Service-Learning in Two Keys: Paulo Freire's Critical Pedagogy in Relation to John Dewey's Pragmatism

The author, from Kansas State University, compares the educational and philosophical theories of John Dewey and Paulo Freire, articulating how each deals with two key relationships: action to reflection, and individual to society. While Dewey and Freire largely overlap in their theories of experiential learning, they depart on the larger ideological purposes of education, with Freire more inviting of critical reflection on race, class, and power. After a discussion of each theorist, the author illustrates the implications of Deweyan and Freirean philosophical frameworks for service-learning pedagogy, using two college writing courses as examples.