Paulo Freire: Chapter 1 of Pedagogy of the Oppressed

The Pedagogy of the Oppressed, chapter one, explains how to become human beings. We live in a society that that has a distorted view of what it means to be human. There are two types of people in the world, the oppressor and the oppressed. 

            The oppressor, in the act of trying to be “human, “ dehumanizes the oppressed. The oppressors believe they have freedom. (Which they don’t) The oppressed on the other hand start to believe they are of little worth and see no other way than to be under the rule of the oppressor. It is ironic because they (the oppressed) are the key to restoring humanity. In order to achieve humanity, the oppressed need to fight for their freedom, which is responsibility and the right to self govern. This conquest is not impossible but the oppressed must overcome their lack of confidence and ACT!

            The oppressed must overlook their current situation and see themselves as powerful figures.  In order to do this, they need to continuously reflect on who they are and what they are doing to act. By acting, they become the oppressors of the former oppressors. If they are not acting correctly, they will switch roles and become the new oppressors. If the pedagogy is rightfully achieved, the (former) oppressors will sympathize with the oppressed and all will be equal.  At the end of the reading it briefly revealed who exactly the oppressed and oppressors are.  The oppressors are teachers and the oppressed are students.

So what does this all mean? I believe it means that our education is changing. It used to be that teachers were the leaders and students saw the teacher as a feared authority figure. Teachers taught by lecture. One-way communication. Education has come a long way since then. We have found that classrooms work more effectively when teachers and students work together (as the reading states) “re-creating that knowledge.” This knowledge comes from constant reflection and action. The goal of the classroom is to attain freedom and human equality.  If teachers and students work together and create a space where two-way communication, positive feedback, and an uplifting atmosphere coexist, students will be successful in their role as a learner and creator of knowledge.

This text was very difficult to understand and I still am not sure if have a clear idea of the point this text was trying to make. I did like nor understand the reasoning behind people having “objective” and “subjective” views. It says that they cannot exist together or apart and they contradict each other, therefore they do not exist. And yet society needs to have an objective view in order to correctly act.

I also did not agree with the portion that explains the oppressed as being a flock that does not make a decision without everybody else agreeing at the same time. If we look at it from a classroom perspective, there are small groups of students who group together and generally agree on a choice before voicing it, but somewhere along the line, an individual had to express an opinion in order for there to be action. 

I thought this informational text danced around a simple concept and was very repetitive explaining it. The level of diction was unnecessarily high and was probably put in place for the purpose of confusion. I felt oppressed! It seemed in some ways, a false representation and over exaggerated interpretation of the educational system.