Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and the idea of what has come to be known as "critical

pedagogy" pose education in a different light than many other educational philosophies. Do any of
the points made by Freire speak to you? Is there something you intensely disagree with? What are
your views on the idea of critical pedagogy?

In light of the current economic, social, and political status of our world, Paulo Freire’s
Pedagogy of the Oppressed and his idea of “critical pedagogy”, has become more relevant
today than ever before. The central pillars of this pedagogy are curiosity and activism. It seeks
to build up creative and critical thinking skills in students by encouraging them to question
everything.
There are two points that really resonated with me during this reading. The first was
when Freire asserts that “the whole activity of education is political in nature.” (Shor and Freire
1987:46) This point really hit home with when considering the status of most inner-city schools
in America. It is understood that schools in rich neighborhoods consistently deliver higher test
scores and graduation rates. Likewise, the opposite is true for schools and students residing in
poor neighborhoods.
The next point that really spoke to me was when Schor(1992) concludes the following in
response to Freire’s critique of school politics: “…domination in school includes a traditional
curriculum which interferes with the democratic and critical development of students. After
years in passive classrooms, students do not see themselves as people who can transform
knowledge and society.” (Schor 1992, p. 27) This next point really hit home with me for several
reasons. During my undergraduate coursework, I began to realize how much schools tended to
look more like businesses than institutes of knowledge, skills, and values. I believe that most
policy-makers do not really want citizens to be well-developed and informed thinkers. After all,
scared and ignorant citizens generate more wealth for the economy.

To summarize, I find Freire’s critical pedagogy to be of the utmost usefulness in today’s societal
climate. In business, when business model fails, it is analyzed and improved upon. However,
there are schools that have been failing year after year, but still cling to the same business
model. This tragic reality highlights the importance of implementing Freire’s critical pedagogy in
today’s world. I believe that if we are to make progress as the human race, we must keep
critical pedagogy at the forefront of educational reform. Critical pedagogy must be widely-
adopted as a means of analyzing our impact on the world and each other.

References:

 Jordan, Adam. (2016, March 3). Horace Mann’s impact on education. [Video file]. Retrieved
February 25, 2018, from https://youtu.be/rk6zyEiyaXA

Schor, I. (1992). Education is politics: Paulo Freire's critical pedagogy. In Paulo Freire: A critical
encounter. [pdf] (pp. 24-36). Retrieved from eBook Central in LIRN.