Exploring Social Justice and Ethical Theory in Depth

Exploring Social Justice/Ethical Theory in Depth
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Paulo Freire
Paulo Freire is considered the 20th-century most influential philosopher of education. On 19th September 1921, Freire was born to a middle-class family in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. From an early age, he endured poverty and hunger caused by the Great Depression and the death of his father in 1931, which made it harder for the family to afford primary needs. In school, he was four grades behind due to poverty and difficulties in learning; thus, he spent most of his time playing football with other poor children. His life of scarcity and lessons learned by interacting with other poor children developed his concern for the poor and his viewpoints on education. His mother’s fortunes improved, enabling him to complete his education and enroll in law school in 1943, where he also studied phenomenology and the psychology of language (Dimitrov, n.d.). His work in different capacities made him an instrumental leader who contributed to social justice by applying his Pedagogy of the Oppressed Theory.
Freire contributed toward social justice through social justice education. According to Freire, education is significant in legislating social justice. It offers students an avenue to achieve intellectual and physical freedom from their social backgrounds and environment, making it essential for a human being to be complete. As someone born and raised in poverty, he believes that education can either domesticate or liberate an individual in a particular social status quo that empowers or takes away their power (Hahn Tapper, 2013, pp. 413-415). Thus, the provision of education should be challenged and transformed to offer every person the power to learn.Freire borrowed from Catholic liberation theology and Marxist Perspectives to develop the social justice education that promotes social liberation. According to him, the “see-judge-act” student-centered method was paramount in achieving critical consciousness...