Critical Pedagogy and Education for Liberation

Faculty of Management
Comenius University in Bratislava

• Born in Recife, Brazil (1921)
• Experienced poverty during the Great Depression
• Developed literacy programs for poor adults
• Imprisoned and exiled after the 1964 Brazilian military coup
• Worked in Chile, USA, Switzerland, and Africa

His experience of inequality shaped his educational philosophy.

Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970)

• Written during exile
• Critique of traditional education
• Introduced dialogical and problem-posing education
• Foundational text of critical pedagogy

Freire criticized traditional schooling as:

• Teacher deposits knowledge
• Students passively receive information
• Memorization over understanding
• Reinforces social hierarchy
• Discourages critical thinking

Education becomes a tool of domination rather than liberation.

Freire’s alternative:

• Dialogue instead of monologue
• Teacher–student co-creation of knowledge
• Learning rooted in lived experience
• Critical reflection (“conscientização”)
• Education as practice of freedom

Students become active subjects, not objects.

Conscientização = Critical consciousness

Process of:

1. Awareness of social reality
   
2. Reflection on power structures
   
3. Action to transform society

Education links theory and practice (praxis).

Dialogue requires:

• Humility
  
• Love
  
• Faith in people
  
• Mutual respect
  
• Critical thinking

Knowledge is constructed socially.

Freire argues:

• Education is never neutral
• It either domesticates or liberates
• Oppressed groups can reclaim agency
• Literacy is political

Teaching is a moral and political act.

Freire influenced:

• Critical pedagogy
• Experiential learning
• Participatory action research
• Social justice education
• Adult literacy movements

• Conformity driven by social approval
  
• Weakening of autonomous critical judgment
  
• Fear of exclusion or reputational loss
  
• Rapid spread of misinformation
  
• Emotional polarization over rational dialogue
  
• AI replacing personalities in moral and value judgments
  
• Manipulation of public opinion

• Development of critical consciousness
  
• Courage to question dominant narratives
  
• Dialogue instead of conformity
  
• Individual reflection before collective reaction
  
• Education as formation of responsible agency

Questions & Discussion