Exploring the Concepts of Liberation and Human Flourishing in Paulo Freire’s Philosophy of Education: Implications for Education in Cameroon

Education in its very essence serves as an instrument for human
transformation and liberation. This paper explores Paulo Freire’s
understanding of education as a tool for human emancipation. Freire
argues that human liberation is integral because it frees the individual
socially,
economically,
psychologically,
culturally,
physically,
intellectually and spiritually. In this paper, we argue that it is in the idea
of liberation that Freire’s concept of human flourishing takes its roots
and finds meaning. We examine Freire’s concept of education as a tool
for human emancipation and flourishing and show its implications on
the educational systems in Cameroon. After Cameroon’s independence
and reunification in 1960 and 1961 respectively, the educational systems
“inherited” from the French and British colonial administrations were
maintained in the two parts of the country which they administered.
These systems of education are still heavily invested in their colonial
origins and not fully grounded in indigenous values, beliefs,
epistemologies and knowledge systems. In this paper, we argue that the
continuous presence of colonial values hinders genuine freedom and
human flourishing in the Freirean sense. The paper argues for the need
to decolonise Cameroon’s educational system from French and British
epistemic influences to ensure authentic freedom and human flourishing.

Keywords: Paolo Freire, education, liberation, human flourishing, the Educational System in Cameroon, decolonization