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Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Paulo Freire

+Who is Paulo Freire?

Take a look at this brief biography on Freire

How did his life experiences influence his thinking and ideas that we see in Pedagogy of the Oppressed?

+Critical Pedagogy

Freire was a critical pedagogy theorist – but what does that mean? Click here to find out more about itOur old friend John Dewey was also

influential in the field of critical pedagogy, but perhaps some of the other authors we’ve read would agree with these ideas as well – what do you think?

+Methods of Education

Check out this video for a quick review on what Freire wrote about the banking concept of education vs. the problem-posing method

OR

+Banking or Problem-Posing?

Freire makes a strong case for the problem-posing method of education. Teachers can certainly learn from their students, and dialogue is very important in the classroom.

How do you feel about his transfer of oppression to the school setting? This can be looked at in a couple ways… Oppression of minorities Oppression of student by teacher (regardless of race,

culture, gender, age, etc.)

+With which method would the other authors we have studied agree?

BANKING CONCEPT

PROBLEM-POSING METHOD

+Banned

Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed was banned from schools in Tucson, Arizona earlier this year, along side the suspension controversy of Tucson’s Mexican American Studies program.

The ban on Freire is based on his political leanings toward socialism, but the developers of the MAS program simply liked his ideas about education. As Julio Cammarota said, “‘Why aren’t they talking about

Jack London? Why aren’t they talking about Steinbeck or Orwell? All of them were open socialists.’”

What do you think? Is this ban Freire’s oppression at work?

+The Oppressed: Who Are They?

There are different ways that people can be oppressed – just think of all the types of prejudices that exist in our society

Social relations are dynamic and contextual

How about “adultism”, that is, the “overbearing domination of adults” over children? Here, Freire’s ideas are applied to Maria Montessori’s

+Overcoming Injustice

Watch this interview with Freire

He supported multicultural education, which is apparent in his discussion about tolerance of other languages

He also says people need to learn the dominant syntax to overcome injustice

What do you make of this in terms of what he said about the oppressed enabling their situation by buying into the conditions set forth by the oppressed?

+The Complexity of the Issue

We’ve already discussed the delicate and elaborate nature of education’s role in this country

Even after his death, Freire’s work lives on “Democracy is a fragile entity…Understanding these

diverse dimensions and structures that shape schooling and the knowledge it conveys is necessary…to the very survival of democratic schooling – not to mention the continued existence of democracy itself.”

Do you think critical pedagogy can account for the complexity of improving education? If so, how? If not, why?

+References

About paulo friere. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2012, from http://www.pedagogyoftheoppressed.com/author/

Education as human liberation (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2012, from http://www.csupomona.edu/~plin/ls201/montess_freire2.html

Kincheloe, J. L. (n.d.) Retrieved November 18, 2012, from http://www.freireproject.org/Freire_Critical_Pedagogy_Project_Description

Kylarayen. (2012, March 13). Freire’s banking concept of education [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoxHpNYFg5E

LiteracyDotOrg. (2009, December 30). Paulo freire – an incredible conversation [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFWjnkFypFA

Planas, R. (2012, April 19). Neither banned nor allowed: Mexican american studies in limbo in arizona. Retrieved from http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/04/19/neither-banned-nor-allowed-mexican-american-studies-in-limbo-in-arizona/

What is critical pedagogy? (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2012 from http://www.21stcenturyschools.com/What_is_Critical_Pedagogy.htm