Assignment 1b

Although born to the middle class, during the Great Depression Paulo Freire discovered what it was like to suffer hunger. During these formative years he decided to devote his life to pubic service. It was during these years that he saw first hand the plight of the oppressed in third world countries. Because of his "subversive" activities in the early 60's in Brazil he was jailed and then exiled to Chile, where he continued his work. However, it was during his time teaching as a visiting professor at Harvard, where he observed, war protests and racial violence, and a different culture, that he significantly changed his thought process that oppression was limited to third world countries. (http://www3.nl.edu/academics/cas/ace/resources/paulofreire.cfm)



He describes culture as "everything we do in the world" and indicates that we are surrounded by it. Culture is not just a musical symphony by a renown artist, it can be "a ditch dug by a peasant out of necessity". He goes on to say "if we talk about this concept of culture with the common people we can show them that we can change the world which we have not created, we can also change the world we are creating now. . . ." It is his message of hope to those who feel hopeless.

(http://www.youtube.com/) (Paulo Freire (clip by Julio Wainer).



Paulo Freire had specific ideas with regard to the art of teaching. It is just as important for the teacher to have the desire to teach as it is for the student to desire to learn. Teaching flows both ways. Most children are highly motivated to learn, however, due to their cultures, many become lost between the 5th and 7th grades. "The oppressed majority must be taught to imagine a better way so that they can shape their future and thereby become more human." I like that sentence except the last four words. The less fortunate have to be taught to imagine a better life, that they can do better, always to use the words, "I can", to shape their future, however, I don't see them as less human because of their situations. (www.newfoundations.com/gallery/Freire.html)