The behavior of the oppressed is a prescribed behavior, following as it does the guidelines of the oppressor.
Paulo FreireRead
How can the oppressed, as divided, unauthentic beings, participate in developing the pedagogy of their liberation?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote questions how marginalized people can contribute to their own education and liberation while feeling oppressed and divided.
Paulo Freire emphasizes the importance of authenticity and unity among oppressed individuals in their quest for liberation through education. He posits that if they remain fragmented and devoid of their true selves, their efforts in shaping their own educational frameworks will be ineffective. True liberation requires collective participation where the voices of the oppressed are heard and valued in the creation of knowledge that reflects their realities and aspirations.
Themes
EducationLiberationOppressionAuthenticityParticipation
In practice
Example use cases
In a seminar on social justice, this quote can be used to emphasize the role of marginalized voices in education.
More from Paulo Freire
All quotes →Critical and liberating dialogue, which presupposes action, must be carried on with the oppressed at whatever the stage of their struggle for liberation. The content of that dialogue can and should vary in accordance with historical conditions and the level at which the oppressed perceive reality.
Paulo FreireRead
This is the sense in which I am obliged to be a listener. To listen to the student's doubts, fears, and incompetencies that are part of the learning process. It is in listening to the student that I learn to speak with him or her.
Paulo FreireRead
This pedagogy makes oppression and its causes objects of reflection by the oppressed, and from that reflection will come their necessary engagement in the struggle for their liberation. And in the struggle this pedagogy will be made and remade
Paulo FreireRead
The oppressors do not perceive their monopoly on having more as a privilege which dehumanizes others and themselves. They cannot see that, in the egoistic pursuit of having as a possessing class, they suffocate in their own possessions and no longer are; they merely have.
Paulo FreireRead
Education is an act of love, and thus an act of courage
Paulo FreireRead
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