The Relationship between Education, Politics and Society in the Thought of Paulo Freire: A Reflection about Mozambique’s Education System

Abstract

According to Paulo Freire (1989), knowledge requires a curious presence of the subject over the world, it requires a transformative action on reality and it demands a constant search and it implies invention and reinvention. Reflecting critically about this position, one notices that this contradicts with the ideals presented by the Ministry of Education in Mozambique, for the latter is simply concerned about promoting vocational training and the fight against poverty in the country’s education system. Based on the thought of Paulo Freire, this essay seeks to reflect on Mozambique’s education system, mainly on its concern for focusing people’s education on vocational training and the fight against poverty, as it has been presented above. This reflection starts by providing a theoretical background of the thought of Paulo Freire so that afterwards, it can present the criticism he makes against the traditional method of education (banking method). Based on this criticism, in the third part, this paper reflects on how this type of education is helpful for social transformation. In the last part, the article discusses the relevance of Freire’s thought to the education situation of Mozambique. In the end, the conclusion gravitates towards Freire’s thought for it to be implemented in the Mozambican education system, instead of the ideas presented above.