Nnadiebube Journal of Philosophy

It is universally agreed that “knowledge is power”. Education is the means by which knowledge is transferred to others and this process could be formal or informal. Paulo Freire and John Dewey wrote extensively on the import of a properly acquired formal education. This article embarks on a comparative study of Dewey’s idea of experiential education and Freire’s idea of critical pedagogy. The paper aims to identify areas of convergence and divergence of the two scholars’ ideas. The method of comparative analysis was adopted in this paper because it permits a thorough exposition and comparison of the ideas of both scholars. It is discovered in this paper that Dewey and Freire are thorough pragmatists and their penchant towards pragmatism underlined their conclusion on the right methods, approach and goals of formal education. For both scholars, the experience of the student is the raw material and the most critical element necessary for education. Hence, they both criticized and totally condemned the traditional approach to education because of its negation of the experience of the learner as subject matter of study. The paper also finds that the difference in the background of the scholars informed their divergent ultimate goal of education. Dewey grew up in civilized and developed city of America, thus he presented education as a tool for maintaining and sustaining democracy and good governance. Freire, grew up in Brazil under dictatorship era and under a ravaging poverty and miserable living. Hence, he presented education as tool for enlightenment and emancipation of the people from the challenges of under development. The paper concludes that while Dewey and Freire are similar in pedagogy, they differ in the articulation of the goals of education.

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