The pedagogy of the oppressed

"For apart from inquiry, apart from the praxis, individuals cannot be truly human. Knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention, through the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry human beings pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other."
Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed

"... Without a sense of identity, there can be no real struggle..."
Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed

The pedagogy of the oppressed

"Let me tell you about ...well...er...er
The Pedagogy of the Oppressed"
"Wasn't Paulo Freire who wrote that mum?"
"Yes...Yes..."
"I know him mum..."
"Huh...close your eyes and listen to me.
Then tell me what you think about his ideas,okay?."

And as she theorized about education,
she would put ointment on her kid's wounds,
feeling oppressed by life, by her inadequate thoughts
of failure and resistance when she couldn't transform
reality or even make her own private revolution.

"Freedom is the most beautiful word
I have ever heard in life. Do you know why?"
"Because of the years of oppression mum?"
"Nah, because when you are truly free
according to Paulo Freire, you deal with
life in a creative way, changing what is around
you as you change yourself."

Deep inside, she was in labour work,
giving birth to her again. She was not a being
of accommodation. She had always been
what Paulo Freire dreamt: a being of transformation.
Why couldn't she cure her kid with those
words which were magical for her?
Why couldn't she set her free?

Love is a struggle for redemption.
Love is what she felt for her child,
for Paulo Freire, for freedom.

"I am giving you wings..."
"I will learn how to fly, mum.
I promise you."

It was a labour of love and rescue.
It was her adapted pedagogy of the oppressed.

Karla Bardanza
http://karlabardanzapoems.blogspot.com
http://skycladatmidnight.tumblr.com
http://poeticpostcards.blogspot.com