Pedagogy of Hope: Amazon.ca: Paulo Freire: Books

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Twenty years ago, Brazilian educator Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed received worldwide acclaim for the ideas about teaching and change in the Third World that he had forged in the crucible of his own work among the illiterate poor of Latin America. Now he revisits his original success, recounting the evolution of his ideas and the defining moments that led to both his insights and his subsequent exile because of them. Uncompromisingly on the side of oppressed peoples everywhere, Freire promotes his philosophically dense ideas with the fervor of a revolutionary. They make for difficult reading, partly because of his associative, rambling style but also because of a rather awkward, literal translation. Still, for those interested in the philosophy of education and in fundamental Third World issues, they're reading well worth the struggle. Mary Ellen Sullivan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description

With Pedagogy of Hope, Freire explores his best-known analytical themes - with even deeper understanding and a greater wisdom. Certainly, all of these themes have to be analyzed as elements of a body of critical, liberationist pedagogy. In the present book, we come to understand the author's pedagogical thinking even better, through the critical seriousness, humanistic objectivity, and engaged subjectivity which, in all of Freire's books, are always wedded to a unique creative innovativeness.

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A revealing work from a great educator and humanitarian., July 6 2001

By

Craig Chalquist, PhD, author of TERRAPSYCHOLO... (Bay Area, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pedagogy of Hope (Paperback)

Sometimes it takes genius, and heart, to say what everyone already knows but can't quite vocalize. Education that takes the person's needs and social context into account; that helps him through dialog rather than imposing top-down curriculums in order to fit him to the rhythms of the dominant socioeconomic powers; that challenges him to think critically about his place in society and the world ("conscientization"); that encourages him to envision what he can do, where he can go....it took Paulo Freire not just to express these laudable goals, but to show us through his work how he actually helped accomplish them among people written off as inferior peasants with no voice in world affairs.

Famous for his book PEDAGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED, kicked out of countries for daring to train farm workers and laborers in literacy and critical appraisal, Paulo Freire takes us behind the scenes and shows us what he was thinking, doing, and feeling throughout his long and radical career.

Reading his other work, one might have guessed, say, that when he was much younger, the good doctor was blasted during a lecture on Piaget by a laborer who stood up and asked him on what side of town Freire lived and whether HIS household crammed several unwashed and hungry children into one room. But such anecdotes are of invaluable worth in showing how Freire learned what he learned--painfully.

That the reader can sense in his wordplay that finally the man who'd done so much for others took this opportunity to wane autobiographical may cause a smile or two. But it shouldn't be mistaken for narcissism or pomposity. An activist and faithholder in people oppressed and in despair has earned the right to his eloquence, and it's nice to feel him enjoying it here and there.

For the student of human nature, Freire's own (alas, briefly mentioned) childhood of poverty and early struggles will be of interest thanks to Freire's own take: that these didn't determine his later life so much as gave him tools with which to empathize with other marginalized people. Reading this, I thought of James Hillman's "acorn" notion: that the soul comes into life knowing what it needs, even if it needs unsparing adversity. To a man like Freire, adversity is not an "opportunity"--a manically cheery thesis--so much as the canvas from which he works.

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Amazon.com: 4.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)

57 of 57 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A revealing work from a great educator and humanitarian., July 6 2001

By Craig Chalquist, PhD, author of TERRAPSYCHOLO... - Published on Amazon.com

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This review is from: Pedagogy of Hope (Paperback)

Sometimes it takes genius, and heart, to say what everyone already knows but can't quite vocalize. Education that takes the person's needs and social context into account; that helps him through dialog rather than imposing top-down curriculums in order to fit him to the rhythms of the dominant socioeconomic powers; that challenges him to think critically about his place in society and the world ("conscientization"); that encourages him to envision what he can do, where he can go....it took Paulo Freire not just to express these laudable goals, but to show us through his work how he actually helped accomplish them among people written off as inferior peasants with no voice in world affairs.

Famous for his book PEDAGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED, kicked out of countries for daring to train farm workers and laborers in literacy and critical appraisal, Paulo Freire takes us behind the scenes and shows us what he was thinking, doing, and feeling throughout his long and radical career.

Reading his other work, one might have guessed, say, that when he was much younger, the good doctor was blasted during a lecture on Piaget by a laborer who stood up and asked him on what side of town Freire lived and whether HIS household crammed several unwashed and hungry children into one room. But such anecdotes are of invaluable worth in showing how Freire learned what he learned--painfully.

That the reader can sense in his wordplay that finally the man who'd done so much for others took this opportunity to wane autobiographical may cause a smile or two. But it shouldn't be mistaken for narcissism or pomposity. An activist and faithholder in people oppressed and in despair has earned the right to his eloquence, and it's nice to feel him enjoying it here and there.

For the student of human nature, Freire's own (alas, briefly mentioned) childhood of poverty and early struggles will be of interest thanks to Freire's own take: that these didn't determine his later life so much as gave him tools with which to empathize with other marginalized people. Reading this, I thought of James Hillman's "acorn" notion: that the soul comes into life knowing what it needs, even if it needs unsparing adversity. To a man like Freire, adversity is not an "opportunity"--a manically cheery thesis--so much as the canvas from which he works.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful work!, Mar 3 2006

By H "Hank" - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Pedagogy of Hope (Paperback)

(If you have not read Freire's classic 1970 text, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, stop reading this review and go check it out. It is Freire's seminal masterpiece in which he envisions what he called a "liberatory" education--a brilliant theory of education for social change.)

If you have read "Pedagogy of the Oppressed", then you *must* read this! In this wonderful work, Freire tells the story of how the first book came to be written and the journeys that the book has taken him on since. Throughout the tale, he also responds to a lot of the major criticism of the first book in a charitable and brilliant manner. The work's title also comes from a frequent motif in the book, the importance of maintaining hope in our often seemingly hopeless world--an argument that Freire makes beautifully.

Overall, Freire's thoughtful and humble prose makes for a great read. There are great stories and great ideas for making our world a more beautiful one. I am guessing that the reader who put down the book as "self-important" and not "accessible" merely did not read the 1970 classic first. Go read that first if you haven't, but afterwards check out this!

I'll leave you with a favorite passage from the work:

"The idea that hope alone will transform the world, and action undertaken in that kind of na�veté, is an excellent route to hopelessness, pessimism, and fatalism. But the attempt to do without hope, in the struggle to improve the world, as if that struggle could be reduced to calculated acts alone, or a purely scientific approach, is a frivolous illusion."

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars *, Nov 22 2005

By freeman - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Pedagogy of Hope (Paperback)

This book raises many significant questions about teacher/student relationships. As an instructor I thoroughly enjoyed Freire's ideas (even when I didn't agree with him). Anyone who teaches could benefit from engaging Freire's ideas. At worst, you will have something new to think about.

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