Relevance to New Zealand

I imagine most readers will probably have asked one or two questions by now "Its rather political isn't it?" and "But what does this have to do with New Zealand, a country with near universal literacy?"

In my mind the two questions are related. If you asked the first one it seems to me that you lack the critical awareness Freire tries to foster. You assume education can be other than political. If you asked the second question, the answer is that that the method does not aim solely or even chiefly at literacy; the primary goal is critical awareness among the masses.

There is a considerable amount of evidence that the masses in this country lack critical awareness with regard to social issues. The content and quality of our media is one example, Newspapers offer very little in-depth reporting and news analysis. When asking questions of speakers, New Zealanders van be fobbed off with the most obvious non-answers and diversions. We have an unhealthy submissiveness towards authority. Look at the response Mr Kirk's promises concerning Bikies met with last election, or Truth's campaign to birch bashers. Most significant of all is the lack of action on the part of the people. Freine's critical awareness brings an end to the culture of silence: that is why we most look for lessons in his method

Freire insists there is no such thing as a neutral education. Either education is for domestication or it is for liberation Either it seeks to cast you in the mould of the established order or it equips you to critically and creatively appraise and transform reality. The initial choice, claims Freire, lies with the educator, for while no one can liberate someone else, neither can liberating education be experienced alone.

In problem-solving education the teacher must learn to become a teacher who is also a student, and must let his pupils become students who also teach. The teacher student does not deposit knowledge but by dialogue names the problem and searches for solutions. There is no point in attempting dialogue between oppressor and oppressed as this only afford the oppressor further opportunities to dominate. Dialogue is only for those who approach each other as equals.

Freire's books are testimonies to a faith in the power of people and dialogue.

Paul Burns