Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Freire
Introduction:
Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire is one of those classic texts where the author attempts to examine the relationship between teacher and student who ends up as being simply an absorbent of knowledge in every respect. Basically the book is based on Freire’s own experiences in attempting to teach Brazilian children to read and write in conditions which are rather repressive as well as being compared to Marxist education. The author does not mince his words in this respect and for him the situation is one which is rather problematic as children who come from poor backgrounds have problems with their life chances as they can never make the grade in this respect.
My Reaction to What I Just Read Is That the book focuses on the message that the poor have to be educated properly to be able to survive in this day and age. Freire’s classic arguments continue to focus on the importance of helping and assisting the poor who face considerable problems in their lives especially due to the fact that they cannot hope to achieve anything without education. In this sense, the ‘oppressed’ are those poor people who do not have any hope of advancing forward in life and through this book, Freire attempts to address the situation providing some classic pedagogic examples and an advanced style in the instruction of his students although he also deeply criticizes the standard pedagogic approach which seems to focus on filling the students with knowledge without any sort of application. Naturally this may seem to be rather unfulfilling in every respect but life is also full of these sorts of problems and this book is a way to address same.
I think that Freire’s ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’ is a strikingly original way of looking at problems which are of an intrinsic nature in education. Freire argues that all education is political so it is important that students know what they are letting themselves in for in this respect as they continue to face life which offers its own challenges. This is especially true of developing countries where the opportunities and life chances for students are indeed severely limited and do not offer any sort of opportunities for advancement. Through advanced pedagogic techniques, Freire manages to address this situation accordingly offering his own solutions to educational problems in this respect.
I see that Freire has also come in for a fair share of criticism due to his rather advanced techniques of pedagogy. Perhaps the traditionalists may feel oppressed themselves as the solutions that they are proposing are not working but there is also the issue of moving forward on certain problems which face the whole educational system worldwide. Freire takes the example of his native Brazil which unfortunately still has large sections of the population which are mired in ignorance and lack a basic and proper education. Of course he does attempt to address these problems through his own pedagogic techniques but this is obviously not always successful. Freire has come in for criticism that his book is too leftist and very much on the Marxist side but one obviously has to note that rightist and free market techniques do not work at all in this respect and a solution has to be found where pedagogy can help the oppressed people and not hinder them. Fortunately Freire does seem to brush off the criticism levelled at him with his reactions and his book remains the classic standard text in this regard.
I feel that most of the criticism levelled at Freire is intrinsically unfair for a number of reasons. First of all his book is very well explained and offers some strikingly original teaching methods which should be applied in those schools which have pupils who are at a disadvantaged level of society. Secondly, Freire bases his own solutions upon personal experiences so in this respect he is definitely not inventing his own words or mixing things up. Thirdly he applies the best scenarios for Marxist solutions which have worked in developing economies and applies them to the educational system, something which definitely has its own advantages in this respect. Thus the criticism levelled at his techniques which admittedly is mostly by the free marketeers is unjust and grossly unfair.
It seems that Freire is an accepted author worldwide and that his solutions are definitely accepted the world over so there is no need to find excuses for him in this respect. Naturally enough, one will always find those who create problems for advanced techniques in pedagogy but one has to fight these accordingly. Obviously there are those who accept Freire’s pedagogic techniques which are very much forward looking and full of opportunities for those who are in suffering and who are poor. Basically the text is a strong political statement which looks forward to certain challenges in society which eventually are classless and without any sort of discrimination.
In my opinion, Freire does manage to arrive at a pedagogic solution accordingly but this also means that the issues addressed in the book are not always clear. Actually he does not seem to be intrinsically focused on educational techniques or changes but this does not mean that the book cannot be used for such instructional teaching. In any case the book moves forward in this respect and by proposing a classless society it is also intrinsically intriguing and interesting in this respect.
Because, the book includes the word oppressed, some may seem to observe that it is some sort of tract which intrinsically focuses on bringing about equality in society. However this is not exactly the case. This is due to the fact that Freire can be strangely circumstantial in all his techniques of educational pedagogy but when one understands what is actually going on then all is well and clear. His proposal for a classless society is intrinsically intriguing and full of life while the whole argument against it is one which is rather one sided in this respect.
A good quote is: “there neither is, nor has ever been, an educational practice in zero space-time—neutral in the sense of being committed only to preponderantly abstract, intangible ideas.” (Freire, 2007)
Here one can examine Freire’s attitude to instructional education which more often than not is completely misunderstood and which offers solutions to the problems of intractable educational practices. The intangibility of education is perhaps one of Freire’s intrinsic strong points and the way he tackles all the procedures gives rise to a completely radical approach in this respect.
In addition, one may feel that Freire is not addressing the true problems in the educational sector but his techniques cannot be described as reactionary or backward in any respect. Indeed he is consistently on the ball and offers all sorts of solutions to problems which are faced almost every day by teachers with problematic students.
For example, Freire does seem to tackle the problem poised by children who come from deprived backgrounds but which are hugely intelligent and have a lot of potential which is overlooked
Moreover, Freire also proposes solutions to the problems encountered when teaching such children and although these may seem to be slightly radical in some respects, there is no denying their effectiveness.
However, problems of conflict and theories will also arise when the book is applied to the current educational scenario. Consequently, one must always address the issues with an open mind as the book will not be understood if it is taken solely at face value.
Finally, one has to note that the book is not actually intended for teachers but is a solution to the problems of a holistic educational policy which does not always succeed especially in developing countries which have huge problems in addressing such situations.
In conclusion, I would state that Freire’s ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’ is a true classic in every respect as it demonstrates the importance of a holistic approach to those problems which are faced by the poor and those whose life chances are severely limited. Freire’s application of Marxist techniques may appear to be retrograde at first but the end product is surely something which thrills to the bone in its far reaching sensations.
References:
Freire P (2007): Pedagogy of the Oppressed; Continuum, New York
