Paolo Freire

    Brazilian educator and philosopher, Paulo Freire speculated on a form of education that served to give students a way to think critically about the institutions that make up society, and create a more equitable world. Paulo expressed this educational philosophy in his first book Pedagogy of the Oppressed. The book became very popular with many academics and teachers in the United States when the text eventually got translated to English.    

    In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo critiques the "banking" model of education. He explains that the banking model forces students to blindly regurgitate information from the teacher with little to no conversation that dives into the topic. This method severs all creativity and makes the teacher an autocratic ruler that cannot be challenged. Freire resisted these notions, insisting that the imbalanced power dynamics between the students and teachers was harmful to a student's critical thinking skills. Instead Freire believes that teachers and students should work together to find an answer through the act of "problem posing". Through their lived experiences, learners can break down and make connections to the material world their live in. This goes hand in hand with the other tenant of that is important to critical pedagogy which is the goal to create a better world. School is not just a railroad toward an occupation that keeps the gears of industry running, instead education as a space that can create powerful political minds to help create a better society. Critical Pedagogy combines the materialist focus of Marx and Engels through the dialogue based methods of Socrates and Plato.

    Although much of Freire's ideas were not fully implemented in the American education system there are bits and pieces that have shown up. In higher education, there critical pedagogy is much more common  among the humanities. From grade school all the way to high school, the presentation of information is through the banking method. There is little to no discussion of the material, and the only input from students is to repeat the correct information. Classes like social studies which would be primed for conversations about the lived experiences of the learners, are only communicated through lessons that seem abstract and distant. 

    Culturally responsive teaching is a very important concept to employ especially in the United States where we are so multicultural. Tying curriculums to the social issues that effect the learners in the classroom is an effective way to get them engaged. Using books that represent the cultures of the students makes the concepts and themes of the lesson much more intimate and close