Hello Andrea and all:

Though in a different way, Freire's work still holds the potential to bring back to USA education what earlier was essentially a "classical" education, which was reserved more for the elite.  To be classically educated (in the very least) was to be politically astute.

But an education that speaks to the fullness of political awareness--that is essential to Freirian pedagogy--is also essential in a democratic-republican culture (small d-r) which, though we have various sorts of "classes" like the older classical cultures based on fame, wealth, etc., we are supposed to foster politically equality. 

If the above is true, the implication is that any public education, especially adult education, in a democracy that does NOT address political awareness of our students is in failure mode on that score.    

Freire was dealing with the illiterate (in its basic meaning of non-readers) and saw the essential connection between literacy and political power.   Though our culture and our needs are quite different from Freire's, the basic tenets of his educational framework still hold in our culture. Whereas he was building a new political framework, we already have one.  Our project then is to maintain what we have--and the best way to lose a vibrant democracy is to lose the political-awareness thread that is essential to adults, and thus to adult education, in a democracy.

Happy New Year to all,

Catherine King


-- Original Message ----- 
  From: Andrea Wilder 
  To: The Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy Discussion List 
  Sent: Monday, January 08, 2007 7:47 AM
  Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 200] Re: GED programs with a popular educationapproach


  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 affect
    >> 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
    >>>>>
    >>>>>
    >>>>>
    >>>>> ----------------------------------------------------
    >>>>> National Institute for Literacy
    >>>>> Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy mailing list
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    >>>>
    >>>>
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    >>
    >> David J. Rosen
    >> djrosen at comcast.net
    >>
    >>
    >>
    >> ----------------------------------------------------
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    David J. Rosen
    djrosen at comcast.net



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