Meeting Register Page

ELD Book Study: Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Over a lifetime of work with revolutionary organizers and educators, educator Paulo Freire created an approach to emancipatory education and a lens through which to understand systems of oppression in order to transform them. He flipped mainstream pedagogy on its head by insisting that true knowledge and expertise already exist within people. They need no “deposits” of information (what Freire calls “banking education”), nor do they need leftist propaganda to convince them of their problems. What is required to transform the world is dialogue, critical questioning, love for humanity, and praxis – the synthesis of critical reflection and action. In short, Freire believes in a pedagogy in which education is the practice of freedom, which he contrasts with education as a practice of domination, characterized by assimilating individuals to meet the expectations of a dominant power structure. In a community of practice, we will read, discuss, and interrogate Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and relate it to historical, current, and future educational practice. Particularly, we will attend to critical thinking about the ways in which Freire’s thinking can inform equitable education for English learners.

Intended Audience: All educators and administrators

Facilitators:
Andrea Kolb, Statewide Multilingual Education Project Manager, Center for Schools and Communities
Bob Measel, Title III Director and Bilingual Education Advisor, Pennsylvania Department of Education

Schedule:
The group will meet three times to discuss the text up to that point.
Monday, September 28, 2020 | 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. | Preface, Introduction, & Chapter 1
Monday, November 9, 2020 | 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. | Chapters 2 & 3
Monday, December 21, 2020 | 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. | Chapter 4