Blog Post #6: Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Freire takes a new stance on a teacher and student relationship. We have all been brought up to assume that the teacher knows best, and to never question authority, and that students should always be the learners. These ideas are exactly that of an "oppressed" group, as Freire puts it, and teachers are the "oppressors." At first, I was pretty shocked at hearing this; because most teachers are in the profession be being compassionate and caring, it is hard to believe that we would be the oppressors. However, it is the same sort of systematic oppression, even though it is more symbolic, as racism or homophobia. Teachers are not intentionally being the oppressors, but the sheer nature of how we think of teachers and teaching is oppressive. This ideology encourages students who learn one way or students who can easily "work the system," but allows students who need different methods of teaching to fall through the cracks. Someone in class today said that it seems like students are just waiting to be "injected" with knowledge, and are passive learners. Students seem to have no drive to learn and explore for themselves. This stems from the idea of the "banking" approach to teaching that so many students are unconsciously experiencing throughout their career as a student. It is clearly going to be difficult to unlearn the acceptance of this oppression that Freire is speaking of. With most teachers wanting specific answers to broad questions, students will have a hard time to navigate the system without oppression since they are so used to catering to it. The job of teachers should shift from just dumping information onto students, to allowing students a space that encourages critical thinking that will let them come to their own answers.