Critical Review of Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Running head: COMMUNICATION FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
Communication for Social Change
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Introduction
The book “Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed” published in the year 1968 was
originally written in English and translated in English in1970 (Roberts 2015). The book is
often considered to be one of the first significant literary works in the genre of pedagogy and
intends to shed light on the pedagogic relationship which has existed between the oppressor
and the oppressed since the traditional times (Taylor 2017). The book in a subtle manner
intends to describe the experiences that the author himself faced in the nation of Brazil during
his early childhood and at the same time tries to propose the ideal relationship that should
exist between the teacher, student and the society (McLaren 2018). The book at the time of its
publication earned an instant success and sold more than 750,000 copies in the different
countries of the world and has contributed in a significant manner towards the subject of
pedagogy (McLaren 2018). Furthermore, the success attained by the book and also the
importance that the book holds in the genre of pedagogy becomes in the epithets like “the
Rousseau of the 20th century”, “the John Dewey of the present era”, “the most important
educator” and others with which the author of the book under discussion here is often called
by (O'Cadiz 2018). This paper will undertake a critical review of the book “Pedagogy of the
Oppressed” of the author Paulo Freire’s while focusing on the ideas that the concerned book
tries to articulate.
Pedagogy of the Oppressed
The book “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” has often been described as a classic as well
as a seminal work of pedagogy and at the same time it is seen that even in the 21 st century the
book under discussion here forms an important part of the curriculum of some of the most
reputed educational institutions of the world (Giroux 2017). Grollios et al. (2015) are thus of
the viewpoint that “Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed is timeless – as pertinent to the

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revolution in the Middle East now as to those in South America decades ago”. The book in
many ways is not only revolutionary but at the same time is full of revolutionary thoughts
which had much transformed the landscape of the pedagogic (Darder 2014). The book at the
same time tries to explore the relation between the oppressors and oppressed and also the
reasons as well as intentions with which the oppressors undertake the education of the
oppressed (Darder 2014). The major editions of the book under discussion here generally
begins with a short introduction followed by four chapters which in turn shed light on the
major themes of the book. Furthermore, at the same time it is seen that in this book he
presents his ideas of the education system through the lens of the revolutionary struggle that
the various South American nations were undergoing in the years part of the 20th century. The
educational system which Paulo Freire proposes in the book in many ways is not only
revolutionary but at the same time Marxist as well and although the book intends to provide a
general overview of the genre of pedagogy yet the readers cannot miss the fact that the
context is South America where Paulo Freire spent not only the early years of his life but at
the same time was during the composition of the book under discussion here, which is
generally considered to be his most important work (Rosenberger 2014).
Overview of the four chapters
As already mentioned the book under discussion here is divided into four chapters
along with the general introduction and the four chapters of the book deal with the four
important topic which were important not only from the perspective of the subject of
pedagogy but also from the perspective of the struggle between the oppressor and the
oppressed particular in the various nations of the continent of South America. The first
chapter of the book gives an overview of the relationship between the oppressor and the
oppressed and the factors which have led the oppressors to provide education to the