Pedagogy of the Oppressed.

Despite the late hour I find myself once again reading Paulo Freire's revolutionary classic, 'pedagogy of the oppressed''(Freire & Macedo, 2005). Now this is not exactly an easy read, slightly dodgy translations, and "marxist jargon" (Freire & Macedo, 2005, p.20) to comprehend, but my attention is divided as my husband is on the phone by my side defending my writings: "its a blog not an academic assignment" I hear him say. Ok, time I temporarily put down the book and paid attention: having read my blog, my sister-in-law (the teacher) has feedback for me, eeek...........this is good, someone has read my blog!!!

So, seemingly I have a few (ok more than a few) typing errors. Now this does not sit easily with me, within my academic writing I am a perfectionist - proof reading to the last hour before deadline. So as you can imagine, my first thought was to edit and amend. However, upon reflection I have decided to resist the temptation and leave the human errors as they stand.  Here's why:  my disclaimer.  The purpose of my blog is for ease of entry, I want to use it as a working document, as evidence, analysis and reflection on, and where practical in, action (Schon, 1991). If I seek perfection I lose writing in the moment, so please forgive my imperfections, and keep reading..........

Back to the book.....
Up until a few weeks ago I had never heard of the author Paulo Freire; I chose the book on a bit of a whim as my tutor suggested it as one of many 'philosophical perspectives on learning' which may be of interest to me for use within my assignment, and this one seemed to jump off the shelf.  Having read the book its quite obvious why; Freire is writing about me, right?!

Up until now guess I never really understood my own motivations for wanting to teach; as I can not be an eternal student it just seemed the next logical step. I knew I was good at the academic stuff and often seem to be the oracle in my own classes, whom fellow students turn to for help with their work. Also I love the buzz that learning and new knowledge gives me, and I desperately want to better myself, be a positive role model, and provide a good standard of living for my children.
However, there  is so much to learn and take on-board as a new teacher that conformity to the norm occurs without realisation; terms such as inclusivity, differentiation and embedding learning lead the way (rather shallowly in my own case).
However, I can honestly say that reading pedagogy of the oppressed has transformed my thinking and provided me with new motivations; I now understand the type of teacher I want to be. Admittedly it took a while , and over the course of my reading I have been disturbed by the thoughts:

• Am I a "banking educator"? 
• Have I been programmed into conformity, or groomed to fit societies measure of the norm?
• Are my own children on the same course? 
• Am I on the verge of shifting from oppressed to oppressor? What can I do to prevent this?
• How can I ensure I don't stifle creativity and critical thinking, whilst teaching to a criteria which at times appears to students to be disconnected from reality?
• How can I employ dialogical methods of teaching and encourage dialogue in the classroom?

Admittedly, I can think of instances when in implementing the program of study and working to the assessment criteria, I have: 'taught' instead of 'facilitated', deposited information which is disconnected from reality,  and potentially hindered creativity and critical thinking. From here on in, I intend to reflect upon the aforementioned questions which have plagued my thoughts: in embedding numeracy, literacy and ICT, in differentiating learning so as meet the needs of the individual learner, in planning for and implementing inclusive practice. I hope to work within the current system and bridge the gap between the realities of practice which consists of seemingly arbitrary assessment criteria, and students motivations, perspectives, interests and realities. 

I make no claim of transformation, I am not naive in my thinking; society and education will remain of its present structure despite my efforts. Neither am I certain I would wish for transformation to the extent of Freire's ideal, after all the present system is one of familiarity; surely radical transformation would be to the detriment of generations?! Maybe, as Freire would argue, this means I am colonized, accepting of oppression as I do not recognise its nature, and fearful  of liberation. However, I would argue the opposite, maybe, and just maybe, I am happy!!

So I guess after all I sit on the fence a little, but definitely perched with my eyes wide open.