ARTICLE REVIEW

Article Review: Paulo Freire--Pedagogy of the Oppressed,



Article Review: Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Introduction

Having survived a childhood of extreme poverty, Paulo Freire was intimately aware of the dehumanization that deprivation creates. At a young age, he vowed to dedicate his life to the “struggle against hunger,” and as an adult, he kept that vow by undertaking the education of thousands of illiterate Brazilian and Chilean peasants who were the victims of paternalism, indigence, and disenfranchisement. His views on education and the struggle for liberty are captured in Pedagogy of the Oppressed, the first of his writings to be translated and published in the United States and, therefore, the work that introduced his research and methodology to the American academic world and general public. Some critics found the work vague, redundant, and needlessly complex, however, the greatest objections were caused by its content. Some felt the work advocated revolution and others criticized the work for its liberal use of quotes and concepts from socialist and communist leaders Vladimir Lenin, Karl Marx, Mao Zedong, and others. It was obvious; however, that Freire had developed a unique educational method that worked within the parameters of his environment.

Paulo Freire

Paulo Freire, one of the foremost educational philosophers of this century, has bequeathed to us many powerful means to realize the hopes he mentions here as well as numerous others he dared to speak and write off during his life.

By way of introducing this special issue, we will focus on his dialectical thinking which makes his analysis and his philosophical approach to education and social transformation so revolutionary and influential throughout the world.

It is this aspect of his work which is probably the most distinctive feature of Pedagogy of the Oppressed, his best known (and arguably most compact) work, wherein the dialectical style of writing is sustained throughout. This is not to minimize in any way the value of his other works, and particularly his later ones, where he clarifies and develops some of the positions left implicit in Pedagogy of the Oppressed. We would argue that some of these positions were also revised in the light of the new experiences of oppression and emancipation to which he was exposed in the later years of a highly eventful life as educator, activist, consultant to revolutionary governments (Guinea-Bissau, Nicaragua, Grenada) and ultimately educational policy-maker and administrator. His life was lived across different borders and in different geographical contexts.

For all the merits of his later works, Pedagogy of the Oppressed has that unity of dialectical thought and style which, for instance, one cannot possibly hope to achieve in a `talking book' in which a variety of subjects are broached and are often left underdeveloped. Pedagogy of the Oppressed also remains an enduring reference as one reads through Freire's insightful and hope-inspiring oeuvre.

Educational Context by Freire

In an educational context, Freire's approach is not necessarily focused on changing the world. The intention is to prepare people, through dialogical-problem-posing education, to want to change the world, to understand what needs to be changed and to believe ...