In workshop 3 we were given 5 quotes (as seen below) about education and its purpose and were asked to acknowledge which is most relatable to us as educators and practitioners. I felt quote number 4 spoke to me the most. It states that the importance is not on the education itself but rather on the student and how they decide to use it. This is something that I can relate to in my practice daily as I see how some students respond to their teaching and how their imaginations can run wild yet some students get stuck in how they interrupt the brief and what they want their outcomes to be.
- Aphorisms:
- 1. Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.- John Dewey
- 2. School is the advertising agency which makes you believe that you need the society as it is.-Ivan Dominic Illich
- 3. The classroom remains the most radical space of possibility in the academy.
- 4. Education does not change the world. Education changes people. People change the world.- Paulo Freire
- 5. The learning process is something you can incite, literally incite, like a riot.- Audre Lorde
After summarising Paulo Freire’s book Pedagogy of the Oppressed on ChatGPT it seems this seminal work on education published in 1968 “challenges traditional educational models and advocates for a more participatory and liberatory approach to teaching and learning.”
Some of the key points from the book are as follows:
- Problem-posing Education: criticises traditional “banking” modal of education where teachers dump knowledge into passive students- he prefers more of a dialogue between teacher and student.
- Conscientization: raising awareness of social and political issues to empower students.
- Liberation and Empowerment: The ultimate goal of education “is the liberation of individuals and communities from oppression” (Freire,1968). Education is a tool of empowerment.
- Humanisation: to emphasise each individual’s worth and potential= anti-passive students
- Cultural Context: education should be rooted in lived experiences and connecting the classroom to their social, cultural, and historical backgrounds.
- Action and Reflection: the concept of Praxis- encouraging educators and learners to critically reflect on their experiences and take action to become less oppressed.
I found the problem-posing education section of Freire’s work very interesting as educating passive students is never successful. You need a full dialogue between educator and learner to fully grasp the subject. It’s very important to avoid the “banking” model of education even when tired and uninspired. Just unloading information onto a student without any discourse or feedback is a bad way to teach.
Freire, P. (2017). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Penguin Classics.
