Question: What are the main ideas in Freire’s ’Pedagogy of the Oppressed’? How can we apply this theory to our own work as activists
working towards social justice and social change?
This assessment has a word limit of 900 (+/- 10%) words- so you will need to research and plan very carefully.
Question: What are the main ideas in Freire’s ’Pedagogy of the Oppressed’? How can we apply this theory to social work and to our own work as activists working towards social justice and social change?
900 WORDS
Structuring your Critical Review:
First, answer this question:
- What are the main ideas of Freire’s ’Pedagogy of the Oppressed’?
Introduce your argument with a brief outline of the aspects of Freire’s writing that you found most useful and inspiring. This need only be a short paragraph. (200-300 words)
Then, answer the following question: - How can we apply this theory to our own work as activists working towards social justice and social change? (600- 700 words)
Understanding theories of social change and applying these theories is what this unit is all about. You need to think about how we use theory to underpin our work.
Freire is concerned with social inequality, oppression and how to transform our world. He urges us to ‘unveil oppression and through
praxis commit to transformation’ and ‘fight to be human, to take away the oppressor’s power to oppress’. He encourages us to think
about the ways the system creates, reinforces and perpetuates the power of the oppressors, through dehmumanising the oppressed.
The only way society can be transformed is if the oppressed lead the way. We need to understand and utilise experiences of
powerlessness, exploitation and inequality and work collectively for transformative action to regain humanity and ultimately freedom.
The readings demonstrate the ways that others have been inspired, and drawn of Freire’s work. In the reading below, Smith powerfully
demonstrates how First Nations people have taken up this challenge and are leading us all towards social transformation. She assists us
to think about the ways we can understand colonisation and the impact on First Nations peoples and how we can listen, join and act
towards collective transformation. The Falzon reading, demonstrates ways of framing our work towards transformation. These authors
demonstrate how you can apply these theories to your own work.
MAIN Resource:
Freire, P., 2018, Pedagogy of the oppressed, 50th anniversary, Continuum, New York, pp. 43-71.
OTHER RESORCES
Davidson, P., Saunders, P., Bradbury, B. and Wong, M. (2018), Poverty in Australia, 2018. ACOSS/UNSW Poverty and Inequality Partnership Report No. 2, Sydney, pp. 1-15, viewed 7 July 2019, https://www.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/ACOSS_Poverty-in-Australia-Report_Web-Final.pdf
Boochani, B 2018, ‘Incarceration, autonomy and resistance on Manus Island’, Arena, viewed 10 July 2019,https://arena.org.au/incarceration-autonomy-and-resistance-on-manus-island-by-behrouz-boochani/
Order Notes