Assignment 1b

Three important and significant facts concerning Paulo Freire -

Possibly one of the most important influences that formulated the thinking and ideology of Paulo Freire involves his economic background which pertinaciously enveloped him during the early years of his life. Born on 1921 in the Brazilian city of Recife, Freire was exposed to many fiscal hardships which possessed striking similarities to that of the Great Depression. While a superficial observation could produce a conclusion that promulgated Freire's middle class status, the deceiving properties of his family's social rank should be observed and noted. One of the first of these properties that should be noted involve the (actual) poverty and involuntary fasting that witnessed Freire's existence during 1929. Though the experience proved not to be a prolonged issue, it still managed to be highly pivotal in assisting the creation of his pedagogical ambitions.

Another significant aspect about Freire's ideology concerns his distinguished views on the nature of education among the less privileged class. First worth mentioning is how he went about to accumulate such pedagogical opinions. His philosophical views as they pertain to the educational sphere are primarily influenced from great classical orators, authors, and philosophes, as well as from Marxist and anti-colonial ideals. Considering the great extent to which he relayed the thoughts of phenomenology and other transcendentalist theory, the German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel is also considered by many to be a substantial source of inspiration.

After investigating the various origins of his “muses” and inspirations, it is now proper to look at a third and final crucial item concerning the Brazilian educator Freire. This final factor that one should endow with considerable importance regards his educational theories and the substance in which these theories take form. There can be considered eight important theories that Freire developed concerning his most fundamental educational principles and they may be listed as follows:

Theory of Value
Theory of Knowledge
Theory of Human Knowledge
Theory of Learning
Theory of Transmission
Theory of Society
Theory of Opportunity
Theory of Consensus (Lyons)

It should be mentioned that the “Theories” of the enumerated list above all possess equal significance in determining a particular pedagogical algorithm (Freire's formula) and not one of the listed items need be accentuated over another. While this “Golden Mean” may possess veracity, the “theory of value” and “theory of transmission” are of special importance because they (the theories) represent some of his most basic ideas regarding educational theory and practice. Questions like “who should teach?”, “what shall be taught?”, and “what is worth learning?” are all addressed within the confines of the theory's notational medium. It is primarily these theories (when implemented in unison) that balustrade the infrastructure of Freire's pedagogical ideologies.

Works Cited

"Encyclopedia of World Biography on Paulo Freire." Book Rags. 2 Feb 2009 http://www.bookrags.com/biography/paulo-freire/.

"Paulo Freire." Wikipedia. 31 January 2009. Wikimedia Foundation. 2 Feb 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Freire.

Lyons, John. "Paulo Freire's Educational Theory." New Foundations. 4 January 2008. 2 Feb 2009 http://www.newfoundations.com/GALLERY/Freire.html.