2013 09-28 Rey Ty, Early Freire, Scientific Freire, and Mature Freire, Partial Ontological &...

Rey Ty

Early, Middle & Late Freire:Partial Ontological & Epistemic Shifts

or Complete Rupture?

Mercedes Sosa: Gracias A La Vida https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIrGQD84F1g

Dr. Rey Ty

Northern Illinois University

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If you are burning to say something, raise your hand,

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Early, Middle & Late Freire:

Partial Ontological & Epistemic Shifts or Complete Rupture?

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Introduction

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Changing Perspectives with the

Changing Times

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Paulo Freire(September 19, 1921 - May 2, 1997)

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Problem Statement• Many write

about Freire without really reading Freire.

• Hence, misrepresent Freire!

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Problem Statement• Freire was

consistent in struggling for liberation.

• But he did not speak with “one” voice!

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Problem Statement• Freire spoke with

multiple voices throughout his life in different contexts & historical moments!

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Research Questions• Who is the “real” Freire?

• What are the different voices with which Freire spoke?

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Data Collection Methods• Textual

evidence from Freire’s own books.

• No secondary sources allowed!

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Data Collection Methods1. Young Freire: Freire, P.

(2002). Education for critical consciousness & Education as the practice of freedom. New York: Continuum.

2. Middle Freire: Freire, P. (2005). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum.

3. Mature Freire: Freire, P. (1996). Pedagogy of hope. New York: Continuum.

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Limitations• Only one entry

per author is listed here.

• Other (less known) authors are not listed here.

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Findings

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Young Freire

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Critical consciousness & Education as the practice of freedom (2002)

Gabriel Marcel French Christian existentialism

p. 19

C. Wright Mills U.S. sociologist for political engagement

p. 34

Jacques Maritain French Catholic philosopher p. 39

Karl Mannheim Jewish Hungarian-born anti-fascist sociologist

p. 41

Karl Theodor Jaspers

German existentialist p. 45

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Christian Existentialism

Young Freire

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Young Freire

Marcel, Maritain, Jasper

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Committed Sociologist

Young Freire

Mills, Mannheim

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Young Freire•An educator who was a Christian existentialist & sociologist calling for political engagement

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Objectivity

(Consciousness, 2002, p. 2)• Materialism: “To be human is

to engage in relationships with others and with the world. It is to experience that world as an objective reality, independent of oneself, capable of being known.”

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Young Freire•Epistemology: The “world [is] an objective reality, independent of oneself, capable of being known.”

(Consciousness, 2002, p. 2)

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Young Freire’s Contributions

1.Cons-ciousness

2.Cultural Circles

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Education for critical consciousness 1. “fatalistic” and “naïve consciousness.”

2. “intransitive” or “magical consciousness.”

3. become ‘transitive’

4. Freire (2002, p. 4) defined conscientization as “learning to perceive social, political, and economic contradictions and to take actions against the oppressive elements of reality.” “Conscientizaçao represents the development of the awakening of critical awareness” (Freire, 2002, p. 19).

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Critique of Freire’s “Consciousness”

•How to measure?

•How to develop?

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Critique of Freire’s “Consciousness”

• He later abandoned all talk about conscious-ness!

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Critique of Freire’s “Cultural Circles”

1. For literacy programs

2. What about contexts with high literacy already?

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Middle Freire

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Ideology & Philosophy (Oppressed, 1997, pp. 12-13)

• In his own words, he is influenced by:

• “Sartre and Mounier, Erich Fromm and Louis Althusser, Ortega y Gasset and Mao, Martin Luther King and Che Guevarra, Unamuno and Marcuse.”

• Sartre, p. 57

• Reinhold Neibuhr, p. 59

• Hence: (Christian) Existentialism, Classical Marxism, Critical Theory/Western Marxism, New Social Movement

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Existentialism (Oppressed, 1997, p. 29)

• Sartrean Existentialism: “The oppressed, having internalized the image of the oppressor and adopted his guidelines, are fearful of freedom. Freedom would require them to eject this image and replace it with autonomy and responsibility.”

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Middle Freire• Humanization (Oppressed,

1997, p.25)• “humanist and libertarian” (Ibid,

p. 36)• “critical consciousness” (Ibid, p.

54)• “authentic liberation” (Ibid, p.

60)• “dialogue” & “love” (Ibid, p. 70)• “true humanists” (ibid, p. 77)

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Pedagogy of the oppressed (2005)Emmanuel Mounier

French philosopher who critiqued Pope Pius XII for not saying anything about Italy’s invasion of Albania

p. 30

José Ortega y Gasset

Spanish liberal philosopher (freedom to choose our destiny)

p. 30

Mao Zedong Chinese classical “Third World” Marxism

p. 30

Martin Luther King U.S. civil rights theologian p. 30

Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo

Basque (Spanish) anti-fascist philosopher; his La Agonía del Cristianismo is in Index Librorum Prohibitorum

p. 31

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Pedagogy of the oppressed (2005)Rosa Luxembourg Polish Jewish Marxist p. 39

Karl Marx German founder of Marxism p. 51

Friedrich Engels German co-founder of Marxism p. 51

György Lucas Hungarian “Western” Marxist p. 52

Erich Fromm German “Frankfurt School” of Critical Theory

p. 59

Herbert Marcuse German “Frankfurt School” of Critical Theory

p. 60

Frantz Fanon Postcolonialism (Martinique) p. 62

Régis Debray French pro-Che Guevarra (studied under Louis Althusser in Paris)

p. 64

Simone de Beauvoir

French feminist existentialist p. 74

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Pedagogy of the oppressed (2005)Jean-Paul Sartre French pro-Mao, pro-postcolonial,

pro-Third World existentialist Marxistp. 76

Reinhold Niebuhr

U.S. Protestant theologian combining Christianity with Marxism

p. 78

Edmund Husserl

Austrian/German; Phenomenology p. 83

Vladimir Lenin Classical Marxism; former USSR p. 125

Fidel Castro “Third World” Marxist p. 129

Gajo Petrović Former Yugoslavia; Marxist Humanist Praxis

p. 137

Pope John XXIII Roman Catholic Church p. 140

Albert Memmi Postcolonialism; Jewish Tunisian p. 140

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Pedagogy of the oppressed (2005)Louis Althusser Algerian-born French Marxist p. 159

Ernest “Che” Guevarra

Argentine/Cuban “Third World” Marxist

p. 163

Camilo Torres Colombian theologian of liberation p. 163

“A Chilean priest” Roman Catholic Church p. 164

Martin Buber Austrian-born Jewish religious existentialist

p. 167

Bishop Franic Split

Roman Catholic Church p. 143

Marie-Dominique Chenu

Progressive French Catholic theologian calling for reforms

p. 172

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Christian Theologian

Middle Freire

ML King, Niebuhr, Pope John XXIII,

Torres, Split, Chenu

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Committed Philosopher

Middle Freire

Mounier, Gasset & Ortega, Unamuno

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Classical Marxist

Middle Freire

Marx, Engels, Lenin, Luxemburg

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Contradictions(Oppressed, 1997, p. 29)

• Dialectical resolution of contradictions: “But the struggle to be more fully human has already begun in the authentic struggle to transform the situation.”

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Dialectics (Freire, P. (1996). Pedagogy of hope. New York:

Continuum, p. 133)• Dialectics: “…a critical

understanding of language in its dialectical relationship with thought and world: the dialectical interrelations of language, ideology, social classes, and education.”

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Middle Freire• Freire (Oppressed, 1997, p. 35) quoted Marx

& Engels on Dialectics and Materialism: “The materialist doctrine that men are products of circumstances and upbringing, and that, therefore, changed men are products of other circumstances and changed upbringing, forgets that it is men that change circumstances and that the educator himself needs education.” Marx & Engels, Selected Works (NY: 1968, p. 28).

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Materialist Dialectics(Oppressed, 1997, pp. 106-7)

• Quoting Lenin on the dialectical relationship between theory and practice: “ ‘Without a revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement’ means that a revolution is achieved with neither verbalism nor activism, but rather with praxis, that is, with reflection and action directed at the structures to be transformed.”

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Postcolonial & Third-World

Marxist

Middle Freire

Mao, Castro, Che Guevara, Fanon, Debray, Memmi

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Western Marxist

Middle Freire

Althusser, Lukacs, Fromm, Marcuse,

Petrović

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Existentialism Phenomenologist

Middle Freire

de Beauvoir, Sartre, Husserl, Buber

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Middle Freire• Christian• Classical Marxist• “Western” Marxist

(Critical Theory)• “Third World”

Marxist• Existentialist/

Phenomenologist• Postcolonial

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Early Freire

Middle Freire?

Are Young & Middle Freire disjointed?

Maybe!

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Early Freire

Middle Freire?

Are Young & Middle Freire disjointed?

Maybe!

MarxistChristian Existentialist

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Christianity Marxism

Middle FreireYoung Freire

Exi

sten

tial

ism

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Classical & Western Marxism

Post-colonialism

Middle FreireYoung Freire


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Classical & Western Marxism

Post-colonialism

Middle Freire:Young Freire,


Continuity, Shift & Change!

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Middle Freire’s Contributions

1. Expose & oppose “banking method” of education

2. Propose “problem-solving” education

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Critique of Freire’s “Problem-Solving” Education

1. Romanticism2. Like it or not,

instructors have power

3. 100% sure instructors can’t “deposit” any knowledge at all?

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Mature Freire

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Ideology & Philosophy(Freire, P. (1996). Pedagogy of hope.

New York: Continuum, 1996)• “explain and defend progressive

postmodernity & it will reject conservative, neoliberal postmodernity” (p. 10)

• “progressively postmodern” (p. 96)

• “progressive postmodern” (p. 132)

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Gnosiology (Freire, P. (1996). Pedagogy of hope. New York: Continuum, p. 236)

• Materialist Gnosiology: “How is the ‘basistic,’ voluntaristic temptation to be resisted—and how is the intellectualistic, verbalistic temptation to engage in sheer empty chatter to be overcome?”

• “It is impossible to make education both a political practice and a gnosiological one, fully, without the constant stimulus of these questions, or without our constantly answering them.”

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Pedagogy of hope (1996)“defend progressive postmodernity”

Postmodernism p. 10

“reject conservative neoliberal postmodernity”

Postmodernism p. 10

Henry Giroux U.S. Critical Pedagogy p. 11

Donaldo Macedo Cape Verdean-American Critical Theory

p. 11

Ira Shor U.S. Critical Pedagogy (Bronx, NY) p. 11

Stanley Aronowitz U.S. urban sociology; combine Marxist political economy & culture

p. 11

Michael Apple U.S. critical education theory p. 11

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Mature Freire• In favor of progressives (Heart, 2006, p. 55)

• Opposed to neoliberals (Heart, 2006, p. 55)

• Opposed to sectarianism (Hope, 1996, p. 50)

• Opposed to sexist language” (Hope, 1996, p. 65): “it is not a grammatical problem, but an ideological one” (Hope, 1996, p. 67)

• Opposed to “authoritarian vanguardist leaders” (Hope, 1996, p. 114)

• Opposed to “any back-alley neoliberal knows very well that such view is absolute nonsense…” (Heart, 2006, p. 75).

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Mature Freire• Non-discrimination against

“blacks, women, homosexuals, the indigenous, the fat, the old” (Heart, 2006, p. 106)

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Gnosiology (Freire, P. (1996). Pedagogy of hope. New York:

Continuum, p. 236)

• Materialist Gnosiology: “How is the ‘basistic,’ voluntaristic temptation to be resisted—and how is the intellectualistic, verbalistic temptation to engage in sheer empty chatter to be overcome?”

• “It is impossible to make education both a political practice and a gnosiological one, fully, without the constant stimulus of these questions, or without our constantly answering them.”

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Pedagogy of hope (1996)“postmodern” Postmodernism p. 13

Jean-Paul Sartre French pro-Mao, pro-postcolonial, pro-Third World existentialist Marxist

p. 17

Frantz Fanon Postcolonialism (Martinique) p. 17

Gramsci, Antonio Italian Marxist p. 18

M. Ponty Argentine/Cuban “Third World” Marxist p. 18

Simone Weil Argentine/Cuban “Third World” Marxist p. 18

Herbert Marcuse German “Frankfurt School” of Critical Theory p. 18

Ernest “Che” Guevarra

Argentine/Cuban “Third World” Marxist p. 43

Marx & Engels Classical Marxism p. 88

Albert Memmi Postcolonialism; Jewish Tunisian p. 105

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Materialism• “the historical, economic, and

social reasons that explain…” (Freire, P. (1996). Pedagogy of hope. New York: Continuum, p. 8)

• “I am hopeful…out of an existential, concrete imperative.” (Hope, 1996, p. 8)

• “reading the world” (Heart, 2006, p. 76)

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Late Freire• Classical Marxist• “Third World”

Marxist• Existentialist/

Phenomenologist• Postcolonial• U.S. Critical

Theory/Pedagogy• Progressive

Postmodernity

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Late Freire• He did not cite

Christian authors

• But he continued to interact with priests, etc.

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Late FreireMiddle Freire



Classical Marxism

Western Marxism

Postcolonialism3rd World Marxism

Postmodernism

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Late FreireMiddle Freire


Marx, Engels, Fanon,

Guevara, Marcuse, Memmi Sartre

Postmodernism: No authors cited

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Late Freire:Middle Freire,



Classical Marxism

Western Marxism

Postcolonialism3rd World Marxism

Postmodernism

Continuity, Shift & Change!

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Late Freire’s Contributions

• Include “progressive postmodernism” without abandoning class struggle

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Critique of Freire’s “Postmodernism”

• No textual proof that he read “progressive postmodernism” literature

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Conclusion

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Summary• At least three phases in the

development of Freire’s thought

1. Early Freire

2. Middle Freire

3. Late Freire

• Each with its distinct “flavor”

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What Do Textual Evidence Show?

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Note of Caution• Freire did not

reject his earlier tools of analysis in each stage (Marxism, postcolonialism, etc.).

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Note of Caution• Rather, Freire

refined & enriched his social investigation by adding new tools of analysis.

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Mature Freire?

Early Freire?

Middle Freire?

Are there three disjointed Freires?

No!

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Middle Freire

3 Overlapping Freires? Yes!

Mature Freire

Young Freire

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Mature Freire?

Early Freire?

Middle Freire?

Are there 3 overlapping Freires?

Yes!Christian Existentialist

Existential, Marxist,

Postcolonial & Postmodern

Existentialist, Marxist, Postcolonial

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Middle Freire Mature

Freire

Young Freire

Apple, Arendt, Aronowitz, Giroux, Gramsci, Macedo,

Shor, Weil

Marx, Engels, Fanon, Guevarra, Memmi, Marcuse,

Sartre

Jaspers, Mannheim, Marcel, Maritain, C.W. Mills

Bouvoir, Castro, Debray, Fromm, MLKing, Lenin,

Lukacs,Luxemburg,

Niebuhr, PopeJohn XXIII


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Mature Freire

Young Freire


Progressive Post-modernism


Classical MarxismWestern MarxismPostcolonialism

Middle Freire


The Verdict

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Epistemic Breaks?• Sure, Freire had

made paradigm shifts.

• But they are more of refinements by adding “new” tools of analysis, not rejection of “older” frameworks of analysis.

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Epistemic Breaks?•Shifts, Breaks, Continuities, Discontinuities

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Shifts or Ruptures?• Did Freire abandon Christianity in favor of science & Marxism?

• Yes and No!?

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His Strength is His Weakness• “You can’t win them all”?• Freire had his cake & ate it too!• Merge Religion, Philosophy &

Science• Merge Christianity & Marxism• Merge Faith & Science• He ends up as agnostic (neither

theist nor atheist).• Fuzzy middle.

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Paulo Freire•Personality cult?

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Young Freire, Scientific Freire, and Mature Freire:Complete Ontological and Epistemological Rupture or Partial Shifts?A Grounded Model of Freire’s Pedagogy and Implications to Education

by Dr. Rey Ty

PhasesHistory of

IdeasPhilosophy Ontology Epistemology

Implications to Education

Young Freire

Classical Thought; Medieval Thought

Critique of Superstitions; Christian Existentialism

Objective Idealism

Metaphysical Dualism

Christian values

Scientific Freire

Modern Thought

Variants of Marxism and Leninism

Dialectical Materialism

Historical Materialist Monism

Historical, economic, social and political analysis

Mature Freire

Postmodern Thought

Progressive Postmodernism

Not Subjective Idealism

Relativism; deconstruction

Power, Privilege Diversity, Cultural analysis, Multiculturalism, Narratives, Discourses

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Freire’s Dialectical Pedagogyby Rey Ty

Early Freire

Scientific Freire

Mature Freire

PhilosophyDualism

IdealismMeta-physics

Monism Historical Dialectical Materialism

Post-Modernism

Narratives

Relativism

Differences

AuthorsMarx, Lenin

Implications to Education

Action

Fill in the Blanks

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Social MovementTasks Ahead:

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Tasks Ahead1. All kinds of mass

democratic movements

2. Struggle for national liberation

3. Working people4. Peace movement5. Struggle against

exploitation, & injustice

6. Work for peace, justice & equality

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Paulo Freire(September 19, 1921 - May 2, 1997)

Mercedes Sosa- Canción con todos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEIsqUJCHHQ

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• This work contains original work of commentary and critical analysis.

• Quotations are attributed to the original authors & sources.

Rey Ty

Early, Middle & Late Freire:Ontological &

Epistemic Shifts or Rupture?

Rey Ty


Changing Perspectives with the

Changing Times

2013 09-28 Rey Ty, Early Freire, Scientific Freire, and Mature Freire, Partial Ontological &...

Education

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