A brief & introductory discussion on the background & thought of Paolo Freire & a history & prospective analysis of the application of his ideas.

1. Paolo Freire
Philosophy’s Influence on Education
from the Developing World’s
Perspective
Sydney Philosophy Circle 2010

2. Outline
• Brief Personal Biography
• Survey of Major Works
• Historical Philosophical Background/Influence
• Philosophy Applied to Pedagogy
• Prospective Applications

3. Life & Times
• Life • Times
– Born middle class – Roaring Twenties
– Experienced poverty – Great Depression
– Entered Uni & married – World War II
– Joined government – Cold War
– PhD & political exile – Vatican II
– US & Switzerland; Africa & – Newly Industrializing
Asia Economies & Newly
– Return to Brazil Democratizing/ Re-
– Widowed, Remarried & democratized Countries
Died while working on – Advent of the Internet/
Ecopedagogy Sustainable Development

4. Major Works
Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
Pedagogy of Hope.
A Pedagogy for Liberation.: Dialogues on Transforming Education. With Ira Shor.
We Make the Road by Walking: Conversations on Education & Social Change with Myles Horton.
Paolo Freire: A Critical Encounter. Edited by Peter McLaren & P. Leonard.
Cultural Actions for Freedom.
Education for Critical Consciousness.
Education, the Practice of Freedom.
The Politics of Education: Culture; Power; and Liberation.
A Day with Paolo Freire.
Literacy: Reading the Word & the World. With Danaldo C. Macedo
Learning to Question: A Pedagogy of Liberation. With Antonio Faundez.
Pedagogy of the City.
Letters to Cristine: Reflections on my Life & More. With Donaldo C. Macedo
Pedagogy of the Heart. With Maria Araujo Freire
Teachers as Cultural Workers: Letters to Those Who Dare to Teach
The Paolo Freire Reader: with Ana Maria Araujo Freire & Donaldo C. Macedo
Pedagogy of Freedom: Ethics, Democracy & Civic Courage.

5. Philosophical Roots
• Critical Theory
– Kant: Notion of Autonomy
– Hegel & Marx: Praxis
– Disillusionment over the failure of the Enlightenment
– Social inquiry taken with the intent of exposing social
injustice required stronger normative foundations
than a theory of reason could provide
• Phenomenology
– Husserl: epoché & essence
– Heidegger: Being in the Word; Not One, Not Two

6. Philosophical Roots
• Realism (late 1800s)
– Social life = f(economics)
– Skepticism towards the supernatural
– Self-conscious Representation in History
• Modernism (early 1900s)
– Radical rejection of inherited systems
– Propose solutions/ alternatives
• Postmodernism (post WWII)
– Dismantling universal truths
– Contextualization

7. Philosophy of Man & Society
• Original State: Humans as Subjects
• Society of Subjects: Mutual Respect
• Discourse: Engagement through Dialogue
• Social Aspirations: To Become More
– Struggle Between Freedom & Control By Those
Who Believe They Know Better Over Those Who
Surrender Their Power as Co-Subjects
– Hidden Agenda/Vested Interests: Opacity
– Information: Controlling vs. Enabling

8. Freire’s Core Thinking: Situation
• Thought Banking: Objectification of Humans
– Individual Control: Denial of Subjectivity
• Obedience to Authority/Fear & Consequence
• Chance & Destiny
– Mass Programming: Beings for Another/Patronage
• Good Citizenship/Employment & Industrial Peace
• Prosperity & Security
– Behavioural Modelling: Be Like the Oppressor
• Shaping Perception, Opinion & Lifestyle
• Education as Thought Banking
• Teacher Knows All, Student Knows Nothng

9. Freire’s Core Thought: Solutions
• Critical Thinking: Anti-Objectification
– Reflection/Question
– Restoration of Dialogue
• Conscientization: Return to Man as a Subject
– Reexamination of Structures, Origins & History
– Analysing Structures & Systems
• Participation & Authorship in History
– Generating of Alternatives for Self & Community
– Building Anew Relationships

10. Paolo Freire’s Legacy
• Not So Much Philosophy
– Religio-mystical insinuations
– Biases: Culture of the Colonized/Oppressed
• One-sided fault
– Claims of Inconsistencies: Self-criticism of Bias
• e.g., the cultural excuse; revolutionary solidarity; bourgeois
condescension
• Black Consciousness Movement: Steve Biko
• Cooperative Enterprise: Mondragon Movement
• Critical Education: North America Left Wing
• Popular Education: Formerly Colonized/Newly Democratizing
Countries
• Theology of Liberation: Christianity

11. North-South Dialogues
Developed Worlds Developing World
• Political Pluralism • Self-Application
• Participatory Democracy • Legal Codification
• Developmental • Grassroots Spurred
Institutional Reforms & Development
Innovations

12. Prospective Applications
• Internet/Worldwide Web
• Gender Studies
• Counteracting Perception Management
• Good Governance: Fairness, Transparency &
Accountability
• Self-Regulation: Involving All Stakeholders,
Primarily the Consumer
• International Commerce: Equal Access &
Opportunity; Reciprocity