74 pages • 2 hours read
Pedagogy of the Oppressed
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Reading Questions & Paired Texts
Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.
PREFACE-CHAPTER 1
Reading Check
1. What does Freire cite as something that freedom is often confused for?
2. What type of reaction does Freire guess his book will evoke from readers?
3. What does Freire cite as “the great humanistic and historical task of the oppressed”?
4. How does Freire define an oppressive act?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What fear concerning conscientization does Freire outline in the beginning of the Preface, and how does he discuss the inaccuracy of that fear?
2. Who does Freire say is his intended audience, and what explanation does he provide?
3. What are the forces that thwart humanization, and what are the forces that affirm it?
4. What is “true generosity” and why does Freire cite it as an antidote to “false charity”?
Paired Resource
- This epistolary essay by James Baldwin discusses the lived experience of Black Americans, specifically Black men, and explores the ways that injustice and oppression harms not only the people being oppressed, but also the oppressor.
- This resource connects to the theme of Conscientization.
- How does Baldwin’s letter to his nephew intersect with Freire’s belief that an oppressive system harms everyone, including the oppressors?
CHAPTER 2
Reading Check
1. Freire refers to the narrative education model as what type of concept?
2. What does Freire say is the impact of the oppressed adapting to their oppressive situation?
3. According to Freire, what two things might characterize a revolutionary society who still practices banking education?
4. How do people learn to see the world in problem-posing education?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What is the relationship between the teacher and student in a narrative classroom, and what is the impact of this dynamic?
2. Why does Freire say that the oppressed are not “marginals” who have been “living outside society,” and what is the solution to their actual position in the world?
3. What assumption does the banking concept make about the relationship between humans and the world, and what does this assumption lead to?
4. What does Freire mean when he says that authentic liberation is praxis, and what does this praxis look like?
Paired Resource
- This 6-page article by teacher and educational philosopher Maxine Greene explores her belief about the importance of the arts in fostering critical consciousness (or “wide-awakeness”) for students.
- This article connects to the theme of Conscientization.
- What is the overlap between Freire’s concept of conscientization and Greene’s philosophy of wide-awakeness?
CHAPTER 3
Reading Check
1. What is the result of speaking a “true word”?
2. What concepts are essential for true dialogue?
3. What is the risk of educational and political action that does not take into account the situation of people within a system that is being changed?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What happens if action is emphasized at the expense of reflection, and what is the impact of this on the idea of praxis?
2. What is the task of revolutionary leaders, and what is the hoped-for result of this task?
3. Why might a group struggle to develop generative themes, and what does this difficulty indicate?
Paired Resource
- Chilean poet Pablo Neruda’s 1971 Nobel Prize acceptance speech explores the role of the poet in collective justice and liberation.
- This resource connects to the themes of Humanism and the Pedagogy of Liberation and Conscientization.
- How does Neruda’s philosophy on the role of the poet intersect with Freire’s philosophy on the role of liberatory education?
CHAPTER 4
Reading Check
1. How does Freire distinguish between humans and animals at the beginning of Chapter 4?
2. Who does Freire cite when he quotes, “Without a revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement”?
3. What are the principles of anti-dialogical action?
4. What is the antidote to manipulation?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What distinguishes a revolution from a coup, and why does a coup never lead to freedom?
2. What does it mean for elites to “subsist on the living death of the oppressed,” and what must occur in order for those elites to achieve authenticity?
3. What enables the manipulation of the people, and what are potential impacts of this manipulation?
4. What is the counter to the anti-dialogical process of divide and rule, and what is the task of leaders in this process?
Paired Resource
- This video is a recording of Bob Marley and The Wailers’ “Redemption Song” that addresses topics such as oppression and self-liberation and freedom as a collaborative effort.
- This song connects to the theme of Oppression and Class Struggle.
- How does “Redemption Song” hold the spirit of Freire’s message in Pedagogy of the Oppressed?
Recommended Next Reads
- This collection of essays by author bell hooks explores the transformation of the multicultural classroom into a liberatory space for students that, ultimately, leads to the “practice of freedom.”
- This resource connects to the theme of Humanism and the Pedagogy of Liberation.
- This resource connects to the shared topics of the dynamics between the powerful and powerless, the relationship between poverty and disenfranchisement, and the power of education as a force for liberation.
- Teaching to Transgress on SuperSummary
- Sister Outsider is a collection of essays and speeches by Audre Lorde, published in 1984. The book gives voice to Lorde’s personal and political philosophies and explores the development of Lorde’s literary identity as a “Black, lesbian, feminist, socialist, mother, warrior, poet.”
- This resource shares themes of Oppression and Class Struggle and Humanism and the Pedagogy of Liberation.
- The shared topics include the necessity of building a community of women, intersectionality, activism and social progress, and self-love and acceptance.
- Sister Outsider on SuperSummary
Reading Questions Answer Key
PREFACE-CHAPTER 1
Reading Check
1. The maintenance of the status quo (Preface)
2. A negative reaction (Preface)
3. To liberate both the oppressor and oppressed (Chapter 1)
4. An act that prevents people from being more fully human (Chapter 1)
Short Answer
1. Freire describes the fear that conscientization would result in “destructive fanaticism,” but the reality of conscientization is that it creates awareness and self-affirmation. (Preface)
2. He says his book is intended for radicals, because radicalization “is always creative.” (Preface)
3. Injustice, exploitation, and oppression are all forces that thwart humanization and it is affirmed by oppressed people’s yearning for freedom and justice. (Chapter 1)
4. “True generosity” is generosity that fights to destroy the causes of injustice, which bring about “false charity.” True generosity aims to ensure that people’s hands can be outstretched for aid less, and instead works toward building a more just world. (Chapter 1)
CHAPTER 2
Reading Check
1. The banking concept (Chapter 2)
2. They can be more easily dominated. (Chapter 2)
3. That they are misguided or mistrusting (Chapter 2)
4. People begin to see the world as in progress rather than static. (Chapter 2)
Short Answer
1. The narrative education model establishes that the teacher is the subject who narrates, and the student is the object that listens. The impact of this relationship is that the content being narrated becomes lifeless, static, and predictable. (Chapter 2)
2. The oppressed do not exist outside society because they have always been inside the structure, which has made them oppressed. The solution, then, is not to integrate them into an oppressive structure but to change the structure itself. (Chapter 2)
3. The banking concept makes the assumption that humans are in the world rather than with the world, which leads to humans being perceived as having access to consciousness, not as conscious beings themselves. (Chapter 2)
4. Liberation as a praxis means that it includes action to transform the world. This action cannot mirror the banking model (by using propaganda or slogans) and must be an authentic collaboration between the oppressed (and, even, the oppressors). (Chapter 2)
CHAPTER 3
Reading Check
1. The world is transformed. (Chapter 3)
2. Love, humility, faith, hope, and critical thinking (Chapter 3)
3. They risk falling into the banking concept. (Chapter 3)
Short Answer
1. If action is emphasized at the expense of reflection, the word is converted into activism, which makes true praxis impossible. (Chapter 3)
2. Revolutionary leaders are tasked not with delivering a message of salvation, but rather understanding the situation objectively and being aware of the needs of the oppressed through continuous dialogue. This hopefully results in true transformation rather than “cultural invasion.” (Chapter 3)
3. A group might struggle to develop generative themes because they do not perceive any obstacles to surmount, but this represents silence, which indicates the overwhelming nature of the obstacles. (Chapter 3)
CHAPTER 4
Reading Check
1. Humans are beings of praxis and animals are beings of pure activity. (Chapter 4)
2. Lenin (Chapter 4)
3. Conquest, divide and rule, manipulation, and cultural invasion (Chapter 4)
4. A critically conscious revolutionary organization (Chapter 4)
Short Answer
1. A revolution requires dialogue between the people, and a coup is dominated by deceit or force. Therefore, a coup can never be a means of achieving freedom because it does not take into account the situations and thoughts of the people within the system. (Chapter 4)
2. To subsist on the living death of the oppressed means that the elites find authenticity in their hierarchy over the oppressed. For the elites to achieve true authenticity, they must “die” in order to be reborn in solidarity with the oppressed. (Chapter 4)
3. The people are manipulated by various myths such as the bourgeoisie being an acceptable model for the oppressed to strive for. The potential impact of this manipulation is that the oppressed will fail to awaken to the reality of their situation and contribute to the maintenance of the oppressive system. (Chapter 4)
4. The counter to divide and rule is the dialogical process of unity for liberation. In this process, leaders must work tirelessly to create unity among the oppressed as this is the only way to achieve true liberation. (Chapter 4)
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