Paulo Freire's Theory of Conscientization
He taught in 1947 to adult illiterates in which his theory of conscientization was developed. He lead a massive movement where we would have people is literates so as to be more educated. Yet, the government stated that his teaching had a subversive purpose and so he was exiled to Chile. In 1970 he took his position of consultant to the Office of Education, where he began an education reform. By 1979 he returned to Brazil to join the Workers Party and developed an adult literacy project for nine years. Freire died in 1997.
In his life he wrote numerous books of which this concept came from his Pedagogy of the Oppressed. This idea is “The process of developing a critical awareness of one’s social reality through reflection and action. Action is fundamental because it is the process of changing the reality. Paulo Freire says that we all acquire social myths which have a dominant tendency, and so learning is a critical process which depends upon uncovering real problems and actual needs” (University of Central Lancashire Freire Institute, 2011). In other words, it is imperative to critically analyze ideas, beliefs and concepts so as to gain knowledge about the world. Knowing and experiencing new things helps one develop socially and become educated. During the time Freire was in Brazil the government kept its people ignorant so as to have more control. By having people not be aware of its policies or rules people would only follow orders. Therefore, Freire wanted to educate these adults so as to fight for their human rights. Similar to ‘why ask why’, but its foci is more on scrutinizing certain ideas which help lead to action.
In his life he wrote numerous books of which this concept came from his Pedagogy of the Oppressed. This idea is “The process of developing a critical awareness of one’s social reality through reflection and action. Action is fundamental because it is the process of changing the reality. Paulo Freire says that we all acquire social myths which have a dominant tendency, and so learning is a critical process which depends upon uncovering real problems and actual needs” (University of Central Lancashire Freire Institute, 2011). In other words, it is imperative to critically analyze ideas, beliefs and concepts so as to gain knowledge about the world. Knowing and experiencing new things helps one develop socially and become educated. During the time Freire was in Brazil the government kept its people ignorant so as to have more control. By having people not be aware of its policies or rules people would only follow orders. Therefore, Freire wanted to educate these adults so as to fight for their human rights. Similar to ‘why ask why’, but its foci is more on scrutinizing certain ideas which help lead to action.