Pedagogy of Freedom: Ethics, Democracy, and Civic Courage (Critical Perspectives Series) (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In this work from a new publisher of scholarly books, the late Brazilian educator argues against "progressive" liberalism and its passive acceptance of a world where poverty and hunger coexist with affluence. The book is read by Julius Wong Loi Sing, a theology professor at Moody Bible Institute.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Review

"Braiding bold vision with precision, Freire, in his brilliance, allows us to imagine a tomorrow of democracy and freedom. Insisting on the 'incompleteness' of us all and on a 'dreamer's right to dream,' Pedagogy of Freedom reminds us that our work is never done; that change is always possible, always essential, always unfinished." Michelle Fine, City University of New York - "With Pedagogy of Freedom, Paulo Freire enriches the dialogical perspectives with a call for universal ethics that establishes a better foundation for education in the next century." Ram'on Flecha, University of Barcelona Spain - "Pedagogy of Freedom is a stirring culmination of Paulo Freire's life work. It is in no way a conclusion or a summation: it is a text that urges its readers to become, to reach towards still untapped possibility. The themes of Freire's earlier writing are extended here into thoughtful explorations of ethics and democracy and the ways in which they may release a sence of agency in the long exploited and cruelly silenced. Moreover, he has new things to say about ideology and freedom in a world marked by a threatening 'globalization' and an unprecedented manipulation by media. As before, he speaks of 'passion,' 'love,' and 'caring,' and each time he does so, it is as if his hand grasps each one of our shoulders, urging us on and on." Maxine Green, professor emeritus, Columbia University --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. (January 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847690474
• ISBN-13: 978-0847690473
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #42,513 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars teacher to the world, April 4, 2003

By	Pen Name? "fluxus" (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This small work is packed with wonderfully articulate insights, philosophical, political and practical, about education and how we should go about teaching young students. Paulo Friere is an enemy of oppression, coercion and neo-liberalism, a proponent of the human spirit and the possibility of a better world. If you are really interested in the ideas of existentialism, socialism, democracy and social justice, you will find yourself entralled with Friere's practical ideas in this book.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seminal Work relevant to reuniting America and stabilizing the Earth, January 6, 2008

By	Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

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I am one of 24 co-founders of Earth Intelligence Network, building the EarthGame with inputs from the Transpartisan Policy Institute and the Public Budget Office, and our biggest insight in the past year has been to realize that the 5 billion poor do not have 18 years to go to school; but that they can be taught orally, one cell call at a time, by 100 million volunteers with Internet access and Skype. We simply have to distribute free cell phones in order to help the five billion create stabilizing wealth.

It was therefore for me personally, at the age of 55, a true joy to run across both this book and Pedagogy of the Oppressed as well as Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom both of which I will review shortly.

The only two books coming close in my own reading history, apart from Chomsky, Ellul, and Marcuse, have been Radical Man: The Process of Psycho-Social Development. and Improper behavior. See also Rule by Secrecy: The Hidden History That Connects the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons, and the Great Pyramids and Animal Farm (Signet Classics).

The translator tells us that Friere opposed the movement of gaduate studies in education toward atomization, fragmentation, and a false science, "scientism." The translator is *damning* of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and I believe all that he says.

The translator emphasizes that across Friere's works, he condemns false claims of neutrality and objectivity, and says clearly that education is an ethical calling that has a strong need to take a stand on what is good and right.

All three of my children have rejected rote learning, even as taught in the best public school district in America, and I am deeply sympathetic with this author's views that teaching should not be about the transfer of old knowledge but rather about the interactive sharing in learning to create new knowledge. Team leaning, learning to learn, open books testing--that is the way to go, in my view. See also Edutopia: Success Stories for Learning in the Digital Age.

We learn that Friere's first book, to set this one in context, taught that education is "that specifically human act of intervention in the world."

I completely agree when it is stated that the transformation of education must be the foundation for the transformation of all else.

I copy a note "Education *makes* history" (as opposed to losing it).

Note from the book: Democracy from below. Human liberation. Educators inspire rather than shape. See The Tao of Democracy: Using Co-Intelligence to Create a World That Works for All.

The book emphasizes that the study of the oppressed has been squelched by those in authority, inclusive of higher graduate education studies, as an ideological act that declines to recognize that the oppressed are in fact, OPPRESSED, not just poor, lazy, stupid, or otherwise self-condemned.

Note: Curiosity + education + humanity = infinite power." See A Power Governments Cannot Suppress.

Friere repeatedly returns to a key point, that thinking is an act of communication, and can only take place interactively. Teaching and research should comprise an endless cycle and not be a one-way street (didactic is a fancy word for "I talk, you listen.")

Progressive teaching respects students and favors student autonomhy. As best I can tell, Evergreen College in Washington State is the gold standard for this kind of teaching.

Friere tells us that teachers who impose no standards, no discipline, are just as bad as teachers who are authoritarian and leave no room for student autonomy or curiosity.

Friere tells us that teachers must apprehend and comprend reality, and not seek to condition students into accepting their poor conditions (or corrupt governances--see Earth Intelligence Network for a range for free offerings on reality).

Friere states firmly that "RealPolitic" is inhumane and wrong. See The Health of Nations: Society and Law beyond the State.

The book closes with an elegant discussion of how education leads to decision-making that is aware and conscientious. I have long advocated the need for public intelligence, and for a relationship between how we learn and how we decide. "Intelligence" is about decision-support, not about spying.

My final two notes from this superb book:

1) To accept and respect differences (i.e. diversity) is essential to listening and learning.

2) Globalization (when combined with 44 dictators and the global class war) is oppressive in its ignorance (or concealment) of the human cost, the cost to humanity.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mezmorizing!, July 19, 2007

By	Fawzeyah Al-awadhi "Foz" (Cincinnati, Ohio) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book enlightened my spirit and made me wish I could teach again! it is an extremly passionate rhetoric for teachers and educators who look up to a positive change in the world and their students. I highly recommend this book for any new teachers, student teachres depressed teachers, or even lost teachers who need to know the way back to the right path of teaching!
The introductions is although half of the book but insightful of the circumanstaces of Frier's lectures and the outcomes of them especuially after his death.