Naraku
11-21-2009, 12:54 PM
On another forum I was just introduced to this term. An individual there was actually condemning protesters of Young Americans for Liberty by claiming our current system of "American capitalism", which he erroneously cited them as defending, maintains inequality, has a non-existent meritocracy and is generally racist.
I dispute these things and then began talking about critical pedagogy when I questioned whether he was a leftist purely because he seemed to be talking like one.
Looking into it I began to find something fishy when I picked up on this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_pedagogy):
Critical pedagogy was heavily influenced by the works of Paulo Freire, arguably the most celebrated critical educator. According to his writings, Freire heavily endorses students’ ability to think critically about their education situation; this way of thinking allows them to "recognize connections between their individual problems and experiences and the social contexts in which they are embedded."
So I looked into this man and found the following (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Freire) on Wikipedia:
After a year in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, Freire moved to Geneva, Switzerland to work as a special education advisor to the World Council of Churches. During this time Freire acted as an advisor on education reform in former Portuguese colonies in Africa, particularly Guinea Bissau and Mozambique.
In 1979, he was able to return to Brazil, and moved back in 1980. Freire joined the Workers' Party (PT) in the city of São Paulo, and acted as a supervisor for its adult literacy project from 1980 to 1986. When the PT prevailed in the municipal elections in 1988, Freire was appointed Secretary of Education for São Paulo.
Now the first paragrahp identifies him as being an adviser to Guinea Bissau and Mozambique. Both of those countries were run by Marxist-Leninist parties at the time. The article later notes:
Paulo Freire contributed a philosophy of education that came not only from the more classical approaches stemming from Plato, but also from modern Marxist and anti-colonialist thinkers.
So it is all very explicit. Looking at prominent advocates you'll find most are Marxists and quite a few have major position in Universities across the country. Talk is raised of globalizing the ideals.
I dispute these things and then began talking about critical pedagogy when I questioned whether he was a leftist purely because he seemed to be talking like one.
Looking into it I began to find something fishy when I picked up on this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_pedagogy):
Critical pedagogy was heavily influenced by the works of Paulo Freire, arguably the most celebrated critical educator. According to his writings, Freire heavily endorses students’ ability to think critically about their education situation; this way of thinking allows them to "recognize connections between their individual problems and experiences and the social contexts in which they are embedded."
So I looked into this man and found the following (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Freire) on Wikipedia:
After a year in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, Freire moved to Geneva, Switzerland to work as a special education advisor to the World Council of Churches. During this time Freire acted as an advisor on education reform in former Portuguese colonies in Africa, particularly Guinea Bissau and Mozambique.
In 1979, he was able to return to Brazil, and moved back in 1980. Freire joined the Workers' Party (PT) in the city of São Paulo, and acted as a supervisor for its adult literacy project from 1980 to 1986. When the PT prevailed in the municipal elections in 1988, Freire was appointed Secretary of Education for São Paulo.
Now the first paragrahp identifies him as being an adviser to Guinea Bissau and Mozambique. Both of those countries were run by Marxist-Leninist parties at the time. The article later notes:
Paulo Freire contributed a philosophy of education that came not only from the more classical approaches stemming from Plato, but also from modern Marxist and anti-colonialist thinkers.
So it is all very explicit. Looking at prominent advocates you'll find most are Marxists and quite a few have major position in Universities across the country. Talk is raised of globalizing the ideals.