Paulo Freire

 Yuliet Renteria

Critical pedagogy was founded by the Brazilian philosopher and educator Paulo Freire, who promoted it through his 1968 book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed. It subsequently spread internationally, developing a particularly strong base in the United States, where proponents sought to develop means of using teaching to combat racism, sexism, and oppression. As it grew, it incorporated elements from fields like the Human rights movement, Civil rights movement, Disability rights movement, Indigenous rights movement, postmodern theory, feminist theory, postcolonial theory, and queer theory.

The theory is influenced by Karl Marx who believed that inequality is a result of socioeconomic differences and that all people need to work toward a socialized economy. More recently, critical pedagogy can also be traced back to Paulo Freire's best-known 1968 work, The Pedagogy of the Oppressed. 

He explains that this came from his experience as a teacher in Brazil and when he was in political exile. During this time, he noticed that his students had an unconscious fear of freedom, or rather: a fear of changing the way the world is. Freire then outlines the likely criticisms his book will face. Furthermore, his audience should be radicals—people that see the world as changing and fluid—and he admits that his argument will most likely be missing things. Basing his method of finding freedom on the poor and middle class's experience with education, Freire states that his ideas are rooted in reality—not purely theoretical. Paulo Freire defines praxis in Pedagogy of the Oppressed as "reflection and action directed at the structures to be transformed. "Through praxis, oppressed people can acquire a critical awareness of their own condition, and, with teacher-students and student-teachers, struggle for liberation.

After reading Paulo Freire's text on “the ‘banking’ concept of education”, it made me recall my situation in a primary and secondary school as a child where we will all sit in class and “listen meekly” and we were filled with fear whenever we were around those who taught us (respect). This made me see why Freire was so bold about this “concept”. He sees this concept as a necessary evil because it causes division in society between the teacher and the student.

After reading Paulo Freire's text on “the ‘banking’ concept of education”, it made me recall my situation in a primary and secondary school as a child where we will all sit in class and “listen meekly”  and we were filled with fear whenever we were around those who taught us (respect). This made me see why Freire was so bold about this “concept”. He sees this concept as a necessary evil because it causes division in society between the teacher and the student.