Education, Literacy, and Humanization: Exploring the Work of Paulo Freire

(Hardback)

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The author adopts a holistic approach in exploring the ontological, epistemological, ethical, and pedagogical dimensions of Paulo Freire's thought. The book discusses Freire's approach to adult literacy education and investigates the political, dialogical, and critical aspects to the multidimensional word in Freirean theory. The author outlines and assesses a number of key critiques of Freire's modernism, concentrating in particular on questions pertaining to the problem of pedagogical intervention. He responds at some length to C.A. Bowers, one of Freire's most important and persistent critics, and finds fault with behaviorist, stage-based accounts of consciousness raising. The Freirean concept of conscientization is reinterpreted in light of the postmodern notion of multiple subjectivities. From this book, Freire emerges as a complex educational figure: a thinker and teacher deeply committed to the universalist ideal of humanization, yet also wary of some of the exaggerated certainties of modernism. His work, for all its flaws and contradictions, remains highly influential and stands opposed to technicist and neoliberal tendencies in recent educational reform initiatives.

Reviews

.,.".Teacher educators and educational philosophers can learn much from the book; so too can qualitative researchers, for Roberts's explanation vividly reveals the qualitative character of Freire's thinking. Roberts promises another book that will apply Freire's ideas to debates about curriculum reform, political correctness, and higher education--something to look forward to! Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and practitioners."-Choice
.,."a book which not only does justice to the whole corpus of Freire's work but is itself within a Freirean educational mould."-Interchange
....Teacher educators and educational philosophers can learn much from the book; so too can qualitative researchers, for Roberts's explanation vividly reveals the qualitative character of Freire's thinking. Roberts promises another book that will apply Freire's ideas to debates about curriculum reform, political correctness, and higher education--something to look forward to! Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and practitioners.-Choice
...a book which not only does justice to the whole corpus of Freire's work but is itself within a Freirean educational mould.-Interchange
Education, Literacy, and Humanization is a work of high academic quality and an excellent introduction to the work of Paulo Freire. It is engaging and thought provoking, and its limitations are not fatal to the overall aim and effectiveness of the book. This work seems best suited as a textbook for the beginning reader of Freire, and for the theorist interested in a broad overview of his work.-Journal of Educational Thought
The book by Peter Roberts represents an interesting contribution to this tradition of critical scholarship.-International Review of Education
..."a book which not only does justice to the whole corpus of Freire's work but is itself within a Freirean educational mould."-Interchange
"Education, Literacy, and Humanization is a work of high academic quality and an excellent introduction to the work of Paulo Freire. It is engaging and thought provoking, and its limitations are not fatal to the overall aim and effectiveness of the book. This work seems best suited as a textbook for the beginning reader of Freire, and for the theorist interested in a broad overview of his work."-Journal of Educational Thought
"The book by Peter Roberts represents an interesting contribution to this tradition of critical scholarship."-International Review of Education
...".Teacher educators and educational philosophers can learn much from the book; so too can qualitative researchers, for Roberts's explanation vividly reveals the qualitative character of Freire's thinking. Roberts promises another book that will apply Freire's ideas to debates about curriculum reform, political correctness, and higher education--something to look forward to! Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and practitioners."-Choice

Author Bio

PETER ROBERTS is Senior Lecturer in the School of Education, University of Auckland, New Zealand.