Paulo Freire
Paulo Freire, translated (Schor, 1992), is a great read. I initially read it with an unconscious assumption that he was a western philosopher; or at least spoke to an audience that was the same as western philosophers. However his government was actively making progressive education very difficult! When I read more into his country’s economic and political situation, and saw his impact on revolutionary activities, I realized that he was coming from a very different cultural background. I appreciated a moment of reflection: that the thoughts of teachers worldwide share many common grounds.
Campus Party
In my own experience, I can relate one experiences in particular. The first was attending a conference called “Campus Party Sao Paulo”, which is shown to be heavily focused on technology entertainment and hobbies (Torre, 2019). I attended as an instructor, and helped people learn to build simple electronic circuits. A primary issue I heard from many attendees was that they wanted to participate in electronics like friends in America and Europe, but were intentionally hindered by the government with a variety of barricades. After reading Freire, I think that their educational philosophies were similar to mine, western progressive, but like Freire’s audience in Brazil were hindered by government policy. The feeling I get from both of them is very wistful and curious.
Dr. Qais Faryadi
In sharp relief to this was my experience reading Dr. Qais Faryadi’s personal explanation of educational philosophy common among Islamic educators trained in traditional Islamic methods, which relies in part on the holy book the Al-Quran, and in part on modern science (Faryadi, 2015). I admit that my initial impressions were heavily influenced by him writing in English rather than using a translator to localize terms, and his insertion of Islamic script into the paper. A book should not be judged by its cover, but first impressions are unavoidable. Dr. Faryadi’s focus on detailed explanation on the moral reasons for education spoke to me as I imagine someone unfamiliar with American democracy would read Dewey.
Commonalities that Exclude Myself
To synthesize the two impressions I had, from Freire and Dr. Faryadi, I would like to draw a connection between the two philosophers which *excludes* my own experiences. This connection is one that I need to reflect upon and feed into my own viewpoints, so that I may evolve my teaching philosophy and be better informed when implementing lessons. The connection is around cultural certitude. In Islam it is dictated by religion and in Brazil it is dictated by government. In my own small-town American education, certitude was looked down upon as a bad behavior, perhaps described as “righteousness”. However, I need to recognize that not everyone is coming from this perspective. Two teachers who both believe in creating confident, aware, and capable students can have very different viewpoints on the certainty of their beliefs. I am sometimes at a disadvantage when I leave questions hanging in the air like, “…but in the end, who knows what behavior is right? The only thing we can do is set examples and encourage open minds.”
Conclusion
In the future, I’ll consider my audience more closely before making my statements. I believe, and hope, that I will still make them, but understanding my allies will give me more tact and I could receive more uderstanding.
References
Schor, I. (1992). Education is politics: Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy. In Paulo Freire: A critical encounter. [pdf] (pp. 24-36). Retrieved from eBook Central in LIRN.
Faryadi, Q. (2015, Nov. & Dec.). An Islamic perspective of teaching philosophy: A personal justification. Retrieved July 12, 2020, from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED574266.pdf (9pg)
Torre, Dalla (2019, Feb 24). Campus Party Brasil 2019. Youtube. Retrieved July 12, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aieNzCptrW0