I found the most important aspect of chapter four, Education and Conscientização, to be Freire’s incessant use of dialogue as a means of freedom. Over the past half of century, we, as Americans, have increasingly decreased the amount of dialogue we have concerning the issues of our world. I find this intriguing because of our increased means of communicating. What once took months to get from one person to another can now be done instantaneously. With the advent of the internet, one might think that dialogue would be more prevalent. Unfortunately, the opposite has occurred. The people have been talked at in lieu of discussing. Discourse has taken a backseat to media speeches; we are told what our reality is rather than being a part of its creation. Through self-reflection, I have come to know that dialogue is foundation of learning. It was my opportunity to speak candidly that has led to my ability to understand the cause of my oppression and subsequently allowed me to begin to find a manner in which to discuss our common reality with others in an attempt to help them to discover their oppressor as well; which are one in the same.
Recently, I used open discourse as a method of changing someone’s magical consciousness into a critical consciousness. One of my students had to write a research paper concerning health care; more specifically, her inability to receive the treatment she needed. She believed the reason she was unable to receive treatment was because of illegal immigrants’ opportunity to receive health care without paying taxes. Initially, I attempted to sway her with a lecture on how health care in America works and illegal immigrant participation in our society, but I was losing her. So, as a second attempt, I began to give her literature to read and websites to research. Instead of giving her my position, I provided reliable information for her to read and she and I would discuss it at the end of class. To my surprise, when I received her final draft, it was a very well written paper that spoke to the heart of the problem. She became aware of the enormous profits insurance companies make at her expense. She was now conscious of the doctors and hospitals’ incentives to deny care. She is now able to identify our oppressor.
This method of teaching is powerful because it does not need any walls; it is independent of structure; it is natural! It allows both the “instructor” and the “student” to learn together. My student learned that once she was able to identify her oppressor, she was able to fight her oppressor. She had found her opportunity to begin to re-create her reality. She discovered that her predicament was not static and not the consequence of other oppressed people.
I believe this method of dialogue to be the foundation of democracy and democracy the lamppost that illuminates the corridor to freedom. It is my belief that the shadow of fatalism and naïveté conscious has dimmed our means of freedom; however, with open discourse and democratic participation, we can, once again, relight the highway to freedom.
