Paulo Freire — Quote from Pedagogy of the Oppressed
“There is no such thing as a neutral educational process. Education either functions as an instrument to facilitate integration into the logic of the present system, or it becomes the practice of freedom.”
Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1968)
Concepts: praxis, freedom, oppression
Resonant Quotes
- “Free election of masters does not abolish the masters or the slaves.” — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man Marcuse's critique of pseudo-freedom perfectly complements Freire's binary of education, as both reveal how apparent ...
- “Under conditions of tyranny it is far easier to act than to think.” — Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition Both recognize that education and thought are never neutral — under tyranny, thinking is harder (Arendt), and educati...
- “Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfil...” — Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth Fanon's generational mission and Freire's education as freedom both demand that liberation be actively discovered and...
- “To be truly visionary we have to root our imagination in our concrete reality...” — bell hooks, Feminism Is for Everybody Both critical pedagogists argue that transformative education must simultaneously ground itself in lived reality whil...
- “What matters is not to know the world but to change it.” — Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks Both quotes reject passive contemplation in favor of transformative action, with Freire's educational praxis and Fano...
- “Surplus repression is the restrictions necessitated by social domination. Thi...” — Herbert Marcuse, Eros and Civilization Both reveal how seemingly neutral social institutions actually serve domination—Freire showing education's hidden pol...
- “The moment we choose to love we begin to move against domination, against opp...” — bell hooks, Outlaw Culture Freire's education as the practice of freedom and hooks's love as movement toward freedom converge — both are deliber...
- “A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us.” — Franz Kafka, Letters to Oskar Pollak Kafka's demand that books shatter our frozen interior and Freire's insistence that education must practice freedom bo...