Notes From the Second Chapter Meeting

The following are the notes taken from the second chapter meeting.  I post as well the packet I handed out to participants.  I hope you find them of interest.  I strongly suggest watching this video, which does a good job of positioning Freire in his own context.  We talked briefly about the Brazilian military government, which ruled from 1964-1985.  A famous motion picture, Pixote, made in 1981, delves deep into the hardscrabble socioeconomic conditions of the time.  Also of interest to our braintrust might be this wonderful site, which contains global-minded, rare documentaries.

Suggested Questions & Discussion For The Second Chapter

Behind The Text

1.       What problems arise in reading the English translation of Pedagogia do Oprimido? What, if anything, is lost in this translation?

2.       Envision Pablo Freire advising an ESL 5 instructor on an effective dialogic curriculum for immigrants.  What would this look like? Is it practicable?

Within The Text

1.       Discuss the way Freire’s language (terminology, jargon, etc.) helps/hinders the pace of the second chapter.

2.       Does this chapter have rhythm? Is there a ‘Freire dropped the mic’ sentence or phrase?

In Front Of The Text

1.       Describe a time in your schooling when an instructor, mentor, etc. ‘subverted the dominant paradigm.’ In other words, made you feel completely in control of your own education.

2.       What lens(es) are you most apt to be using in your look at education? Feminist, Marxist, race-based, gender-based, etc.?

Banking Model	Dialogic Model
Narrative	Evolving
Subject-Patient (Object)	Partnership
Teacher vs. Student	Teacher-Student
Lifeless, Petrified Contents	Nuanced, contradictions
Motionless, Static, Compartmentalized, Predictable reality	Interwoven reality
Abstract Experience	Existential Experience
Fill	Analyze
Detached from Reality	Attached to reality
Disconnected from origin or significance	Meaningful
Alienated, hollow, non-concrete words	Words pregnant with meaning
Perfunctory, meaningless	Invasive
Record, memorize, and regurgitate	Transform
Mechanical	Critical
Active-Passive, Student receptacles, paternalistic-social welfare recipients	Intervenors, interlopers
Judged by quantity of info dumped (aggressive vs. meek students)	Humanist, revolutionary educator judged by authenticity of students’ thinking
Teacher Depositor, students depositories	Solidarity
Teacher Issues missives (communiqués)	Communicating
Student cataloguers and storers	Critically conscious students
Students divorced from education and themselves	Corpo consciente
Lack of  creativity, non-transformative knowledge, having,necrophily	Thought based on reality, Thought that spurs action
No Knowledge=Powerless	Invention, re-invention, restless, impatient, hopeful inquisitiveness
No inquiry, non-revelatory	Dialog
Submersion of consciousness	Emergence of Consciousness and critical intervention in reality
Adaptive	In the World, with the World, with each other
A ‘gift’ from the wise to the ignorant	Mutual humanization
Roles clearly defined: Oppressor vs. oppressed, it is your job to be oppressed	Student among student
No place for you at the table, assumption of absolute stupidity, dependence of both parties (teacher=you need me, student=I’m hollow w/o you)	Reconciliation, teacher AND student, teacher-student, student-teacher
Teacher thinks, student the object of thinking	Cognition, metacognition
Teacher sage on the stage, student humble & listening-lazy, pathological	Teachers and students both stimulate their Incredulity
Teacher disciplines, student disciplined, vertical	Horizontal
Teacher chooses, student adapts	Problem-Posing
Teacher conflates knowledge and prof. authority	Practice of freedom
Slave and owner, Stockholm syndrome	Ontological vocation to be fullly human

Structure

1)      Passed out packet

2)      Video re: Paulo Freire and fellow theorists (10 minutes)

3)      Short explanation of historical context—Brazilian military government, liberation theology

4)      Short poll—close your eyes and rate how you feel about Freire and the whole second chapter

1àI hate Freire and everything he stands for and want to chuck this book out. [0]

2à[0]

3àNeutral [2 people]

4à[2 people]

5àI am enamored of Freire and his theory and this second chapter. [2 people]

5)      In honor of Brazil, Steven brought Brazilian bakery. Everyone got food.

6)      Discussion

7)      Passed out poetry packet (unrelated to Freire)

8)      Discussed next meeting to happen April 29^th, same place, same time.

Audience Notes

1)      You outline behind, within, and in front of the text for discussion but there should be a “Beyond The Text” because the terminology in this books very closely mirrors that of A Course In Miracles. There is a lot in here that deals with spirituality & existence.

2)      Geographical: The northern part of Brazil has been poor and left out of the economy for a long time. Coincidentally, this is where many slaves were.  Also, there has always been a strong North to South migratory pattern in Brazil. And this is where Freire is originally from.

3)      Teacher vs. Student Perspective: As teachers, there are many things we would like to impart to students and feel that these are the things that are needed for success but then when I come across Freire’s critical thinking and consciousness and wonder how much this banking system is having an effect on them. Our kids’ educational system is vastly different from the one we grew up in and get to take advantage of this critical thinking and batting concepts around.  But how much are we doing to promote this? Do we put limits on people? We ask how many years of education they have and fit them in when their education might have been different or even better.

4)      Drop the mic quote: p.74 The truth is, however, the oppressed are not “marginals,” are not people living “outside” society.  They have always been “inside”—inside the structure which made them “beings for others.”  We are trying to develop higher order thinking through changes to the curriculum.

5)      Tracking as a failing mechanism.  

     

Notes 3/18/16

Topics of discussion 3/18/16

Oppressor vs. Oppressed

• What is the context of the book? The oppressor vs. oppressed dichotomy is clear cut in the context of the book. However, nowadays we can be part of the oppressed group and the privileged group. 
• Also, the roles of the oppressed(or) are not always clear (positionality).
• Oppression still happens and the people who oppress think it's their right to do so.
• Oppressors are afraid to lose their freedom to oppress. 
• How to break the cycle? Because the oppressed have seen this cycle their entire life, they can easily want to become the oppressors instead of ending the cycle. 

Fatalism

• Social structures develop biases for the oppressed. 
• Could fatalism be a coping mechanism? 
• Internalized oppression: the oppressed could be paralyzed and maintain that mentality. It is difficult to start acting or to make a change.

Our students

• How do we feel about the dialect between oppressed and oppressor in practice? Only the oppressed have the power to liberate themselves. The issue then becomes how can we empower our students to liberate themselves and fight dehumanization. "Freedom is acquired by conquest, not by gift" p.47. 
• Example given about our students' abilities to set goals. Someone heard a colleague saying that "our students can't set goals" because it is a characteristic of the culture. However, this is deeper than that. Students may not be able to set goals because of the circumstances they grew up in. 
• How do we have critical dialogue with our students? 
• Systematic education vs. Education Projects. 
• Curriculum examples:
• Role playing positions of leadership such as being a manager. 
• Knowing about your rights. 
• Passion projects that evoke self-evaluation.
• Addressing issues in the community 
• Project based learning.
• Projects that develop skills that are in high demand in the workforce. 

Pre-Reading Questions for Meeting 1

What do you already know about Paulo Freire and Pedagogy of the Oppressed?

"The oppressed, having internalized the image of the oppressor and adopted his guidelines, are fearful of freedom." (Freire, pg. 47)

What do the words oppression and freedom mean to you? How have you experienced these words in your life?

Consider reading this article about decolonization in education. It applies some theory from critical pedagogy, and it calls into question the validity of "diversity" in education. Does this change the way we approach the work of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee? Does it change our overall approach to our work at the school?

Please post your comments below!