Douglass/Freire
Posted by michaelchopp on January 28, 2008
Michael Chopp
Ariana Paliobagis
ENG 121
1/27/08
Paulo Freire and Fredrick Douglass were two men very fond of learning during their times. Like Hsun Tzu and Rousseau, they felt education was a basis for becoming complete and finding “oneness”. However, these two had other similar beliefs in the education process as well. As being born into slavery, Douglass was one of the fortunate few slaves to be taught the alphabet and embrace education. After being left without a teacher, he found ways to self-teach himself and earn the education needed to understand life. He realized “freedom” and the rights given to him in the United States. It made him realize he had been treated unfairly all his life and he wanted to fix that. Nonetheless, as he learned more about how blacks were treated through slavery, he had doubts as whether he was better off not knowing what he had learned. Freire was slightly different in the way one should learn. Group activities and interacting with other peers were main points of his. In the reading, he mentioned how learning was like a banking system, which he claims is false. A student to Freire needs to learn from his/her teacher, with the teacher inversely learning from the student too. Basically, he is stating they both gain knowledge even when the teacher is instructing the student. Looking back at both of these fine gentlemen, they would seem to get along great. Both had similar views on education, in how it showed one’s self freedom and the rights of all. It enabled people to think critically and interact with other people about their ideas. My take on their views is they are key components to learning. As a business major, group work is essential and is the centerpiece of a company. Also, a relationship on a personal basis, especially in college is vital in learning. The teacher is your number one resource and helps the teacher get to know you and learn from you.
