Paulo Freire was a revolutionary and highly influential educator who dealt with the theory of critical pedagogy. During his life, he contributed a great deal towards the understanding and implementation of educational practise.
He contributed towards a modern understanding of education, which attacked traditional and, in many cases, westernised and colonial educational practices. He actively opposed what he called the ‘banking’ concept with regards to education. This concept draws a parallelism between a student and a bank account, with the educational process simply being the deposit of things within the initially empty account of the student. In this system, the teacher is simply the narrator, and the student is the recorder of the information. Such a passive and linear way to develop the mind and inform students was heinous in Freire’s opinion, and he stood for an educational system in which the students and teachers engaged in an interactive, engaging, and critical learning environment.
Unfortunately, it is very much the case today in many countries including the USA, that the modern education system is constructed upon the banking concept of education. This is highlighted by the way in which students are taught modules, and the way in which they are tested on what they have learnt at the end of these modules. However, his work has acquired great success, revelation, and utilisation, with examples such as the opening of an education institute in Sao Paulo in 1991, and the heavy usage of his iconic 1970 Pedagogy of the Oppressed in teacher training programs around the world.
Writing your essay
Your essay or research paper may be a study into Freire’s life and work, but it is more likely that you are conducting an essay on educational theory. If so, then it will be crucial, as in any psychological and sociological debate, to conduct extensive research. Try to use the Internet as little as possible, as it is a minefield of bias, plagiarism, and conjecture. Instead, utilise materials such as published books, journals or periodicals, as these are peer-reviewed for reliability and accuracy.
Writing your paper is the next step, and the most important thing to keep in mind is clarity. Your arguments must not only be based on references, but must also be clear so that the reader can follow. If you are not gifted at this, then let someone else write the paper for you – you will be very happy that you did.
