Paulo Freire and Adult Education
Educators of Adults Continue to Study this Influential Theorist
Oct 17, 2009
Community based learning has grown in both legitimacy and popularity since the publication of the influential work, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, but not without hardships along the way.
Freire was exiled from Brazil as a result of his educational work with rural poor populations, which led him to finish his book in Chile. He was able to return to Brazil after teaching at Harvard University for ten years, and in 1988 was appointed Secretary of Education for the city of Sao Paulo.
Paulo Freire labelled the traditional, institutional form of knowledge delivery as the "banking education." With this common style of education, the result is predictable and reinforces power structures in society. The method is simple; students are rewarded by behaving like patient receptacles for the greater knowledge of a designated leader. The best conforming graduates are then chosen for positions of greater status, wealth, and career option.
Freire's alternative to this system, which reinforces what he called "the oppressor", was to propose a "questioning" or "liberating" education.
Components of a Liberating Education
Freirian adult education practices value dialogue and critical thinking. It is essential that curriculum is integrated with philosophical elements that seek to bring about a balance in social justice.
Activities, lessons, and learning objectives should be created with the following perspectives:
- Do they help identify social, political, and economic contradictions?
- Do they take action against oppressive elements of reality?
- Are they dynamic?
- Do they value the wealth of knowledge that adult students bring to the classroom?
Examples of exercises that promote the goals inherent to those perspectives are fishbowl exercises, jigsaw/cooperative learning methods, and role-playing activities.
Obstacles to Implementation of Liberating Education
Some of the reasons that teachers may stay away from these methods could be:
- Require more time and energy to prepare
- Cultural acceptance
- Beliefs that the "cream will rise to the top" no matter what methodologies are used
- Classroom results are less predictable
In an interview published by Aurora on-line in 1990, conducted by Carlos Terros, Freire talks about his vision of the changes needed to bring schools from where they are to where they need to be. "A school in which teachers and students know together and in which the teacher teaches, but while teaching, does not domesticate the student, who, upon learning, will end up also by teaching the teacher," he is quoted in the interview as saying.
Final Thoughts
Educational theories that started with adult students living in impoverished, rural areas of Brazil have now made an impact across the world. Adult educators that want to pursue community based learning methods can start by studying Freire's work, choosing more dynamic and engaging activities in the classroom and evaluating their acceptance and suitability.
For more information:
Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire - An analysis
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