ELAF 806 Seminar in the Educational Thought: Social Foundations of Education K. Clemens & E. Kontaxakis Wednesday, July 8, 2009 Discussion Starter – P. Freire (1970) “Pedagogy of the Oppressed”

Chapter 1 “Any situation in which ‘A’ objectively exploits ‘B’ or hinders his and her pursuit of self-affirmation as a responsible person is one of oppression. Such a situation in itself constitutes violence, even when sweetened by false generosity, because it interferes with the individual’s ontological (reason for being) and historical vocation to be more fully human.” p. 37

Chapter 1, continued Humanization vs. Dehumanization – “both the oppressed and their oppressors are manifestations of dehumanization” p. 30  What is it to be human?

Chapter 1, continued Interplay between the oppressed and their oppressors  “dialectical relationship to the oppressor, as his antithesis – that without them the oppressor could not exist” p. 31 Oppressed must not become oppressors “rather restorers of the humanity of both” p. 26 False generosity, p. 26, 36 Fear of freedom, p. 28 Prescription, p. 29 Freedom, p. 29 Liberation/Conversion, pages, 31 & 43…a Phoenix Process? Necrophilic view pages, pages 41 & 47 Vulnerability, Trust & Belief in self and the other, pages 42, 46, 47, 48 Domination/Domestication, p. 40, 43, 47  Propaganda p. 48, 49, 50

Chapter 1, continued What is the condition of those who are oppressed?  Fear of freedom (p. 28)  Duality (p. 30)  Hosts of the oppressor (p. 30)  Objectification (p. 47, 50)  …More?

Chapter 1, continued Major question on page 36: “But if the implementation of a liberating education requires political power and the oppressed have none, how then is it possible to carry out the pedagogy of the oppressed prior to the revolution?”…more in Chapter 4…  systematic education vs. educational projects  Dialogue (more in Chap. 3)

Chapter 1, continued What is the oppressor’s condition?  Discovery that they are an oppressor can cause anguish…true solidarity must appear or it is a farce. p What is meant by solidarity here?  Liberation is not in their interest (p. 34)  Their own humanity is negated (p. 37)…”as the oppressors dehumanize others and violate their rights, they themselves also become dehumanized” (p. 38).  Oppressor consciousness (p. 40)  …More? ‘the human condition’ by rené magritte, 1934

Chapter 1, continued “It is only the oppressed who, by freeing themselves, can free their oppressors. The latter, as an oppressive class, can free neither others nor themselves. It is therefore essential that the oppressed wage the struggle to resolve the contradiction in which they are caught; and the contradiction will be resolved by the appearance of the new man: neither oppressor nor oppressed, but man in the process of liberation. If the goal of the oppressed is to become fully human, they will not achieve their goal by merely reversing the terms of the contradiction, by simply changing poles.” (p. 38)

Chapter 1, continued The pedagogy of the oppressed has two stages (p. 36)  “The oppressed unveil the world of oppression and through the praxis (customary practice or conduct) commit themselves to its transformation.”  “pedagogy ceases to belong to the oppressed and becomes a pedagogy of all people in the process of permanent liberation.”

Chapter 2 The discussion of education is primarily located in this chapter Banking vs. Liberating Education (p.53)

Chapter 2, continued Banking Education  Students receive, memorize and repeat  By considering students’ ignorance, the teacher justifies his own existence  “it is people themselves who are filed away through the lack of creativity, transformation, and knowledge in this misguided system” (p. 53)  Students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor

Chapter 2 continued Liberating education  Consists in acts of cognition, not transferrals of information  Good communication is a way for teacher- student contradictions to be resolved allowing for both to gain true knowledge  “The teacher’s thinking is authenticated only by the authenticity of the student’s thinking” (p. 58)  The power of dialogue  Problem-posing method bases itself on creativity and critical thinking

Chapter 2 Questions 2. Which concept of education do you think oppressor want to use and why? 3. How can we change the world from oppression? 1. “We have a system which achieves neither true knowledge not true culture” (p. 61). Do you agree?

Chapter 3 Dialogue  “Founding itself upon love, humility and faith, dialogue becomes a horizontal relationship of which mutual trust between the dialoguers is the logical consequence.” (p. 72) The word is the essence of dialogue (p. 68) Verbalism vs. activism (p ) “A the way by which they achieve significance as human beings” (p. 69) An act of creation not a deposit of ideas (p.70)

Chapter 3 – Dialogue cont.  The foundation of dialogue is love – love of the world, life, and people (p. 71)  Love as also a commitment to the cause of liberation (p. 70)  Humility (p.71)  Faith in humankind (p. 71)  Trust (p. 72)  Hope (p. 72)  Critical vs. Naïve Thinking(p. 73)  The Humanist Educator (p )

Chapter 3 – Dialogue cont. “Educational and political action which is not critically aware of this situation runs the risk either of ‘banking’ or of preaching in the desert.” (p. 77)  Intellectual and action based  “present, existential, concrete situation, reflecting the aspirations of the people.” (p. 76).

Chapter 3 – pages 77-85? “Themes”  Universe (p. 77 & 82)  Generative (p. 78, 87) Animal & Human (pages 79-81)  Limit – situations/acts (p. 80, 83)  Epoch (p. 82)

Chapter 3 – “Decoding/Investigation” p “Requires moving from the abstract to the concrete; this requires moving from the part to the whole and then returning to the parts; this in turn requires that the Subject recognize himself in the object…and recognize the object as a situation in which he finds himself, together with other Subjects.” (p. 86).

Chapter 3 – “Decoding/Investigation” Stages 1 st stage p. 91 – initiated “once the investigators have determined the area in which they will work and have acquired a preliminary acquaintance with the area through secondary sources.”

Stage 2 & 3 2 nd stage p. 92 – “investigators observe certain moments of the life of the area….” 3 rd stage p. 98 – “the investigators begin the third stage of the investigation by returning to the area to initiate decoding dialogues in the ‘thematic investigation circles’.”

Stage 4 4 th stage p. 100 – “the investigators undertake a systematic interdisciplinary study of their findings.”  List themes  Breaking down of themes, p. 101 Hinged themes  Codification, p. 102  Didactic materials are prepared, p. 102  Present to the people the thematics, p. 104

Chapter 4 This chapter analyses the theories of cultural action which develop from antidialogical and dialogical matrices The inhumanity of the oppressors vs. the revolutionary humanism Treatment as objects vs. treatment as human beings Doers vs. Thinkers The absolutizing of ignorance vs. revolutionary knowledge

Chapter 4 Dialogue with the people is radically necessary to every authentic revolution Revolutionary leaders cannot think without the people, nor for the people, but only with the people (p. 112)

Chapter 4 From the point of view of the dominators in any epoch, correct thinking presupposes the non-thinking of the people (p.112)

Chapter 4 Conquest Divide and rule Manipulation No cooperation Cultural Invasion Fundamental characteristics of the theory of antidialogical action Key words

Chapter 4 Conquest Unity for liberation Organization Commitment to freedom Cooperation Cultural Revolution Cultural synthesis Fundamental characteristics of the theory of dialogical action Key words

Chapter 4 “The revolution is made neither by the leaders for the people, nor by the people for the leaders, but by both acting together in unshakable solidarity” (p. 110) Do you agree with this statement?

Thank you ELAF 806 Seminar in the Educational Thought: Social Foundations of Education K. Clemens & E. Kontaxakis Wednesday, July 8, 2009