Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy
of the Oppressed really opened my eyes to the systemic modes of oppression,
not only found in the education system, but also I society as well. Through my
work I have attended many lectures and talks on oppression, communication,
racial and sexual acceptance, and privilege. I would consider myself widely
read on issues related to oppression, both systematic as well as cultural. In
Freire’s book however, I found that many of the aspects of oppression were
better explained than I had read or heard of before. I also appreciated his acknowledgement
of “why” people do what they do, rather than just demonizing those who are
oppressors, in order to understand the whole of the system.
In the first chapter I found
myself drawn to the sections that talked about how oppression is eventually
built into the cultural understanding of both the oppressors and the oppressed.
The oppressors see any change in the system as an oppression on themselves,
while the oppressed are afraid to speak out against the oppression and begin to
believe what they are told about their oppression. The words that Paulo Freire
used to explain this is the “fear of freedom” experienced by both the
oppressors and the oppressed. This section really stuck out to me because I can
see how this concept is perpetrated in various aspects of life in the US and
abroad. These concepts that Freire puts forth can be used for many applications
beyond education, and into politics and racial relations.
Starting the second chapter I
was interested to see how Paulo Freire was going to incorporate the “oppressed
and oppressors” into the realm of education. At first I thought that this
section was going to be based on culture, where the Anglo-Americans were the
oppressors, and the minority groups were the oppressed. I was surprised to find
that the teachers were thought of as the oppressors and the students and the
oppressed. At first I was skeptical, but Freire incorporated the idea of “oppressed
and oppressors” into the education system by labeling it the “Banking model” of
education. As I read the section I could help but feel as though many of the concepts
he talks about are what people think that education is today. As I read I kept
thinking about how concepts like discussions and standards based grading are
fighting against the traditional system of “banking education.” However, state
standardized tests, dictated content, and rigorous standards are all examples
of the “banking system” and the pressures that help to enforce the whole of the
system.
After I had finished with the
article, I still had a few questions or concerns regarding the article and the
sections that we read as a class. One aspect of education that I think Paulo
Freire left out of the two chapters that we read (he could have addressed the
issue in a later chapter that I didn’t read) is the fact that teachers are
required by school boards to meet those standards set forth by the banking
system. My question to the author would be how those requirements for teachers
play into the system? Although teachers are the oppressors in the student teacher
relationship, are not the teachers the oppressed in the teacher administrator
relationship? All this being said, the administrators are the oppressed when these
standards and tests come from the state government to the school districts. I
think that teachers can solve the issues of oppression in their own individual
classrooms, and I firmly believe that the state is making great leaps in
developing a student centered model
of education rather than an information
centered model of education.
The last
concern that I have with this reading is to look at the system that we have in
place. If we are to categorize the students as oppressed and the teachers as
oppressors, then wouldn’t that same logic make the boss the oppressor and the
employee the oppressed? This system of oppression is built into business, government,
science, and every other aspect of our societal system. As a teacher I want my students
to be able to have a say in their education and power in what and how they
study, but if this idea of power over their education leads to them failing in
the society the way it is built now, doesn’t that mean that the teacher has
failed to teach the students how to be successful in life? If ultimately the
student fails because of false hope in a system that crushes hopes systematically,
then we have failed as teachers. I personally believe that the system that we
have in place now needs to be changed, and we are making many of those changes
in the education system. However, the system as a whole needs to change in
order to best break down the oppressive system that we have outside of school
as well.
