Week 4

Part 1:

Paulo Freire was born in Brazil. His date of birth is September 19, 1921 and he died may 2, 1997. He was born into a middle class family in Recife, Brazil. Freire became familiar with hunger and being poor during the years of the Great Depression, 1929. It was during this time that Freire started to view his educational prospective. He attended the Law University of Recife in 1943 where he studied Philosophy and Phenomenology. He never actually practiced law, but instead worked as a teacher teaching Portuguese. In 1944 he married Elza Maia Costa de Oliveira, a fellow teacher. The two worked together for the rest of their lives and had five children. In 1946, Freire was appointed Director of the Department of Education and Culture of the Social Service in the State of Pernambuco, the Brazilian state of which Recife is the capital. Working primarily among the illiterate poor, Freire began to embrace a non-orthodox form of what could be considered liberation theology. At that time in Brazil, literacy was a requirement for voting in presidential elections.

When Paulo could finally practice his theories a military coup in Brazil put an end to his efforts. He was sent to prison for 70 days. After his imprisonment Freire worked in Chile for five years for the Christian Democratic Agrarian Reform Movement and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United nations. In 1967, Freire published his first book, Education as the Practice of Freedom. He followed this with his most famous book Pedagogy of the Oppressed, it was first published only in Portuguese in 1968. This book is the most widely know book of the Educator Paulo Freire. His first English translation was published in 1970.The book examines the struggle for justice and equity within the educational system and proposes a new pedagogy. Dedicated "to the oppressed, and to those who suffer with them and fight at their side," Freire includes a detailed Marxist class analysis in his exploration of the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized. Rooted in his own experience helping Brazilian adults to read and write, the book remains popular among educators in developing countries. The book has sold over 750 000 copies worldwide and is one of the foundations of critical pedagogy.

The first chapter of his book explores how oppresion has been justified and how it is overcome through a mutual process between the "oppressor" and the "oppressed". He writes, "Freedom is acquired by conquest, not by gift. It must be pursued constantly and responsibly. Freedom is not an ideal located outside of man; nor is it an idea which becomes myth. It is rather the indispensable condition for the quest of human complexion" (47). According to Freire, freedom will be the result of praxis--informed action--when a balance between theory and practice is achieved. The second chapter examines the "banking" approach to education -- a metaphor used by Freire that suggests students are considered empty bank accounts that should remain open to deposits made by the teacher. Freire rejects the "banking" approach, claiming it results in the dehumanization of both the students and the teachers. In addition, he argues the banking approach stimulates oppressive attitudes and practices in society. Instead, Freire advocates for a more world-mediated, mutual approach to education that considers people incomplete. This "authentic" approach to education must allow people to be aware of their incompleteness and strive to be more fully human. This attempt to use a education as means of consciously shaping the person and the society is called conscientization, a term first coined by Freire in this book. I think that the book is a good source and he has great theories. I suggest everyone reads it.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Freire
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVz_AOFuZ_E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6bMBWvoPp8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PemcNyIgxFs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedagogy_of_the_Oppressed

Part 2:

1) Antonio- He said, "We can't view it as us versus them or black and white."
2) Megan- I like this quote that she took from Obama:"suppressing ideas has never succeeded in making them go away".
3) Kayla-She said that the President speaks about how the opinions of all people should not be ignored. That we need to come together as one. That all cultures have their rights to opinions for the hope that one day we can all work together as one and demolish war and conflict.
4) Judy-One thing she learned was that Obama's father was a Muslim so he knows a lot about the Muslim religion as well as his own religion, Christianity.
5) Alexa-She thinks that the videos relate to Humanities because it is teaching us about our own cultures and to be open minded about religion. She is referring to the video of Barack Obama and I think this is true.
6) Christine-She was interested in all positive contributions the Muslim community and culture has given to our world.
7) Jared- He quoted Obama's "...interests we share as human beings are more powerful than the forces that drive us apart." -
8) Dinlaka- I think this quotes are very important:"There is one rule that lies at the heart of every religion, that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us" Be respectful and considerate.
"It's easier to start wars than to end them.
It's easier to blame others than to look inward.
It's easier to see what is different about someone than to find the things we share.
But we should choose the RIGHT path, not just the EASY path."
9) Tamika- She learned that dialogue is an important factor that we need to address in order to form partnership to help our nations gain respect for each other.
10) Vannessa-She was surprised about Oprah when she trusts her gut. When she wont trust anybody else before herself.