. More specifically 'popular' refers to the 'popular classes', which include peasants, the unemployed, the working class and sometimes the lower middle class. The designation of 'popular' is meant most of all to exclude the upper class and upper middle class.