Should Western education be taking a page from Brazil?

Brazilian education genius and guru, Paulo Freire, had a theory that education should be participatory rather than passive.

Paulo Freire had a theory that the type of education in which teachers deposit education onto their students is oppressive and eventually leads to an oppressed society. Rather than education being, for lack of a better phrase, a one-way street, Freire believed that education should include back and forth critical discussion between teachers and students.

As such, South America has always strived to follow Freire’s method of education. But it seems that perhaps Australian education should take a page from Paulo Freire’s education methods. In other countries around the world, such as the Netherlands, education systems show similarities with Freire’s methods but Australia’s education system remains passive.

From personal experience, Queensland’s education in particular is passive. Education in Queensland does not show any similarities to Freire’s methods. Primary schools and High schools around Queensland often do not encourage critical discussion between teacher and students. Teachers act in a hierarchy that belittles students and deposit knowledge onto their students in a manner that is deemed by Freire as passive and oppressive.

With the recent cut backs at Universities around Australia Freire’s education method is getting further and further out of reach. It will take a national curriculum revision and new methods of teaching taught at universities.

Taylor-Jayne Wilkshire

Source: http://www.freire.org/paulo-freire/

Image: foter.com