Paulo Freire's book The Pedagogy of the Oppressed is a revolutionary approach to education that seeks to liberate both the oppressed and the oppressors. Freire argues that education can be used as a tool to fight oppression, but only if it is based on dialog, love, and critical thinking.
The central problem of the book is helping readers to understand the nature of oppression and to take action to transform the world into a free space. Freire argues that liberation cannot come from the oppressors, but must come from the oppressed themselves through dialog and constant reflection.
In the first chapter, Paulo Freire concentrates on making the nature of oppression clear to the readers, explaining that liberation must be approached with love, through dialog and must come from the oppressed rather than by the oppressor because otherwise it is alienating and an act of what the author calls false charity.
Chapter two is the most important chapter as the author focuses his attention on teacher-student relationships, explaining that “education must begin with the solution of the student-teacher contradiction, by reconciling the poles of the contradiction so that both are simultaneously teachers and students.” Freire explains that the authority of teachers must be re-imagined and our education models should shift from banking education to problem posing pedagogies encouraged and sustained by dialog around the world in which both students and teachers exist. This, according to Freire, would empower students and teachers to question their conditions. Freire proposes an alternative model of education, which he calls problem-posing education. In problem-posing education, teachers and students work together to identify and solve problems in the real world.
Dialog is at the center of Chapter 3 as it is the key component of problem posing education. Freire argues that dialog is essential for liberation because it allows people to come together and share their experiences and perspectives. This suggests that no one teaches anyone and no one is self taught, instead, education is a process of growth and development that is undergone in a community setting facilitated by dialog.
Chapter 4 is spent describing the importance of cultural action and political revolutionary leadership. Freire explains that radical leaders must use dialogical action to bring communities in unity against oppression.