Freire's critical pedagogy and professional teaching in the twenty-first century
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Date
2022
Authors
Akinsanya, P.O.
Ojotule, A.O.
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Abstract
his paper examined the contributions of Paulo Freire who was unarguably considered as an influential
philosopher and one of the most significant educators in the twentieth century; he was indeed one of
the most cited and iconic figures in the last century’s education literature. He was seen as a special
kind of intellectual, and his influence was noticed in many areas such as social studies, curriculum
studies, adult education, secondary education, higher education, educational planning, inter alia. Using
the philosophical research methods, viz: analysis and speculation, the study exposed the significant
influence of Freire’s pedagogical model on twentieth century education and established the positive
changes which the twenty first century’s pedagogy would envision given the infusion of Freiran
educational philosophy into teaching profession. Freire wanted teachers to treat learners as co-
creators of knowledge. In the light of the problem-posing approach, particular attention was drawn to
dialogue, in the course of which everyone could ask questions or express his or her own views freely.
Thus, education would be seen as the practice of freedom, and in the practice of freedom, through
dialogue, teachers and students would raise their awareness. Freire argued that teaching required
questioning at the core of the dialogue, and the possibility of questioning was included in dialectical
structure. As revolutionary as the philosophy of Freire was, however, the twenty first century seems to
have docked it in the dustbin. This may not be unconnected with criticisms from some scholars, who
considered Freiran pedagogy as being parochial and limited in use. This paper thus resurrects the good
elements in Freiran critical pedagogy which could be very beneficial to the present century’s practice
of teaching. The researchers concluded that despite the loopholes found in Freire’s postulations, which
are reflections of human imperfections, Freiere’s critical pedagogy has overwhelming comparative
advantages which are highly consequential to teachers and learners in the present age
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Akinsanya, P.O. & Ojotule, A.O. (2022). Freire's critical pedagogy and professional teaching in the twenty-first century. Unizik Journal of Educational and Policy Issues, 14(3), 145-160