TEACHING WHILE LEARNING, LEARNING WHILE TEACHING – THE DIALECTICAL ETHOS OF TEACHING IN “PEDAGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED” BY PAULO FREIRE

Abstract

Freire’s work retains singular relevance by affirming education as an ethical, political, and dialogical practice, in which teaching and learning constitute an inseparable movement of collective knowledge production. From this perspective, this chapter is grounded in the understanding that the teaching ethos proposed by Freire is not reduced to a methodological guideline, but rather expresses an ontological and historical conception of the “being of the teacher,” committed to humanization, emancipation, and the overcoming of oppressive relations within school and society. The object of this chapter is the analysis of the dialectical teaching ethos present in “Pedagogy of the Oppressed”, understood as the dynamic articulation between teaching and learning, authority and freedom, systematized knowledge and experiential knowledge, within the scope of a pedagogical practice founded on dialogue and transformative praxis. By mobilizing central categories of Freirean thought – such as dialogue, conscientization, praxis, human incompleteness, and problem-posing education – the text seeks to demonstrate how teaching, in Freire’s work, is constructed through pedagogical reciprocity, active listening, and the rejection of the banking model of education. Within this horizon, the guiding question of the study asks to what extent the Freirean principle of “teaching while learning and learning while teaching” constitutes a dialectical ethos capable of reconfiguring teacher identity and sustaining pedagogical practices committed to human emancipation. Theoretically, the study is centrally grounded in “Pedagogy of the Oppressed”, by Paulo Freire (1959; 1979; 1992; 1997; 2011; 2013; 2014; 2015; 2017), as well as in other works by Freire, including those developed in dialogue with Faundez (1985), and Macedo and Guimarães (2011; 2013; 2014). Contributions from authors who discuss critical pedagogy, teacher education, and social theory are also articulated, such as Giroux (1997; 1999; 2000; 2011; 2013; 2014; 2022; 2024), McLaren (1994; 2014; 2015), Gramsci (1999; 2000; 2001; 2007), Habermas (1972; 2003), and Nóvoa and Perrenoud (1995; 2000), among others. This is a qualitative study of a descriptive and bibliographic nature, guided by an analytical approach that seeks to understand the dialectical teaching ethos in its theoretical density and formative implications. The findings indicate that the Freirean principle of teaching while learning and learning while teaching sustains a dialectical teaching ethos that reconfigures teacher identity as historical, unfinished, and politically engaged. It was found that this ethos breaks with the banking, technicist, and standardizing logic of education, affirming teaching as an ethical, relational, and critical practice. The study demonstrates that pedagogical reciprocity strengthens educational practices grounded in dialogue, problematization, and the collective production of knowledge. Furthermore, the dialectical ethos provides consistent foundations for emancipatory pedagogical practices, especially in contexts of structural inequality. Thus, teacher education emerges as a permanent process of conscientization, critical reflection, and social transformation.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56238/edimpacto2025.092-061