Episode 34: Pedagogy of the Oppressed

​Book: Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
Hosts: Monica Trinidad & Page May
Guest: Hilda Franco
Date: 11/20/2017
Length: 53:44

There is a role for people who know things that others don’t, but how has our relationship with education and the teacher-student dynamic been shaped by colonialism, capitalism, and patriarchy? In 1968, Brazilian educator Paulo Freire wrote Pedagogy of the Oppressed, proposing a new relationship between the teacher, the student, and society. Popularly, Pedagogy is referenced because Freire calls traditional pedagogy the “banking model of education” because it treats the students as empty vessels to be filled with knowledge, like a piggy bank. However, Paulo argues for a new pedagogy, treating the learners as co-creators of knowledge.

​In this episode, we dive deeper into this influential book with Pilsen-based youth worker Hilda Franco!

Key Questions:

1. What was the political climate in Brazil like when Pedagogy of the Oppressed was written by Paulo Freire in the late 1960’s?
2. What does praxis mean? And what does pedagogy mean?
3. Why do we need a pedagogy of the oppressed?
4. How does this book inform the importance of youth-led organizing? What does it mean to “center those most directly-impacted” in our organizing work?
5. Why don’t some academics like this book?
6. What is missing from this book? How does Paulo make up for it after this book?
7. What is the role of the teacher according to this book?
8. How can praxis be utilized as a liberatory practice?