Third Article

Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Chapters 1 and 2 (and a little from 3)
by Paulo Freire
(page numbers refer to this edition posted online because I don't have a copy of the book with me; to distinguish page numbers from the different chapters, I'll add the chapter number and a period before the page number)

Because my project is working with and intended to replace UWM's current 101/102 reflective essay assignments (see post below), I've been looking for readings that seem to have influenced these assignments. To that end, I decided to read/re-read part of Pedagogy of the Oppressed, focusing specifically on what Freire has to say about reflection.

For Freire, reflection is an extricable part of the struggle for liberation, and in this struggle, "pedagogy will be made and remade" (1.4). True reflection leads to action, and the consequences of action must in turn be subject to critical reflection (1.17). Freire argues that the oppressor (or the teacher) must trust the oppressed (the student) and their ability to reason, so that the oppressor doesn't "fall into using slogans, communiques, monologues, and instructions" (1.18) — that is, the banking method of education that dehumanizes both its subject and objects (ch. 2). Liberation, then, must be co-created by teachers and students; both are subjects and both must participate "not only in the task of unveiling...reality and thereby coming to know it critically, but in the task of re-creating that knowledge" through common reflection and action (1.20). 

Freire's insistence that "authentic liberation – the process of humanization – is not another deposit to be made" in students, and that "liberation is a praxis: the action and reflection of men and women upon their world in order to transform it" (2.7), means that the reflective writing assignment, if we want it to empower students to participate in their own liberation and (ultimately) to change the world (remember – what kind of world do you want to live in?), must not be a ''communique."  This is tricky!  My hope is that through the links I provide but whose content I do not control (e.g. to Facebook, MySpace, the students' blogs), the students will be encouraged to co-create the resulting knowledge, reflection, and action.  Freire also emphasizes dialogue (2.8 and 3.2ff), so I'm trying to think about how I might build dialogue into the website, or whether that would be saved for the in-person class meetings.

Freire's explanation of what reflection is and what it can do resonates with Herring (below). Through reflection, he writes,

That which had existed objectively but had not been perceived in its deeper implications (if indeed it was perceived at all) begins to "stand out," assuming the character of a project and therefore of a challenge.  Thus, men and women begin to single out elements from their "background awareness" and to reflect upon them.  These elements are now objects of their consideration, and, as such, objects of their action and cognition.... In problem-posing education, people develop their power to perceive critically the way they exist in the world with which and in which they find themselves; they come to see the world not as static reality but as a reality in process, in transformation" (2.10).

Finally, though I won't go into here, I want to mention that he begins chapter 3 by explaining that reflection and action are two inextricable and co-constitutive dimensions of "the word." If I have time, I'll investigate this more to see what it might say about the act of reflective writing. Also, all of this makes me wonder if and how we can ask our students to reflect without asking them to act. If we ask them to act on their reflection, I think we need to be prepared for students who, for example, choose not to submit a portfolio at all or who choose to blog their reflection or post it on MySpace rather than turning in a 12-pt, black-ink, Times New Roman paper with 1-inch margins.

Though I was focusing mostly on reflection, I noticed in these chapters many other resonances to our readings and discussions this semester. For example, Freire discusses the interdependent nature of subjectivity and objectivity (1.6); the relationship of "having" to "being," which reminded me of our conversations about access and the digital divide (1.12); freedom (throughout, but especially 1.13, 1.19, 2.9, and 3.2ff.); and control (throughout, but especially 1.13, 1.16, and 2.6).