Pedagogy of the Oppressed: 50th Anniversary Edition

by Paulo Freire

I must re-emphasize that the generative theme cannot be found in people, divorced from reality; nor yet in reality, divorced from people; much less in “no man’s land.” It can onl...

the methodology proposed requires that the investigators and the people (who would normally be considered objects of that investigation) should act as co-investigators.

Some may think it inadvisable to include the people as investigators in the search for their own meaningful thematics: that their intrusive influence

will “adulterate” the findings and thereby sacrifice the objectivity of the investigation.

themes exist in people in their relations with the world, with refer-ence to concrete facts.

From the investigator’s point of view, the important thing is to detect the starting point at which the people visualize the “given” and to verify whether or not during the process of investigation any transformation has occurred in their way of perceiving reality.

We must realize that the aspirations, the motives, and the objectives implicit in the meaningful thematics are human aspirations, motives, and objectives.

they are occurring.

Thematic investigation thus becomes a common striving towards awareness of reality and towards self-awareness, which makes this investigation a starting point for the educational process or for cultural action of a liberating character.

On the contrary, the danger lies in the risk of shifting the focus of the investigation from the meaningful themes to the people themselves, thereby treating the people as objects of the investigation.

Thematic investigation,

cannot be reduced to a mechanical act.

it requires the investigators to discover the interpenetration of problems, in the lin...

Thus, the process of searching for the meaningful thematics should include a concern for the links between themes, a concern to pose these themes as problems, and a concern for their historical-cultural context.