Bill's right; Eric's wrong. For a sound critical assessment of the aims and methods of Freire's pedagogy, see Charles Bailey's *Beyond the present and the particular*. (Chapter 5?). Chuck was a philosopher of education at Cambridge, England for many years, along with Terry McLaughlin, another shining light in the field. Chuck's work on writers contributing to the ideal of a liberal education is highly respected and very well-known worldwide. Right up there deservedly with Richard S. Peters' and Paul H. Hirst's work on liberal education. Walter O. MUN Quoting William Dolphin <dolphinw@xxxxxxxxxx>: > I realize Eric's comment about Friere is a throwaway gibe, but since it > touches on one of the few areas I am marginally qualified to engage, I > will quickly note that the article linked grossly mischaracterizes what > I understand to be the core concepts of Friere's pedagogy. > > That is not to say that many teachers who claim to embrace such a > pedagogy do not also misunderstand or misuse it, but there are insights > in Friere's account that do suggest highly productive avenues for > instruction and accurately critique alienating and frankly > counter-productive strategies of traditional educational models. > > It may be that his seminal book has been embraced by some educators > because it is just, as the article would have it, "metaphysical" enough > to allow for willful mis-readings of what teachers should actually *do* > (e.g. the example of the grade school children making protest signs runs > about as counter to its pedagogical principles as anything I could > imagine). But Friere is not an outlier; the core concepts are mirrored > in the work of Bakhtin, Vygotsky and other theorists who argue > persuasively for a dialogic model of communication and conceptual change > that has valuable practical application. > > If Eric or anyone else is interested in this, I'd enjoy engaging in more > detail the questions the article raises, and many that it does not. For > instance, to say that Friere advocates a content-free education is not > just false but intellectually dishonest. What Friere suggests educators > do is identify both the concepts students already have and those that > will be useful and meaningful so they can build an optimal instructional > scaffold between the two. What Friere urges is sharply focused content > that is selected and shaped for maximum accessibility and significance > for particular students. > > I am not a scholar of Friere's work, but as a practitioner who has > interrogated normative instructional dynamics in the process of devising > a problem-posing pedagogy that has been an unalloyed success (if my > teaching evaluations are to be believed), I can attempt a more nuanced > examination of the consequences of Friere's insights, which bear little > resemblance to the self-indulgent politicization of the classroom the > article reasonably derides. > > But it will require some patience, as I'm busy beyond belief at the > moment. > > -Wm. Dolphin > Ontario, Calif. > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Eric Yost > Sent: Wednesday, August 05, 2009 1:08 PM > To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Marx and Freud's validity only as 'limiting > case' Darwinism > > Here's an example of Marxist "footing" placing said footing > up one's backside. -EY > > Pedagogy of the Oppressor > Another reason why U.S. ed schools are so awful: the ongoing > influence of Brazilian Marxist Paulo Freire > > http://city-journal.org/2009/19_2_freirian-pedagogy.html > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, > digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, > digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html > ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html