Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Week 2

Paulo Freire was born september 19th 1921 in Recife, Brazil.  Freire's life was dedicated to education.  It was Paulo Freire who came up with the idea of critical pedagogy which allowed the student to question and challenge the domination that a teachers brings.  By doing so it allows the student to gain critical consciousness, thus not blindly following a teacher who may or may not be correct.  This helped change the one sided student teacher relationship.


Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Freire


In 1962, Paulo Freire was named head of an adult literacy program in the city of Recife, by the mayor himself.  45 days after the appointment he had managed to teach 300 adults to read and write!  The program became such a huge success that Paulo Freire was appointed as head of the national literacy program for Brazil.  Over 2 million people signed up for the program.  However, because illiterates could not vote, the higher class citizens feared an uprising.  This lead to a military takeover which landed Paulo Freire in prison for 70 days before being exiled to Bolivia and Chile.


Source: http://www.answers.com/topic/paulo-freire


After landing a job in Chile Freire was able to write three books.  This gave him widespread recognition which landed him an invitation to be a visiting professor at Harvard University.  At Harvard he found his popularity was booming.  He was able to get a position at the office of education at the world council.  He worked there for the next few decades trying to increase literacy around the world in an effort to make the world a better place for everyone.


Source: http://www.answers.com/topic/paulo-freire


1) Amber- I learned that Amber is hoping to gain a better understanding of other cultures and other individuals.
2) Ana-maria- I learned that Ana-maria has lived in Mexico.
3) Andrea- I learned that Andrea is hoping to learn more about the Caribbean culture.
4) Angelina- I learned that Angelina hopes to one day visit Costa Rica and Ecuador. 
5) Beckyjean- I learned Beckyjean is taking this online course while in France. 
6) Caitlan-  I learned Caitlan loves to travel.
7) Charles- I learned charles is taking this course to fulfill requirements for an A.S. degree.
8) Mary- I learned Mary is taking this course as an A.A. requirement.
9) Desiree- I learned Desiree is taking this to learn about other cultures.
10) Erin- I learned Erin is taking this to see how an online course is conducted.