Abstract
It is hard to over-emphasize Freire’s importance to progressive, social justice, radical, and critical educators in the U.S. and around the world. The popularization of Freire and his conception of critical pedagogy has resulted in Freire’s work being recontextualized in a variety of settings. However, despite important books on Freire’s Marxist politics, his Marxist conception of consciousness, and the power of his legacy for teachers and activists, the popularity of Freire amongst “respectable” progressive educators has meant that the Marxist nature of his pedagogy is often left unsaid. This paper argues that, at its core, Freire’s conception of critical pedagogy is based on Marxist, dialectical materialism. Further, this paper defends Freire’s critical pedagogy from several detractors, most of whom maintain deep misunderstandings of Freire’s dialectical materialism—and therefore propagate deeply misplaced criticisms of his pedagogy.
Highlights
In many ways, the publication and distribution of Pedagogy of the Oppressed was a defining moment in the development of critical education
Despite important books on Freire’s Marxist politics (MACLAREN, 2000), his Marxist conception of consciousness (ALLMAN, 1999), and the power of his legacy for teachers and activists (DARDER, 2002), the popularity of Freire amongst “respectable” progressive educators has meant that the Marxist nature of his pedagogy is often left unsaid, unacknowledged, and or only spoken in hushed terms – as if we have to forgive him this trespass
Before getting to the Marxist, dialectical materialism at the core of Freire’s pedagogy, let me offer another quick review of dialectical materialism as a paradigmatic world view
Summary
The publication and distribution of Pedagogy of the Oppressed was a defining moment in the development of critical education. There certainly were antecedents to Freire’s critical pedagogy that just weren’t named as such (APPLE; AU, 2015; LUKE, 2012), including the Harlem Socialist Sunday schools (MAKALANI, 2016; NAISON, 1985).or the critical pedagogies enacted in socialist, communist, and other countries pre-Freire (CHU, 1980; MCLAREN; SUORANTA, 2009) Even though he has often been mythologized as a “founding father” of critical pedagogy in the United States, Freire’s work was not really popularized here until the mid-1980s, when the shift towards critical politics in education research and practice was already well under way (GOTTESMAN, 2010). The secondary direction I push on here is to defend Freire’s critical pedagogy from several detractors, most of whom maintain deep misunderstandings of Freire’s dialectical materialism—and propagate deeply misplaced criticisms of his pedagogy
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
