Week 1: Project 1B

A very important fact to acknowledge about Paulo Freire was the time he grew up. During the Depression, while living Northeast of Brazil, Freire was exposed to heart-wrenching and eye-opening issues. The first-and experience he had with hunger and poverty had a deep impact on his life path. It is important to understand his background before forming opinions on his work.

Freire's involvement in education is quite admirable, since most of us do not question how we are taught. He looked at education as a "banking" concept; the student being the empty bank account that the teacher would fill. He was against this idea and for a more equal approach to learning.

Freire's beliefs evolved into a social idea of critical consciousness. To elaborate on his ideas, he believed that learners should question their social situation, rather than just accept everything as is. In addition to this, Freire believed that both the teacher and student should engage in learning, questioning and reflecting. More often than not, it is assumed that the teacher knows everything and the student knows nothing.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Freire, http://www.paulofreireinstitute.org/