Patterns of Oppression and the Role of Tackling Oppression in the Society - Essay Example

Patterns of Oppression and the Role of Tackling Oppression in the Society Introduction Social pedagogy interacts between society and the individuals. It aims to providing a conducive environment that support human growth in different directions, towards sovereignty and towards interdependence. The word “pedagogy” came from a Greek word meaning ‘a child’s guide’. This idea came in to action in the mid nineteenth century as there were concerns on how the society was handling oppression and also how they cared for the children and the young adults (Carr W., Harnett A 1996. 11-20). By twentieth century the term was more associated with the overall social work, interactions and community education. It is a social responsibility to oversee the growth, education, community development and the well-being of every child and youth all over the world without any kind of discrimination. (Cameron C. and Moss P. 2011). In the nineteenth century, the community had divided themselves where a certain group of people were seen as pedagogues who were usually slaves to the people of higher statuses in the community. They were seen as people with no rights at all and most of them got little or no education at all. They were also mistreated and they lived in deplorable living conditions (Chapman, and Hobbel, 2010). The fight for these peoples’ rights has being fought by numerous numbers of individuals since time immemorial. This study will be analysing the writings of Alinsky and Freire regarding the patterns of oppression in the society and the role of education in tackling social pedagogy. Paulo Freire, a professor born in Brazil also came up with topics concerning liberation. He authored a number of books. His first book was the, education as the practice of freedom that was inspired by an experiment he had performed on workers who were taught to read and write in just 45 days (Jackson, 2007:199-213). He later wrote the infamous “pedagogy of the oppressed”. In the book, he explained of the importance of education in the society. And also he thought that the only way the community could ease the oppression and human suffering was through education. This means that for a section of society to be freed, education is a key factor in the struggle against oppression (Beck, and Purcell, 2010). Freire mostly focused on the educational process where he termed education as “never neutral” in that knowledge could be passed indiscriminately from one person to the other whether young or old. He believed that by doing so, people could change the community they lived in and beyond (Jackson S. 2007: 199-213). Oppressive systems thrive on controlling the minds of the populace. They do this by controlling the type or level of education that a certain section of the population can achieve. This can best be explained by the events that took place in the state of Alabama in 1963. The deeply segregated State only admitted white students to the University of Alabama before 1963 when it first admitted black students. The ruling elite had purposely enforced a ceiling on the level of education that minority groups can achieve which made it easier to oppress them. (Rohler, L. E. 2004). He is also famous for coming up with the ‘banking education’ where studies were studies were done to a group of people where they were taught some things "Conscientization", a process where the students were drawn towards critical consciousness; the "Culture of Silence", in which the minority groups in the society lose the means by which to critically respond to the culture that is forced on them by a dominant culture (Gibson, 1999: 129-159). . The education system nowadays still exhibits some of the characteristics that both authors detested during their days. There is still not enough freedom and to be creative and this curtails most of the students’ natural talent and creativity. This is awfully similar to the olden days when the system was rigid and had no room for rebellion. This is because the curriculum is developed without taking into consideration the student’s input since they are never invited in the first place. The students in the U.K nowadays still have a lot of knowledge being imparted in them by the system being aided by teachers. Even if the said ‘knowledge’ is unreliable to the students future or current lives, they have no option but to take it in since this is what is ‘acceptable’ .This has not been helped either by the culture of examinations . This means of grading the student ensures that they have to understand whatever is dumped on their desks every day in order to be considered ‘learned’. Paulo Friere wants reform in the educations system, to make it more liberalized so as to allow students to develop their own ideas and dreams. He views the current system as oppressive in the nature of the ‘expert’ teacher emphasizing one particular world view. He argues for a re - organization of how we deliver education to allow the people it serves to forge a dialogue in identifying what is learned. Even though Paulo Freire writes mostly on understanding the curriculum that the Brazilian working classes went through, his works are also important for one to understand the education system in the United Kingdom (and the west at large ) Freire’s work champions a philosophy of education which argues for ‘critical and liberating dialogue’ (Freire 1993) between educator and educed and so acts to encourage responsibility and autonomy in both parties and results in an appreciation of the dialectical nature of knowledge and thought Freire’s works show the possibility to change the current systems and enable people to choose their own learning. This in itself is inspiring to the oppressed masses. He argues that education is about ideas and not simply knowledge, it is about engaging in dialogue to generate thought, explanations and understanding. He believes that it should be about exchange of ideas in which both parties benefit and develop. This trail of thought hits at the core of the current curriculum in the U.K. The national is laid out in such a way that teachers must instruct their pupils. It represents a positivist view of education, which is oppressive because it imposes a particular world view on both parties in the classroom i.e. both teachers and students. This system of learning is controlled by government agencies and this enables them to control what the wider population internalizes. Prescription is the basic element in a relation between the oppressed and the oppressors. (Freire 1993) If taken at face value an argument could be made that the national curriculum represents an ideology of equality in that all children are set the same tasks, within the same framework and thus compete on a level playing field. According to Freire, the right to have ideas is what constitutes freedom.’ (Freire 1994 p.78) Freire’s message is clear; teaching is not about knowledge transmission it is about teaching children to learn about learning. This having been said, the education system is self-contradicting and is an oxymoron in itself. The curriculum purports to educate the masses about various human rights and freedoms to choose the systems that govern them. If we look at the way the system works nowadays, the system is actually the exact opposite. It is dictatorial and oppressive to the parties in the system especially the students themselves. The system on paper appears to be ready to impart knowledge on the masses informing them of their various rights and how to get them from every system around us except the education system which is rigid. Saul Alinsky was a popular figure due to his experience on mobilizing oppressed masses especially in the U.S.A to demand and fight for their rights whenever they felt the system was infringing upon them. In this case, the students and pupils are the oppressed in this education system and some of the methods he used with great success to mobilize masses can be applicable in this situation. Students will have to take the status quo head on in order to achieve the changes in the system that they desire. The students and other oppressed groups in the system must believe that the have the power to change the system. This is a critical part of the process as it was believed by Alinsky evidenced when he proclaimed that if people don't think they have the power to solve their problems, they won't even think about how to solve them. (Saul D. Alinsky, Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals ) Alinsky believed that if the self-interest of people is fulfilled, it will be easier to organize them. He believed that self-interest is a huge motivating factor for people to move. Alinsky believes we are mis-educated as to what makes people move. He does not believe that teachers have no interest at all in change in the education sector. Alinsky believes that tutors are resigned to being powerless, which is not the case. He also believes that reformists in the education sector can provide an active alternative in the association structure by tapping into the boredom and routine that is in the teaching profession. Conclusion Oppression and social pedagogy can be totally eliminated in our society as highlighted by these two great people in the history who had very different pre occupations during their times but both their works was geared towards social developments for communities and groups of society that weren’t empowered. They fought for the rights of every individual through their writings (Apple, and Beane, 1999).Their works have greatly helped in educating the current generation of ways of reducing or fighting oppression. This includes; Informal education, collective actions and organizations that when used effectively by the community promotes social justice. Although Alinsky and Friere’s had different careers, they were similar in the fact they both dedicated their lives to fighting for the rights of the less privileged Friere was an influence on the early development, Alinsky was developing Community Organizing in Chicago. Alinsky’s work where he organized the community to form organizations owes its inspirations from the mass mobilization theory developed by Freire. They were both finally able to tackle social issues discrimination and unemployment. Different organizations have come up to promote civil rights, and also protect the younger generation from any kind of oppression in the society (Freire, 2004). The government institutions in most countries have also enforced certain measures to protect the rights of the minority groups in the society and also they have ensured that every child get the education they deserve (Bourdieu, and Passeron, 1990). This have greatly helped in curbing any kind of oppression and the spread of knowledge have helped in improving the relationship between individuals in the society therefore promoting peace and social interactions. Reference List Beck, D. and Purcell, R. (2010) popular education practice for youth and community Development work, Exeter, Learning Matters Jackson, S. (2007) Freire Re-Viewed, Educational Theory, 57 (2), pp.199-213 Gibson, R. (1999) Paolo Freire and Pedagogy for Social Justice, Theory and Research in Social Education, 27 (2), pp. 129-159 Alinsky, S. (1971) Rules for Radicals: A practical primer for realistic radicals, New York: Random House Goldblatt, E. (2005) 'Alinsky's Reveille: A Community-Organizing Model for Neighbourhood Based Literacy Project', College English, 67 (3), pp. 274-295 Alred, G, Bryam, M. and Fleming, M. (Eds 2006) Intercultural Citizenship: Concepts and Comparisons. Cleveden: Multilingual Matters Apple, M. and Beane, J [Eds] (1999), Democratic Schools: Lessons from the Chalk Face Buckingham: OU Press Bourdieu, P. and Passeron, J-C., (1990), Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture, London: Sage Chapman, T.K. and Hobbel, N., (2010), Social Justice Pedagogy across the Curriculum: the Practice of freedom, Abingdon: Routledge Freire, P., (2004), Pedagogy of Hope: reliving Pedagogy of the oppressed, London: Continuum ROHLER, L. E. (2004). George Wallace. Westport, Conn, Praeger Publishers. Read More