Assessment 1 Curriculum Mode: Critical Review
Weight: 30%
Length: 900 words (+/-10%)
Type of Collaboration: Individual
Due: Week 4, 11:59 pm 13
th August 2021
Submission: Turnitin
Format:
Question: What are the main ideas in Freire’s ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’?
How can we apply this theory to our own work as activists working toward social justice and
social change?
Freire, P., 2000, Chapter 1, ‘The justification for a pedagogy of the oppressed’ in Pedagogy
of the Oppressed, Continuum, New York, pp. 43-69. (WHAT THE REVIEW SHOULD BE BASED ON)
Following sources must be used to the review:
Reading for the assignment: Paulo Freire Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Chapter 1, pp 43-69. (Chapter file included in uploaded files)
Falzon, J 2019 Empathy is more useful than fear, The Guardian, available from https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jul/04/empathy-is-more-useful-than-fear-in-the-fight-for-progress
Smith, L.T., 2012, ‘Imperialism, History, writing and theory’, in Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous people (2nd ed.) Zed books, London UK, pp 19-41
Structuring your Critical Review:
First, answer this question:
1. What are the main ideas of Freire’s ‘Pedagogy of the
Oppressed’?
Introduce your argument with a brief outline of the aspects of Freire’s writing that you found
most relevant and inspiring. This need only be a short paragraph (200 words).
Then, answer the following question:
2. How can we apply this theory to our own work as
activists working towards social justice and social change? (700 words).
Understanding theories of social change and applying these theories is what this unit is all
about. You need to think about how we use theory to underpin our involvement in bringing
about social change through collective action. Freire is concerned with social inequality,
oppression and how to transform our world. He urges us to ‘unveil oppression and through
praxis commit to transformation’ and ‘fight to be human, to take away the oppressor’s power
to oppress’. He encourages us to think about the ways the system creates, reinforces, and
perpetuates the power of the oppressors, through dehmumanising the oppressed. The only
way society can be transformed is if the oppressed lead the way. We need to understand
and use experiences of powerlessness, exploitation and inequality and work collectively for
transformative action to regain humanity and ultimately freedom.
The following readings demonstrate the ways that others have been inspired and drawn of
Freire’s work. In the reading below, Smith powerfully demonstrates how First Nations people
have taken up this challenge and are leading us all towards social transformation. She
assists us to think about the ways we can understand colonisation and the impact on First
Nations peoples and how we can listen, join, and act towards collective transformation. The
Falzon reading, demonstrates ways of framing our work towards transformation. These
authors demonstrate by example, how you can apply these theories to your own work.
Falzon, J., 2019, ‘Empathy is more useful than fear in the fight for progress’, The Guardian,
https://www.theguardian.com/australianews/2019/jul/04/empathy-ismore-useful-than-fear-in-thefight-forprogress
Smith, L.T., 2012, ‘Imperialism, History, writing and theory’, in Decolonizing methodologies: Research and
Indigenous people (2nd ed.) Zed books, London UK, pp 19-41.
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