Towards a liberating teaching practice
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5212/PraxEduc.v.21.25822.003Abstract
In this article, the Salvadoran social psychologist develops a critical analysis of the role of university teaching in both the reproduction and possible overcoming of the structures of domination in force in Latin America. By examining the technical and institutional aspects of higher education, he argues that, when detached from its social and political function, teaching practices become alienated, serving the maintenance of interests that do not favor the working class. In this condition, it reinforces intellectual conformism, hierarchical relations, and cultural dependency. In contrast, Martín-Baró proposes a liberating teaching practice—grounded in autonomy, critical reflection, and ethical-political commitment, and supported by pedagogical diversity and social participation. Such a pedagogy must integrate teaching, research, and community engagement with the organic formation of students and, simultaneously, with the concrete demands of Latin American peoples. The author concludes that transforming teaching requires more than methodological adjustments: it demands a revolution of institutional structures and an explicit recognition of the political dimension of education, turning the university into a space for fostering the emancipation of the working class.
Keywords: Teaching. University. Alienation. Latin America. Liberation Psychology.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Práxis Educativa
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish in this journal agree with the following terms:
a) Authors keep the copyrights and concede the right of its first publication to the magazine. The work piece must be simultaneously licensed on the Creative Commons Attribution License which allows the paper sharing, and preserves both the author identity and the right of first publication to this magazine.
b) Authors are authorized to assume additional contracts separately, to not-exclusively distribution of the paper version published in this magazine (e.g.: publish in institutional repository or as a book chapter), with the author identity recognition and its first publication in this magazine.
c) Authors are permitted and stimulated to publish and distribute their papers online (e.g.: in institutional repository or on their personal webpage), considering it can generate productive alterations, as well as increase the impact and the quotations of the published paper.
d) This journal provides public access to all its content, as this allows a greater visibility and reach of published articles and reviews. For more information on this approach, visit the Public Knowledge Project, a project that developed this system to improve the academic and public quality of the research, distributing OJS as well as other software to support the publication system of public access to academic sources.
e) The names and e-mail addresses on this site will be used exclusively for the purposes of the journal and are not available for other purposes.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
