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Pedagogical Approach

Liberationism

Also Known As Critical Pedagogy
Philosophies of Education

The pedagogical approach that treats education as a route to critical awareness, linked to Paulo Freire, involving questions about whose voices are missing from sources, and using project work and structured discussion.

Facts
Central Question
Does education treat the learner as a passive recipient of deposited knowledge, or as an active partner in dialogue? 1
Most Effective For
Work with marginalized and oppressed populations, building critical consciousness and agency through dialogue rather than one-way instruction. 1
Connections

Associated With

Ivan Illich, Thinkers

Illich's Deschooling Society (1971) became foundational to the liberationist and deschooling movements in education, per Illich's own live entity-description.

Source Encyclopaedia Britannica

Developed By

Paulo Freire, Thinkers
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica

Includes

bell hooks, Thinkers

Freire's work is the founding line of the liberationist approach.

Source Wikipedia
Sources
1. infed, the encyclopedia of pedagogy and informal education
  • Paulo Freire, dialogue praxis and education page
    Too much education, Paulo Freire argues, involves 'banking', the educator making 'deposits' in the educatee.
  • Paulo Freire, dialogue praxis and education page, introduction
    has been particularly popular with informal educators with his emphasis on dialogue and his concern for the oppressed
View the Source
Structural Learning, Pedagogy Explained
Structural LearningPedagogy Explained, Five Pedagogical Approaches Explained, Liberationism
Quote, Pedagogy Explained, Five Pedagogical Approaches Explained, Liberationism
treats education as a route to critical awareness
View the Source
Development Education Review
Development Education ReviewPaulo Freire's Legacy and Critical Pedagogy in Dark Times article
Quote, Paulo Freire's Legacy and Critical Pedagogy in Dark Times article
In the realm of critical pedagogy, Freire demanded that educators do far more than transmit knowledge; they must ignite a fire of critical consciousness in students
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
  • Developed By: Paulo Freire
  • Associated With: Ivan Illich, Entity description, Ivan Illich
    His radical critique became foundational to liberationist and deschooling movements in education.
View the Source
Wikipedia
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Includes: Critical Pedagogy, Critical pedagogy, Definition
    Critical Pedagogy is believed to have its roots in the critical theory of the Frankfurt School, which was established in 1923.
  • Includes: Critical Pedagogy, Pedagogy of the Oppressed article, liberation framing
    proposes a pedagogy with a new relationship between teacher, student, and society
View the Source
Frequently Asked Questions

What does Paulo Freire mean by 'banking education'?

Freire used 'banking' to describe conventional teaching where the educator deposits information into passive students, which liberationism rejects in favor of dialogue between teacher and learner.

Paulo Freire argued that too much education works like banking: the educator makes deposits of information for students to passively receive, memorize and repeat, treating them as empty accounts rather than active participants. Liberationism rejects this model, replacing it with dialogue in which teacher and learner question the world together, which is why liberationism's own central question asks whether the learner is a passive recipient of deposited knowledge or an active partner in dialogue.
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