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Progressivism: John Dewey and Paulo Freire

EDUC 5010

Joseph Isaac

University of the People

September 22, 2021

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Progressivism: John Dewey and Paulo Freire

Intro to the theory

Progressive education views the individual as a being who creates his or her own history. Its

methodology entails creating teaching activities that place the student at the center of the teaching-learning

process. The interests, themes, and challenges of the student's daily life are included into the curriculum. The

teacher must explain the social reality in order to reveal notions and prejudices that impede intellectual

autonomy. Students must also be constantly aware of social issues, as they are critical to achieve a significant

shift in education. At the core of progressive education, is the school, which must be seen as a space for access

to cultural and intellectual production. Individuals, according to progressive education, create their own history.

Major details

The concerns of the progressive era, in terms of greater social and economic justice, are reflected in

Dewey's work. For him, only a change in educational terms can lead to social reform. Focusing initially on

issues of education and schooling, his writings progressively become more focused on the elaboration of a

philosophy of experience, having, however, a direct relevance for education.

The confirmation of a strong link between democracy and education is one of Dewey's pillars of

thinking. He contrasts between democracy in the strict meaning, which refers to a government system (political

democracy), and democracy in the wide sense, which refers to a societal concept.

The Liberation Pedagogy, also known as Paulo Freire's Pedagogy, expresses the idea of humanizing the

teacher as a guide in the educational process; its objective is to raise critical awareness regarding social life,

inequalities and competitiveness in all social classes, especially in the low-income class (Freire 1992). Freire's

thought is based on the desire to form a fairer and more egalitarian society, based on the full training of

students. Its pedagogy emphasizes the need for a deep reflection on educational practice; for him, the lack of

reflection makes theory just a vague discourse and practice, in turn, becomes a mere alienated reproduction.

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Thus, it is essential that the theory is adequate to the teacher's daily practice; moreover, critical practice and

valuing emotions must go hand in hand.

"In comparing Dewey and Freire, one both finds each easier to understand and each concerned with

similar problems of a class-based society which threatens to submerge and miseducate individuals in the lower

classes” (Betz, 1992)

Why this philosophy speaks to me

To begin with, I believe it is fair to say that I am proud of having one of the most famous educational

thinkers as my compatriot. His centenary is celebrated this year (2021), and despite international recognition,

Freire’s pedagogy is still unknown to many other Brazilians. Paulo Freire’s pedagogy reflects the ideas of John

Dewey in another level, the one applied to a developing country that has been suffering from the consequences

of European invasions that began in 1500 and still reverberates in our people’s education.

Bartlet (2005), points that ”Freire advocated a directive role for teachers that nonetheless respected

student autonomy and built upon student knowledge”. Linking his ideas to the ones developed by Piaget and

Vygotsky, I see that autonomy, social interaction and critical thinking as being central guiding concepts to be

developed by teachers.

How my belief in this philosophy impacts my classroom practice

Democratic education guides my goals in teaching. My school reality is not of the poor and unprivileged

who were subject of Freire’s multiple books and experimental groups, it is mostly the opposite. I have long ago

decided that, as a teacher in a privileged high class school, it is part of my role to raise awareness to the

inequalities of my country, and one of my strategies is to present and provoke students with situations that they

need to use critical thinking and reflect upon the current urgencies of most of the population. "On the issue of

the goal of education, Dewey agrees with Freire that the goal is both the fully developed individual and the

democratic society which makes this individual possible" (Betz, 1992).

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References

Bartlett, L. (2005). Dialogue, Knowledge, and Teacher-Student Relations: Freirean Pedagogy in Theory and

Practice. Comparative Education Review, 49(3), 344–364. https://doi.org/10.1086/430261

Betz, J. (1992). John Dewey and Paulo Freire. Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society, 28(1), 107–126.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/40320356

Freire, P. (1992). Pedagogy of hope: Reliving pedagogy of the oppressed. Continuum.