Pedagogy Of The Oppressed Analysis

Educating our children has been a topic of philosophy for hundreds of year and is a topic highly debated in society today. In the book “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” Paulo Friere argues that the oppressed are dehumanized in order to follow the social guidelines prescribed to them by the oppressors (Freire, 1970, p29). Freire implies that it is the job of an oppressor to dominate and liberate themselves. Friere idea of the “banking system” where teachers bestow there knowledge upon the unknowledgeable is what I found most fascinating, though I agree with a lot of what Freire has written, I have difficulty understanding how it would translate into the classroom, we have to remember that the rules followed by teachers are significantly different

Sensorimotor (birth to age 2), 2. Preoperational (2 to 7 years), 3. Concrete operational (7 to 11 years), and 4. Formal operational (11 years on). Each stage is represented by various characteristics representative of that stage. Children pass through these stages in the same order, but not exactly at the same time. In other words, each child is expected to exhibit the characteristics of every stage at some point and to ultimately reach the fourth stage.( Driscoll, M. P. (1994). Psychology of learning for instruction. Boston: Allyn and Bacon) The principles of Piagets theory when applied in a classroom would be greatly beneficial to children and their learning today and still has not been applied fully in the Irish education system because our systems curriculum in my opinion is outdated. Teachers in secondary level schools have little maneuverability when it comes to what they teach about their subject and tend to uses route leaning instead of these principles ; 1. Children will provide different explanations of reality at different stages of cognitive development. 2. Cognitive development is facilitated by providing activities or situations that engage learners and require adaptation (i.e., assimilation and accommodation). 3. Learning materials and activities should involve the appropriate level of motor or mental operations for a child of given age; avoid asking students to perform tasks that are beyond their current cognitive capabilities. 4. Use teaching methods that actively involve students and present challenges.( Bybee, R.W. & Sund, R.B. (1982). Piaget for Educators (2nd Ed). Columbus, OH: Charles