Pedagogy of the Oppressed

By: Parag Chowdhury

Friere, Paulo (2000) Pedagogy of the Oppressed, New York, New York: Continuum International Publishing Group Inc.

A classic book exploring the links between education and social change. A Neo-Marxist critique of education and a prescription for how it can be reformed.

In the forward, Richard Schaull offers a synopsis of the book:

"The young perceive that their right to say their own word has been stolen from them, and that few things are more important than the struggle to win it back. And they also realize that the educational system today-from kindergarten to university-is their enemy."

"There is no such thing as a neutral educational process. Education either functions as a instrument that is used to facilitate the integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity to it, or it becomes "the practice of freedom," the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world (Friere, 2000)."