Freire held that fear naturally attends critical teaching and must not be abstracted away

Evidence

Freire, after all, was the first to remind us that fear is a natural response to critical and problem-posing pedagogies. In his dialogues with Ira Shor, Freire argued that when it comes to teaching with critical consciousness, “‘fear’ is not an abstraction … we must know that we are speaking about something very normal” (Shor & Freire, 1987, p. 55). If we can infuse some of that comfort in our students who are incarcerated, we may find a way to approach some of the “love” Freire describes as necessary for forming meaningful dialogue and ultimately making meaning. Critical pedagogy in the context of prisons may not have to mean simply criticizing institutional power structures. It could be, as Nels Noddings (1984) argued, exercised with an ethic of care and pointed toward the student’s dialogical self, rather than the incarcerated self. — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 434

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Freire sought sufficient certainty to act without losing openness to challenge — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed:…, 899; Acquiring critical consciousness without a plan of action produces fear rather than empowerment.; Professors’ fear of losing control blocks any class critique in the classroom — bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress: Education as…, 377 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Freire sought sufficient certainty to act without losing openness to challenge #expands (0.80) — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 899
• Acquiring critical consciousness without a plan of action produces fear rather than empowerment. #expands (0.80)
• In this moral psychology, fear has epistemic rather than merely motivational value #corroborates (0.80) — Saba Mahmood, Politics of Piety, 978
• Fear is magical conduct, not physiological disorder, that alters the instrumental world #qualifies (0.75)
• Authoritarians are not personally maladjusted; their fear is learned belief #expands (0.75) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2452
• Professors’ fear of losing control blocks any class critique in the classroom #exemplifies (0.70) — bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress, 377