Information for the oppressed to learn at school is intentionally selected and narrowed down for the benefit of the oppressor. They must passively accept and adapt to it. The oppressors teach the oppressed their world is fixed. The oppressor is aggressive but does not like direct confrontation, so they design elaborate, discreet methods to keep us under their control. This appetite reduces all living things – frogs, daffodils and you, to objects existing solely for their exploitation. The oppressors were taught that their worth comes from what they own. The oppressed and oppressor have different ways of understanding the world and how they operate in it. They labour for the oppressors (capitalist landowners). What is pedagogy, oppressor and oppressed?Īnd the more the oppressors control the oppressed, the more they change them into apparently inanimate ‘things’. The book shares Freire’s experience working with rural poor residents in Latin America, selling over a million copies. A Brazilian educator and philosopher, Freire wrote Pedagogy of the Oppressed in 1968. Paulo Freire was born to the world on September 19, 1921, and died May 2, 1997.

Paulo Freire Paula Freire Image: Elige Educar I learnt this place would not transform the world I came from – but only open doors to a different one… if I wasn’t careful. With dictionary and patience, this book anchored me throughout university: an institution that felt so detached from my reality. This book was a required reading at university. Critical thinking allows students to see their oppressor and take action.

It requires equal and critical dialogue between teacher and student to end oppression.Education institutions often teach students to internalise and accept oppression.

Freire oppressed