Pedagogy of the Oppressed

“At the point of encounter there are neither utter ignorant muses nor perfect sages; there are only people who are attempting, together, to learn more than they now know.”

The book delivers a clear critique of how forms of instruction solidify the position of the oppressor against the oppressed. What Freire does after delivering the critique is providing moves forward to Conscientization through the use of a dialogic and praxis.

Maybe, I didn’t fully understand the text (I did in-fact skim it), but aside from the productive discourse on oppressor and oppressed, a lot of the concepts developed further seemed to be a mix of historically detailed ideas. Which makes sense as he has been cited to been influenced by Fromm, Sartre, and Marcuse. Understanding it in in perspective makes the book a bit clearer, as the ethical and political implications end up radically indexed on humanism.

Personally, the more relevant on those influences would be on Marcuse, specifically on Freire’s conception of his critical pedagogy and how epistemological means fit in relation to Marcuse’s work “One-Dimensional Man”. Both highlighting the need for critical thinking against the historical and material realities as a way for the subject to experience “freedom”.