Liberation Philosophy and the Development of Communities of Inquiry: A Critical Evaluation

The aim of this paper is to offer a critical evaluation of the role of liberation philosophy in developing communities of inquiry. The article is divided into three sections. In the first, we examine the relationship between liberation philosophy and liberation pedagogy. The second section focuses on a discussion of relationships between liberation pedagogy, communities of inquiry and the teaching of philosophical thinking. Finally, we discuss what we regard as some the challenges of liberation pedagogy and outline future directions for research and practice. While a number of scholars have offered radical critiques of education and schooling (Latta, 1989), this article considers the work of Paulo Freire as expressed in what is perhaps his best-known book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Freire, 1996).