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,
get recognized, & speak up! S
pea
k U
p!
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Early, Middle & Late Freire:
Partial Ontological & Epistemic Shifts or Complete Rupture?
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Introduction
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Early, Middle & Late Freire:
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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Christian Existentialism
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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Committed Sociologist
Committed Philosopher
Classical & Western Marxism
Post-colonialism
Middle FreireYoung Freire
Christian Existentialism
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Committed Sociologist
Committed Philosopher
Classical & Western Marxism
Post-colonialism
Middle Freire:Young Freire,
Christian Existentialism
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
Committed Philosopher
Christian Existentialism
Classical Marxism
Western Marxism
Postcolonialism3rd World Marxism
Postmodernism
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Late FreireMiddle Freire
Committed Philosopher
Marx, Engels, Fanon,
Guevara, Marcuse, Memmi Sartre
Postmodernism: No authors cited
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Late Freire:Middle Freire,
Committed Philosopher
Christian Existentialism
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
Christian Existentialism
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Mature Freire
Young Freire
Christian Existentialism
Progressive Post-modernism
Committed Sociologist
Classical MarxismWestern MarxismPostcolonialism
Middle Freire
Committed Philosopher
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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• Quotations are attributed to the original authors & sources.
Rey Ty
Early, Middle & Late Freire:Ontological &
Epistemic Shifts or Rupture?
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Early, Middle & Late Freire:
Changing Perspectives with the
Changing Times
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