Ditmar and others,

I must put up my small flag here:  I absolutely detest the  language  
used in this educational movement.  To me, it seems foreign and laid on  
with a  trowel.  Am I for social empowerment?  Of course.  Am I for   
social movements which try to being about even  a modicum of social  
justice?  Absolutely.

Back to the trenches,

Andrea

On Jan 8, 2007, at 7:33 AM, Muro, Andres wrote:


> Hi Ujwalla, David, Andrea, Ditmar:

>  

> We did a project with our students that has strong Freirian elements.  

> This is an ongoing project with migrant students in which they write  

> their own stories and we publish them. to see this project please  

> visit:

>  

> http://bordersenses.com/memorias

>  

> While the stories are written in Spanish most of them have been  

> translated. If you want to read the content, please click on each of  

> the books. Also, to understand the theoretical foundation you can read  

> my introduction to both books. They are in English. I kept the  

> introductions very simple without making any references, However, the  

> work is influenced by Freire,Dewey, Giroux, etal. You will see in the  

> intrductions the elements of Freirianism that Ditmar points to.

>  

> Andres

>

> From: povertyracewomen-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of  

> ditmar0906_inossian at netzero.net

> Sent: Sat 1/6/2007 4:26 PM

> To: povertyracewomen at nifl.gov

> Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 197] Re: GED programs with a popular  

> educationa pproach

>

>

> Yes, Project Hope's Adult Learners Program uses (or did use) a popular  

> education approach that is distinctly Freireian, and this program was  

> the focus of Lorna's dissertation. For what it's worth,  

> "conscientisation" was the focus of Freire's approach: a process by  

> which a group (not at all about individual empowerment here [think  

> "class struggle"]) becomes aware of their oppression and discovers  

> that they have a popular culture that is both political and  

> social--has a sociopolitical role in history (as Marx understood  

> history). The group learners engage in "critical praxis" or dialogue  

> toward the end of identifying common interests. It's rather like an  

> effort to critique false consciousness through 1) an investigation of  

> the thematic universe (identifying themes); 2) identifying those  

> themes that are "generative"; 3) codification of those generative  

> themes, and 4) dialogue within the cultural circle of learners to  

> interpret those themes (i.e. create meaning). I know this sounds very  

> abstract but one might think of it as a very Marxist-oriented version  

> of the ideology critique that was advanced by the Frankfurt School and  

> later by educational theorists who continue to work in this tradition  

> (e.g. Giroux, Apple, etc.).

>

> Freire's goal was social change, not individual empowerment nor  

> individual transformation. In fact, in my own reading of Freire, he  

> didn't even think that individual transformation was possible. In  

> other words, he never intended for his theory to be used as a means  

> for helping learners function within the given social system. One  

> might argue that if you change individuals, you will change society  

> (one person at a time). However, this can be true only from an  

> anthropological view of history (i.e., the driving force behind  

> history is human experience/consciousness). From a structuralist (or  

> Marxist) point of view, the consciousness of the individual makes no  

> difference; it's class consciousness that matters because one's  

> individual consciousness is a product of ideology; individuals become  

> subjects only through their subjection to processes of production  

> (i.e., the reproduction of production, or more commonly, the  

> reproduction of inequality). So basically "popular education" becomes  

> a mechanism for bringing about class struggle. Finally, Freire never  

> specified the end results of pedagogical praxis because the "solution"  

> or product was not known, in fact could not be known--it evolved  

> among/through the people. Social change was then the process of  

> peaceful intervention into the system by initiating dialogue with the  

> "oppressors" to develop alternatives.

>

> The philosophical foundations are to be found in Catholic humanism  

> (Catholic Action, Liberation Theology, etc.), orthodox Marxism, and  

> German philosophy (particularly Hegel). Freire also integrated bits of  

> critical theory into his approach, which evolved into his "Movement of  

> Education from the Base" (a take-off on the "Popular Church from the  

> Base" that evolved during the revolutionary period in Latin America).  

> See his two major contributions to adult education theory and  

> practice: Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Education as the Practice of  

> Freedom (both late 1960s). Lorna's dissertation is a marvelous  

> illustration of how one GED program puts these principles into  

> practice.

>

> Thanks. --Ditmar

>

> C. Ditmar Coffield

>

>

> -- eleonelli at aol.com wrote:

> David - I think that Project Hope in Dorchester, MA takes a popular 

> education approach in their program.

>

> Esther

> __________________________________

> Esther D. Leonelli

>

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: djrosen at comcast.net

> Sent: Sat, 6 Jan 2007 11:14 AM

> Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 194] Re: GED programs with a popular 

> education approach

>

>    Hi Andrea,

>

> Thanks.  I have emailed Lorna.

>

> All the best,

>

> David

>

> On Jan 5, 2007, at 1:37 PM, Andrea Wilder wrote:

>

> > David,

> >

> > Thank you for the list, it makes me feel very happy to have all these

> > values in teaching spelled out. What a comprehensive list!  Lorna

> > Rivera I believe used the term "popular education"  in her

> > dissertation.  Perhaps you have already asked her about GED

> > programs--she is at UMASS Boston. She is the best source I can

> > think of

> > right at the moment.

> >

> > Andrea

> >

> > On Jan 5, 2007, at 11:25 AM, David Rosen wrote:

> >

> >> Hi Andrea,

> >>

> >> Suppose we use the term "popular education" approach.  This suggests

> >> to me:

> >>

> >> 1. a lack of hierarchy, that teachers treat students as their equals

> >> in status and power although they have different roles, and the

> >> program or school incorporates democratic decision-making practices.

> >> Students and teachers, not just administrators and the board,  play  

> a

> >> central role in the decision-making process;

> >> 2. a belief that the central purpose of education is to bring about

> >> the conditions for social and economic justice and democracy;

> >> 3. a commitment to raising the consciousness of students and

> >> teachers, and helping them to become critically aware of how their

> >> individual personal experiences are connected to larger social

> >> problems;

> >> 4. a commitment to social change, often at the community level;

> >> 5. learning history and other social sciences from a variety of

> >> perspectives, for example from the perspectives of: women, people of

> >> color, immigrants, and workers;

> >> 6. knowledge and skills learned in the context of issues which affec 

> t

> >> students in their lives and in their communities; and

> >> 7. an education process characterized by discussion and debate, not

> >> just memorizing facts or learning skills.

> >>

> >> I doubt that this definition is complete, and some would say that

> >> some elements are more important than others.  But when I use the

> >> term, those are the ingredients I have in mind.

> >>

> >> I can think of a couple of community-based programs in Boston, an

> >> ESOL program and an ABE/adult diploma program which -- currently or

> >> in the past -- fit most of these criteria, but these are not GED

> >> programs.  Anyone know of a GED program that has these ingredients?

> >>

> >> David J. Rosen

> >> djrosen at comcast.net

> >>

> >>

> >> On Jan 5, 2007, at 10:05 AM, Andrea Wilder wrote:

> >>

> >>> Hi David,

> >>>

> >>> I would be interested to know what a Freirian approach adult

> >>> literacy

> >>> program might look like.  In your opinion, what might be the

> >>> ingredients?

> >>> thanks.

> >>>

> >>> Andrea

> >>>

> >>> On Jan 5, 2007, at 3:13 AM, Ujwala Samant wrote:

> >>>

> >>>> Dear David,

> >>>>

> >>>> This is one question that I have been wondering about

> >>>> for years. Aside from the 'glory days' in the 70s/80s

> >>>> which colleagues of mine at NCSALL told me about and

> >>>> one in NY, I could find no Freireian approaches to

> >>>> adult literacy. I have studied the 70s-80s classics,

> >>>> and I have been curious as to what happened since

> >>>> then.

> >>>>

> >>>> Thanks for raising this question,

> >>>> Warm regards,

> >>>> Ujwala

> >>>>

> >>>> --- David Rosen <djrosen at comcast.net> wrote:

> >>>>

> >>>>> Colleagues,

> >>>>>

> >>>>> In a conversation yesterday I was asked if I know of

> >>>>> good examples of

> >>>>> GED preparation programs which use a popular

> >>>>> education, or

> >>>>> participatory (Freirean) approach.  I am only aware

> >>>>> of one, a theme-

> >>>>> based approach that the City University of New York

> >>>>> adult literacy

> >>>>> GED program has used for over a decade.  If you have

> >>>>> others to

> >>>>> suggest I would be pleased to hear about them.

> >>>>> Thanks.

> >>>>>

> >>>>> David J. Rosen

> >>>>> djrosen at comcast.net

> >>>>>

> >>>>>

> >>>>>

> >>>>> ----------------------------------------------------

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> >>>>> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings,

> >>>>> please go to

> >>>>>

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> >>>>>

> >>>>

> >>>>

> >>>> __________________________________________________

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> >>>

> >>> ----------------------------------------------------

> >>> National Institute for Literacy

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> >>

> >> David J. Rosen

> >> djrosen at comcast.net

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> ----------------------------------------------------

> >> National Institute for Literacy

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> >> PovertyRaceWomen at nifl.gov

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> David J. Rosen

> djrosen at comcast.net

>

>

>

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