Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire and Myra Bergman Ramos

First published in Portuguese in 1968, Pedagogy of the Oppressed was translated and published in English in 1970. The methodology of the late Paulo Freire has helped to empower countless impoverished and illiterate people throughout the world. Freire's work has taken on especial urgency in the United States and Western Europe, where the creation of a permanent underclass among the underprivileged and minorities in cities and urban centers is increasingly accepted as the norm. With a substantive new introduction on Freire's life and the remarkable impact of this book by writer and Freire confidant and authority Donaldo Macedo, this anniversary edition of Pedagogy of the Oppressed will inspire a new generation of educators, students, and general readers for years to come.

A must read for everyone

"ছিল রুমাল, হয়ে গেল একটা বেড়াল।"

ছিল রেভোল্যুশনারি শিক্ষাতত্ত্বের বই, হয়ে গেল সমালোচনানির্ভর শিক্ষাতত্ত্বের (Critical Pedagogy) অন্যতম গুরুত্বপূর্ণ বই। যা বলেছেন তার সবটাই যে অজানা, তা না। তবে ফর্মালি সেসব নিয়ে কথাবার্তা বলতে গেলে হয়ই না। হীরক রাজা যখন বলে যে, “এরা যত বেশি পড়ে, তত বেশি জানে, তত কম মানে।” তখন আমাদের একরকম বুদ্ধিবৃত্তিক অর্গাজম হয় বটে তবে শেষমেশ ও বিষয়ে তলিয়ে দেখি না। ইন্টেলেকচুয়াল যখন রাষ্ট্র বা ক্ষমতার ছায়ায় থাকে নিজেকে তাদের ক্ষমতার অংশ বলে ভ্রম হয় বৈকি। অতএব,

“Not infrequently, training course participants call attention to “the danger of conscientização” in a way that reveals their own fear of freedom. Critical consciousness, they say, is anarchic. Others add that critical consciousness may lead to disorder.”

Extremely difficult book to rate because I found the concepts within very valuable but the writing was incredibly dense and repetitive. It's a book that's difficult to read but ultimately worth struggling through, I think, but it could be written in a more digestible way.

The real value in the book is not its readability but its spirit. Regardless of how I felt about Freire's perspective, I found it was a valuable perspective to read. The writing of Pedagogy of the Oppressed may not be digestible, but it is undoubtedly full of Freire's love for humanity and his resulting passion to better the world. Some of his concepts and writings didn't land for me, but Freire nonetheless gave me thoughts about how I can offset some of the abundant oppression in society as both an educator and a human.

In that sense, I feel Pedagogy of the Oppressed, whether intentional on Freire's part or not, managed to avoid being a book that deposited pedagogical concepts into me and instead stimulated my own interest in problem-solving. To me, this book is best read as Freire's interpretation and perspective of the struggles he faced as an educator rather than an instruction manual. His perspective is respectable and worthwhile, but I think it is ultimately one of many valuable perspectives to take into account.

I think it's a good, important book to read for a more wholesome grasp of how to approach oppression, especially as far as education is concerned. My only real gripe is, again, the writing quality.