Critical Pedagogy

and Community
Education
1. What are Freire’s key ideas and
arguments and how do they relate to
the principles of people-centered
development? Explain and give
examples.
2. What examples from your
community/s show that poverty
dehumanizes? How should critical
pedagogy address this as argued by
Freire?
3. Identify ways by which community
education can contribute to
transforming the situation of the
oppressed poor sectors of Philippine
society. What questions or concerns
does your group have in actualizing
the role of education as a
transformative process and how
would you address them?
Principles
Empowerment-
helping partners develop stronger belief in their own
personal power and in their organized collective
action;
Participation-
substantive, meaningful, active, promotes local
ownership, people-initiated
Self-reliance –
making decisions and actions individually and as a
group, especially the marginalized; internally driven
Bias for the poor and most vulnerable-
those who are socially, politically & geographically
excluded
Equity
Accountability
The tragic dilemma of the oppressed: for
consideration with their education
 Being whole or being divided
 Ejecting the oppressor or not
 Following prescriptions or having choices
 Being spectators or actors
 Acting on their own or through the action of the oppressors
 Speaking out or being silent
Oppressed
• Fatalistic in the guise of docility
• Cannot perceive the order that
maintains the interests of the oppressor
(status quo)
• Attracted to the way of life of the
oppressor
• Self-depreciation – an internalization
of what the oppressors think of them
Oppressor
• Human beings are only themselves
• Only them have rights
• Materialistic concept of existence
• Can be violent in protecting or
preserving their interest
• Maintains their class consciousness
and lack of confidence on the abilities
of the poor/oppressed
Pedagogy of the oppressed

 Instrument for the critical discovery of the oppressed of their dehumanization

 The perception of the oppressed that their situation can be transformed
 Building solidarity with the oppressed (the oppressed and the oppressor)-
entering the situation of the oppressed and fighting at their side to transform the
objective reality
 There should be objectively verifiable conditions for a transformed situation
 Recognizing the dialectical relationship between subjectivity and objectivity
 Action-Reflection-Action – reflecting on how oppression domesticates, confront
reality critically and act towards transforming that reality
 Action without reflection is activism; reflection without action is intellectualism
 Dialogue, conscientization- resulting to their realization for the need to transform
their situation
Key Concepts of Freire

PRAXIS (ACTION/REFLECTION)
 It is not enough for people to come together in dialogue in order to gain knowledge of their social
reality. They must act together upon their environment in order to critically reflect upon their
reality and so transform it through further action and critical reflection.

DIALOGUE
 To enter into dialogue presupposes equality amongst participants. Each must trust the others;
there must be mutual respect and love (care and commitment). Each one must question what
he or she knows and realize that through dialogue existing thoughts will change and new
knowledge will be created.

CONSCIENTIZATION
 The process of developing a critical awareness of one’s social reality through reflection and
action. Action is fundamental because it is the process of changing the reality. Paulo Freire says
that we all acquire social myths which have a dominant tendency, and so learning is a critical
process which depends upon uncovering real problems and actual needs.

Role play: summarizing key ideas

Scenario: A trainor’s training activity in a resettlement community in Rodriuez, Rizal. The

participants are youth volunteers 18-25 yrs old, majority male, most of them finished high
school, some reached college level. The volunteers are being capacitated to become
community educators.

Your role: you are a group of trainers/facilitators

Your Task:
 Discuss key ideas of Mezirow’s “Transformative Learning: Theory to Practice”
 Think of a creative/illustrated manner to present these ideas to the group of volunteers
 Identify and agree on a central metaphor or symbol that you will use to communicate
Mezirow’s key ideas

Time: 30 minutes to finish the task

15-20 minutes to present