Hegel and Critical Pedagogy

Synonyms

Hegelian dialectics and Freire’s pedagogy; Lordship and bondage; Oppressors and oppressed

Introduction

One of the most important contributions to the critical pedagogy of Paulo Freire comes from German philosopher G. W. F. Hegel. While there is an ongoing debate as to whether Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed (PO hereafter) has superseded its intellectual predecessor, this section will focus on unearthing the underlying influence of Hegel’s philosophy through a comparative description of the PO and the Phenomenology of Spirit (PS hereafter).

Both Hegel and Freire sought to write a book that could serve as a ladder toward self-awareness, freedom, and liberation. In Hegel’s case, the PS is a history of the education of consciousness, one that results in “absolute knowing,” which is also referred to by Hegel as the “standpoint of science” (as in the Science of Logic) (Hegel 1991). In other words, the PSfocuses on the tendency of world history (i.e., Spirit, or the totality of...