GROUP 5

Radical Educationists and their works:

A critical understanding
Members PauloFreire:Pedagogy OfTheOppressed
Shivarathna G R IvanIllich:De-schoolingSociety
Deepa
Sumanth Gangathar
Meyappan
Shyam Sundar B
TOPIC : INTRODUCTION TO
RADICAL EDUCATION
THEORY
BY:
SHIVARATHNA G R
I YEAR M.ED,
RIEM
VIEWS ON RADICAL EDUCATION THEORY

• Radical education theory is an idea that tries to bring about a change in

learning methods to eliminate hierarchy and inequality in work environments.
• This theory questions the traditional education system as being misleading
and
introducing differences among people.
• It proposes that learners should not be taught the right and the wrong
but should be given relevant knowledge that helps them identify what is
right.
• Radical education theory is an educational concept intended to bring equality for the
poor and the weak.

• It is a form of education that engages an individual to participate in collaborative

activities.
• This system of education opposes the traditional practice and argues that the
conventional education system leads to inequality and hierarchy in workplaces and
society at large.
• This theory has numerous definitions and meanings.While some agree that the
theory is beneficial for starting major advancements in improving inclusivity, others
support the notion that it plays a vital role in examining the outcomes, mindset and
biases created by traditional education systems.
 DEFINITION

• It is defined as the form of education which makes one politically engaged,

participatory, and leftist. Radical education claims to be for the powerless and poor
and for difference and equality. The system is highly critical of traditional education
practice and argues that traditional education fosters inequality and hierarchy.
 McGettigan has given us the following definition:

• “Radical pedagogy is all about knowledge and education,and how they can (or
should) change to best serve the purposes of both educators and the educated. Since
the one constant in the universe is changing and because education has come to be
among the most important social institutions in the world, then it is very important to
consider as broadly as possible the nature of education as it exists today – as well as
how it might change as we move into the future”
 GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF RADICAL
EDUCATION THEORY
• The teacher in their key role should induce in their students the culture
of critical thinking.

• We should equip our children with a sense of judging the wrong from
the right rather than teaching them ‘the right thing’. Our children must
be educated in such a way that they must be able to find out for
themselves the right thing.

• If we try to impose authority-based discipline on our

children/students, they will feel disrespected and self-
defeated.Young people are already inclined towards self-
discipline; we just need to encourage them.
• Teachers should not be ‘in’ authority but should be ‘an’ authority i.e. the
pure source of knowledge.

• Children are citizens and they have rights. They are to enjoy the same
rights as any adult would in a
democracy. They also have a right to judge the validity and relevance of
knowledge to real life.

• Teachers are not responsible and must have little or no concern about
the outcomes of education. Rather, they should focus on increasing the
quality of educational interactions.

• Teachers are the intellectuals of society. Therefore, they are and should
• Though we inevitably share the knowledge but all knowledge in
its essence is personal. Moreover, everyone can have their own
truths and the closest we can come to the truth is inter-
subjective agreement and justification.

• The only significant standards in education are observational

and experiential.
These standards are essential to democracy.

• Assessment by scale and quality is a poor and inadequate

substitute for judgment.
 HISTORY OF CRITICAL PEDAGOGY

• Prior to the establishment of critical theory as one of the main

theoretical processes, critical thinking was considered as a way of
viewing reality for various generations.
• The meaning and the acts of logical thoughts have been themes for
debate among Greek philosophers, Renaissance philosophers,
academics, and thinkers of 19th and 20th centuries.
PAULO FREIRE: PEDAGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED.
IVAN ILLICH: DE-SCHOOLING SOCIETY
 PAULO FREIRE'S
PEDOGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED

DEEPA N
I M.Ed
 PEDOGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED
Pedagogy of the Oppressed is Paulo Freire’s best-known work.
He wrote it during his first years of exile from Brazil and published it in 1968.
The book was translated into English in 1970. It has been banned and blacklisted
numerous times by different governments who find the book to be subversive and
dangerous. Among these governments was the South African government during
Apartheid.

In the United States of America in the 21st century, the book was banned from being
taught in public schools in the state of Arizona under House Bill 2281.
• The book Pedagogy of the Oppressed is divided into four
chapters

Contradiction b/w oppressed and oppressor Freedom

Banking model and problem posing method

Helping and helpers Humanitarianism and humanism

Dailouge and antidailogue Manipulation

Several important themes are developed throughout the book. among these
themes are
 How the oppressed and the oppressors are affected by the act of
oppression, that liberation is a mutual process,
 The banking model of education,
 The incompleteness of human beings,
 Generative themes and the use of cooperation, and unity and organization
to liberate the oppressed.
The dehumanizing situation under which many people live is not a
given destiny but rather the result of unjust systematic oppression
that fosters violence in the oppressors and dehumanizes the
oppressed.
Freire warns the oppressed against becoming
oppressors on two counts:

whether the oppressed gain

power and use this power
In the case of the oppressed
to oppress their previous
gaining power over other
oppressor.
oppressed people and becoming
their oppressors, as they seek
their own individual liberation.
 • Freire also puts forth the thesis that freedom is acquired by
conquest, that a person must claim their own freedom because
* freedom is not something that can be gifted to a person by another.

• Pedagogy of the Oppressed by emphasizing how the oppressed

must be intimately involved in each stage of their liberation.
*

• He emphasizes, freedom is something each of us must claim for

ourselves; freedom is not a gift to be given by some people to
* others.
 CHAPTER.2
Pedagogy of the Oppressed is the distinction between the banking model of
education versus a critical pedagogy.
A central element of Freire’s pedagogy is dialogue, and he emphasizes its importance in
this chapter.
• Freire prefers dialogue to imposition.
He writes that it is love and respect that allow us to engage people in dialogue and to
discover ourselves in the process. By its nature, dialogue is not something that can be
imposed. Instead, genuine dialogue is characterized by respect of the parties involved
toward one another.
 CHAPTER.3
• Freire continues to develop his thesis on helping. He elaborates on the idea that
those who educate, facilitate, or help in any way—be it social workers, research
teams from universities, and so forth —must first learn to listen to and work with
those whom they are helping.
• Freire’s criticism is that these “helpers” have come to believe
that they have the right type of knowledge and the expertise.
Political leader/teacher/researcher/social worker
↓↓
students/community members being helped.
• Freire makes a distinction between humanitarianism and
humanism.
• Freire also elaborates on what he terms “limit situations.”
 CHAPTER.4
• Paulo Freire is very critical of all liberation and populist movements that deny the
oppressed the right to participate in their own liberation. Leaders of revolutionary
movements cannot gift freedom upon the oppressed, nor can they temporarily use
oppressive means to liberate them after the revolutionary movement comes to an
end.
• Freire motions us toward adopting a pluralistic sensibility that respects the “other,” given
that there is more than one way of being.
• Freire suggest that an open-ended dialogue could lead us to have a more just and
humane world.
Ivan Illich CONCEPT OF DESCHOOLING
By
Sumanth Gangathar
 What do we mean by Deschooling?
• Deschooling, a term invented by Ivan illich, is the shift a
traditional, government influenced institution of schooling to a
less-restricted method of learning that focuses on being
educated by one’s natural curiosities.

His 1971 book De-schooling society, criticizes modern

society’s institutional approach to education, an approach that
allegedly constrains learning to narrow situations in a fairly
short period of the human lifespan.
 It is also used by
proponents of
Deschooling is a alternative education
term used by both and home
educationists and schooling, through it
philosophers. refers to different
things in each
context.

It was popularised by Ivan

illich in his book De-
schooling society in 1971.
 Rejection of
CHARACTERISTICS institutionaliz
ed education.

Institutionalization of
Opposed education causes the More education
universal Institutionalization of does not
education the produce better
entire society. educated
Individuals

Suggests that
educational
funnels be
replaced by
learning webs
 According to Ivan Illich
It would be more feasible if it were
Universal education through attempted by means of alternative
schooling is not feasible. institutions built on the style of present
schools.

Use of advanced technology to support

Suggests that educational funnels be learning webs is to be given
replaced by learning webs.
impetus.
 Advantages and Disadvantages
of
➢ Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed
➢ Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich
-AB MEYYAPPAN
 Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed
Pedagogy of the Oppressed is Freire's attempt to help the oppressed fight back
to regain their lost humanity and achieve full humanization.
Freire presents us with two different ideals in education.
One is banking and the other is problem-posing in education.
Banking is basically the teacher sort of assuming that students are indifferent and
therefore teach what they decide is best.
The con of this is that it is essentially teaching students things that are
already decided, not allowing them to reach their full potential educationally.
This aspect of banking limits students.
However
The pro of banking
The potentially good thing about banking is that students , given this information,
can take it and cultivate it into something greater than what they learned.
 Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed
On the other hand, problem posing education is a more open type where
• there is mutual benefit among student and teacher.
• It allows students to understand relationships and have potential to be more
creative. Freire writes of the good that comes from this in stating, "Their
response to the challenge evokes new challenges, followed by new
understandings; and gradually the students come to regard themselves as
committed".
• A major pro of this is that it allows the freedom of
education rather than teachers just saying one thing and everyone having to
assume it is correct.
• It allows students to "transcend" themselves to be better.
Freire ultimately supports this position.
• but a major con of this is the question of it being practical.
 Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich
In Deschooling Society Ivan Illich argued that a good education system
should have three purposes:

To create
opportunities
Make it possible for all
who want to share knowledge etc.to
find those who want to learn it from
them;

To provide all that want to learn with

access to resources at any time in their lives;
 Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich
Illich makes a compelling case to “Deschool” society, wean our citizens off
institutionalized, factory-style, pointless education, and start thinking of alternatives.
The pros of Deschooling are:
• A reinvention of learning through society and lifetime.
• Educational webs which heighten the opportunity for each one to transform each
moment of his living into one of learning, sharing, and caring.

The Con of Deschooling concept is:

If we are to deschool, both tendencies must be reversed.
The general physical environment must be made accessible, and those physical
learning resources which have been reduced to teaching instruments must become
generally available for self-directed learning.” This seems like a great movement in
theory, however it is, like most of Illich’s comments, utopic and highly unachievable.
 Conclusion on
Pedagogy of the
oppressed and
Deschooling concept
By Shyam Sundar