NEWSLETTER

Society for the History of Children and Youth

Freire – Pedogagy of the Oppressed (Reader’s Guide)

The trick with this book is to take your time and only read one chapter at a time.  Although all the chapters are connected, each one is like its own essay-and because they are so “dense” they each require a little “down time” from after completing; 

Introduction and Preface

The introduction and preface to this book are VERY helpful. There are no guiding questions for either of these pieces since the pieces are straight forward. But remember, Donaldo Macedo’s introduction provides 5 interesting entry points into the text:

*cultural schizophrenia (p.11)

*the revolutionary and political aspects of the texts (p.12)

*the importance of class (p.14)

*the lack of acceptance of this book in North America (p.15)

*the importance of experience to dialogue (p.19)

Chapter One

This is the most philosophical of the chapters and for some student will be the most difficult.  Ask yourself if you understand the big questions here, like:

*What is oppression (philosophically) and how does it manifest and maintain itself in society?

*Can you find the thesis on p;48? (it’s a long one)

*What’s the connection between the oppressor and oppressed? What role do people play in their own oppression? *What role does violence play in this?

*How can dialogue help? Why is it essential?

*Why praxis?

Chapter Two

The key to this chapter is the difference between the banking model of education and the problem –posing model of education.

*What is the problem posing model and why is it problematic? (p.72)

*Describe in your own words the attitudes and practices that Freire says mirror the oppressed society as a whole. (p.73)

*What does Freire mean when he says: “implicit in the banking model is the assumption of a dichotomy between human beings and the world: a person is merely in the world, and not with the world or with others”? (p.75)

*Define “biophily” and “necrophily”. Whats their connection to the banking model of education? (p.77)

*Why can’t liberation and the banking model go together? (p.79)

*How do the concepts of student-teacher and teacher-student work? (p.80)

*How does the problem-posing model of education work? (p.80+)

1               In what ways is the problem-posing model different from the banking model of education? (p.80+)

2               Why does Freire say that the problem-posing model of education is revolutionary? What does he mean by this term? (p.86)

Created by Dr. Stephen Gennaro http://www.yorku.ca/~sgennaro Critical Pedagogy in the Classroom