Pre-Reading Blog #1

Paulo Freire is an educator and an author known for his theories in education. He was a big contributor to a philosophy of education that branched from approaches of Plato and Marxist thinkers. Freire’s passion for theorizing about education came from his upbringing as a child. He was born into a middle class family in Recife, Brazil and became very familiar with the issues in poverty that occurred from the Great Depression of 1929. This depression caused his family to move to a cheaper home in Jaboatao dos Guararapes. Freire’s father also died shortly after in 1931. All of these problems caused a young Paulo Freire to fall four grades behind in school while he frequently played with the other poor children of the city he lived in, especially in pick up football games. It is clear why Freire decided to pursue a career as a philosopher of educational matters. His concerns for the poor in the context of education are truly reflected in his writing and his theories.

Freire is best known for his piece titled “The Banking Concept of Education,” which is part of his Pedagogy of the Oppressed. The title seems to express that education may be something that inserts information into the brains, or banks, of the students. This would imply that Freire believes that these students are nothing but slaves of a system that forces its beliefs in teachings down these students’ throats, or rather into their brains. This could very well end up being an attack on traditional education by identifying it as a power hungry institution.

As much praise Freire has received for his contribution to critical pedagogy, he has plenty of criticism as well. In fact, individuals such as Rich Gibson has classified Freire’s work as a mix of old-school socialism and liberal reformism. Being considered a Marxist is the most impactful criticism that Freire has had to date. To be associated with the likes of Marxism can be a wounding critique that turns many readers away from Freire’s work. It is clear though that his upbringing is the true cause of his views and he may have a great amount of emotional anger towards the traditional forms of education experienced in places such as the United States because of all the issues his family and community underwent.