Post 2

Douglass : Freire

 

            Douglass and Freire both expressed the importance of education, especially to the poor and underprivileged. Douglass proclaimed that in order to maintain power over slaves it is absolutely necessary to keep them in the dark and uneducated. I would also assume that this is the reason that Freire was forced to stop his education of the poor in Brazil by the government and thrown into jail. Perhaps once educated the lower class of Brazilians realized some unfairness produced by their government and revolted. Without an education, Douglass would not have recognized the injustice of slavery to the extent that he did and would not have become a key figure in the abolitionist movements. Douglass’s “Learning to Read” deals with how education defeats oppression, Freire discusses more the importance of how someone is taught, but I do think that Douglass would agree with Freire’s method. Freire compares poor teaching methods to filling a pot. The student is but a pot in which the teacher is to fill with information. He believes in a system where “both are simultaneously teachers and students”. This well taught education he refers to as “problem-posing education” where education is not only memorization but a process of “discussion of possible solutions”. The other form of poorly taught education he calls “banking”. The reason for Douglass’s approval of Freire’s methods is Freire’s disagreement with the banking system and that it leads to oppression. In banking teachers and students are opposites. It is assumed that the teacher knows all and the students know nothing, projecting ignorance onto the students nonetheless oppressing them. (pg 531) The main reason for Douglass’s emphasis on education was to eliminate oppression in a country that was founded on the principles of liberty and freedom.