Religious Education for Liberation: A Perspective from Paulo Freire

Abstract

Paulo Freire (1921‐1997) is famous for the development of his literacy method and, perhaps, is best remembered for his earlier books ‐ Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1972), Cultural Action for Freedom (1972) and Education: the Practice of Freedom (1976). Although he continued to write and develop his thought into his later years,1 Freire's fundamental thesis that education was either for domestication or freedom remained the same. He did not invent the term ‘conscientisation’, but its introduction into educational and theological vocabulary is often attributed to him. In a keynote speech at The Royal Society of Arts in 1995, the then Archbishop of York, Dr John Habgood, recommended an approach to religious education characterised by ‘critical solidarity’. Having outlined Freire's ‘education for liberation’ and his central concept of conscientisation, the article demonstrates the surprising commonality between Freire's early writing and the Archbishop's recent development of the concept of critical solidarity. The article does not advocate the wholesale adoption of the Freire method. It recommends consideration of Freire's radical perspective as an enriching contribution to the development of an approach to religious education based on critical solidarity and consistent with the approach outlined in the Model Syllabuses. Such an approach has the capacity to be truly liberating, as it is centred on critical thinking and the concept of the autonomous learner. 1 The following are representative of Freire's more recent work: (1994,1973) Education for Critical Consciousness (New York: Continuum); (1996) Letters to Christina: Reflections on My Life and Work (New York: Routledge); (1997) Pedagogy of the Heart (New York: Continuum); (1997) Politics and Education (Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Centre Publication); (1998) Teachers as Cultural Workers: Letters to Those Who Dare Teach (Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press).