Educator Paulo Freire was born on September 19, 1921. He grew up in the Northeast of Brazil where his experiences deeply influenced his life work. The world economic crisis forced Freire to know hunger and poverty at a young age. Freire’s social condition didn’t allow him to have an education. Experience showed him the relationship between social class and knowledge. Freire lived among poor rural families and labourers, he gained a deep understanding of their lives and of the effects of socio-economic on education.
Freire became a grammar teacher while still in high school. Even
then his institution pushed him toward a dialogic education in which he strived
to understand student’s expectations. It was Elza ( Freire’s wife) who
influenced Freire to intensely pursue his studies, and helped him to elaborate
his groundbreaking educational methods. It was in 1946 as director of Education
at SESI, an employer’s institution set up to help workers and their families
where he began to see more disconnections between elitist educational practices
and the real life of the working class. Freire’s pedagogy of literacy education
involves not only reading the word, but also reading the world consciousness
which allows people to question the nature of their historical and social
situation, with the goal of creating a democratic society. Freire implies a
dialogic exchange between teachers and students, where both learn, both
questions, reflect and both participate in meaning- making. The year 1962 saw
the first experiments in Freire’s method when 300 farm workers were taught to
read and write in just 45 days. Freire has been recognized worldwide for his
profound impact on educational thought and practice. He received numerous
awards including honorary doctorates. On May
2nd, 1997, Paulo Freire died of heart failure at the age of
75. Freire’s work continues to be re-invented and re-clarified according to
changing political and intellectual thought and social movements.
Freire’s Educational Views :
Freire’s offers in his book “Pedagogy
of the oppressed” a detailed analysis of the short comings of the perspective
style of teaching. In perspective teaching, teacher assumes an authoritarian
role. Freire refers this as the banking system. In the banking system of
education the man’s transaction is the act of transferring information from
teacher’s head and depositing in student’s heads. Here the students are the
depositories and the teacher the depositor. Freire opposed to this system of
education. According to him “No one can teach anyone else; no one can earn
alone, people learn together, acting in and on their world.”
Aim of Education :
1)
Education is a cultural tool for liberation from
oppression. It must give learners the tools to be creators of their own
reality.
2)
Education is always a political
act. It cannot be politically neutral. It cannot be politically neutral. It can
either be instrument of domination or liberation.
3)
Education is a communion ( the
state of exchanging thoughts and feeling) between participants in a dialogue
with socially relevant exchange, rather than the unilateral action of one
individual agent of the benefit of the other.
4)
Knowledge is not a set
commodity that is passed from the teachers to the students. Learners must
construct knowledge from knowledge they already posses.
5)
Learning begins with actions.
It is a process where knowledge is presented to a learner, then shaped through
understanding, discussion and reflection.
6)
Students should not be viewed
as an empty account to be filled in by the teacher( banking system of
education).Teachers should know that students have life experiences and their
own knowledge that is key in shaping their education and learning.
7)
Education is phenomenon in
which the teacher and the student educate each other through the act of education.
8)
Education should raise the
awareness of the students so that they become subjects rather than objects of
the world.
9)
The method of education must
start the situation and reality of people. Their life situation is made into
problem posing situation.
10)
Educational practice is not an
extension but a communication.
11)
Communication involves mutual
dialogue whereas extension involves transplanting knowledge.
Dialogue as a pedagogical tool:
Freire accepted dialogue as a
method of learning. Dialogue is the principal tool of problem posing method. It
is a co-operative activity involving mutual relationship in which teacher and
student learn together. It begins with the experiences of the learners.
Paulo Freire’s Problem Solving methodology :
The 3 basic steps of this
Methodology are: to see, to analyze and to act. These steps are repeated over
and over and over again, following the changes in the situation as experienced
by the participants :
1.
To see the situation lived by the participants
2.
To analyze this situation, analyzing the root causes ( socio-economic,
political, cultural, etc. )
3.
To act to change this situation, following the precepts of social
justice.
Freire’s contributions to education :
Freire’s ideas are specially
relevant to the teachers and educators in the developing countries. This is
specially true in case of Adult , non-formal and extension education programs,
though the value of his philosophy and techniques cannot be ruled out for the
education of the younger age groups as well .
1.
Freire viewed education as a
deep political project oriented towards the transformation of society.
2.
His impact upon peace
education, adult education, non-formal education and critical literacy has been
praised.
3.
Freire’s made education a
communion ( exchanging through the feeling) between participants.
4.
Freire’s pedagogy allowed intellectuals to make useful
contribution to the most marginalized people’s struggle for social change.
5.
His revolutionary pedagogy
inspired millions of students and teachers all over the world to unlearn their
race , class and gender privileges and to engage in a dialogue to reach at a critical awareness of
the social realities in which they are living.
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