August 22, 2005
Freire, Paolo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Trans. Myra Bergman Ramos. New York: Continuum, 1970.
(page numbers cited here reflect the 2000 reprint of this text, which includes an introduction by Donaldo Macedo, abstracted separately on this site. Following the chapter summaries are suggestions for practical classroom application.)
Pedagogy of the Oppressed is probably the single most influential book in the critical pedagogy movement, and it has revolutionized classroom practice across disciplines. The book’s central thesis is that all education should be “co-intentional,” meaning that all members of the classroom, both teachers and students, should engage as active subjects in the examination and critique of knowledge, thereby engaging also in the re-creation of knowledge on a non-oppressive model. It is in dialogue, the encounter of multiple human subjects with each other through language, that change is made possible and that knowledge is created in a non-oppressive fashion.
Chapter summaries follow. Chapter headings are of my own creation and are not in the original text.
Chapter 1: The nature of oppression and the need for liberation through pedagogy
Oppression leads to dehumanization, both for the oppressors and the oppressed. It is the task of the oppressed, whose strength springs from his very oppression, to restore humanity to both. Yet the oppressed fear freedom. Having always lived as contingent beings (“beings for another” in Hegel’s terminology), the oppressed have internalized the consciousness of the oppressors. Freire derives this argument from Hegel’s famous master-slave dialectic. Hegel’s formulation is also central to the thought of Karl Marx, the philosopher most influential to Freire’s thought. All of Freire’s pedagogy arises out of a Marxist revolutionary model, and is derived in the name of class struggle.
The key step Freire takes beyond the Marxian model is to note “the eminently pedagogical nature of the revolution.” (67) For Freire, pedagogy is a form of Marxian praxis, or revolutionary action. Freire explores “the problem of critical intervention” (53) in detail, noting that education and critique typically re-enact the master-slave dynamic. A liberating pedagogy, he argues, must be “co-intentional,” involving the equal interaction of teacher and student in a dialogue, ultimately breaking the cycle of oppression and re-creating the world in a non-oppressive form.
Chapter 2: An alternative to the “banking” concept of education
This is the most famous and widely-read chapter of Pedagogy of the Oppressed. In it, Freire distinguishes between two pedagogical styles: the “banking” concept of education and the “problem-posing” method of education. While the first works in the favor of the oppressors, the second fosters critical consciousness and revolutionary change.
“Education is suffering from narration sickness” (72), Freire claims. In the “banking” concept of education, the teacher actively narrates and the student is passively “filled up” with knowledge. The “bank-clerk educator” engages in a dichotomized teaching process: first the object of knowledge is conceived and formulated (planning), and then it is conveyed in narrative form to the passive students (lecture).
The “problem-posing” educator, on the other hand, is never narrative, but always engaging himself and his students in critical thinking. The object of reflection belongs equally to himself and to his students. By stressing cognition and communication over narration and memorization, the teacher facilitates the coming-into-consciousness of thinking and speaking subjects, not passive, oppressed objects. This consciousness “turned in upon itself” perpetuates knowledge as a continual becoming, a generative practice of endless potentiality and creation.
Chapters 3 & 4: Dialogics and pedagogical method
The last two chapters present a detailed program for how the educator may go about encouraging transformative critical consciousness in students. Only complete trust, love, and humility on the part of the educator towards the student allows the opening of dialog and facilitates an horizontal rather than vertical (or hierarchical) relationship between educator and student. Freire suggests that transformative, empowering consciousness arises only when the educator addresses issues within the “generative themes” (or world-view) of the students. Only if students can generate knowledge from their own point of view is that knowledge liberating for them. It is the teacher’s goal to facilitate this event, and Freire’s detailed pedagogy in these chapters outlines how that may be achieved.
Practical Applications:
1.
Put chairs in a circle so that every individual in the classroom (including most importantly you, the teacher!) is at the same physical level and is looking inward toward a shared center of focus. Freire’s book is one of the roots of the “put your chairs in a circle” move in the classroom. If you have never tried it before, now is a good first chance. If you do it all the time, next time you are teaching in a circle, recall the philosophical reasons why Freire attacks the “banking” concept of education. The traditional teacher to classroom relationship replicates the dominance of the oppressor over the disempowered oppressed. By finding herself physically on the same level as the teacher, the student realizes that she is a subject rather than an object in the educational environment. This realization can facilitate a break from the cycle of oppression.
The implications of this practice for the racially-mixed classroom are immediately evident. The environment of equality fostered by this setup works to counteract any feelings of disenfranchisement or otherness on the part of those who might feel that they are racially marked in the classroom.
2.
Rather than giving information in the classroom, attempt to open dialog. In Freire’s words “To achieve this praxis [a liberating pedagogy] … it is necessary to trust in the oppressed and their ability to reason.” (66) Come to the classroom with no plan beyond presenting an object for reflection and allowing all members of the classroom to engage critically with that object. Cognitive engagement rather than passive reception empowers students and is key to Freire’s liberation pedagogy.
3.
Read Chapters 3 and 4 of Pedagogy of the Oppressed in detail. Practice utilizing the method outlined as a way to engage students in reflection from the basis of their own “generative themes” or world-view, thus empowering them to the experience of transformative knowledge.
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