Ujwala--

This is very powerful.  Where did this woman live?  Can you tell us  
more about the context?

Thanks.

Andrea


On Jan 10, 2007, at 10:49 AM, Ujwala Samant wrote:


> Dear Bertie,

>

> I agree with your description of Freire. Reading

> really changes one permanently. Someone I worked with

> said, it was as if she was really seeing for the first

> time and that she did not know that world was so full

> of letters. Another point this woman made was that she

> could no longer return to a world where she did not

> read: it was a permanent learning, a permanent change,

> there was no slipping back into what she called the

> well she used to live in.

>

> Cheers

> Ujwala

>

> --- Bertha Mo <bertiemo at yahoo.com> wrote:

>

>> Freire is a true revolutionary because he taught

>> people to read, so they could read, think and

>> hopefully act om their own behalf.  I feel that my

>> own education was remiss (and I went to the best

>> schools) because my professors taught around Freire

>> (....teach a person to fish and they'll never be

>> hungry) because my MPH class in community health

>> education was comprised of almost 3/4 people of

>> color and perhaps they didn't think we were smart

>> enough to understand Freire or perhaps they didn't

>> want us to know Freire and his revolutionary work.

>> I was lucky enough to continue my education and also

>> be involved with people in my professional life who

>> reintroduced him to me.

>>

>> Participating in this listserve has helped me to

>> reflect back on my entry into graduate school during

>> a time when non-physicians and people of color began

>> to enter Schools of Public Health. The warm support

>> of fellow students and the mixed messages from our

>> primarily white professors is something that I had

>> forgotten.

>>

>> I'm still interested in hearing examples of GED

>> programs which use the Freirean model either

>> consciously or unconsciously.  I say unconsciously

>> because I wanted to share a bit about the Adult High

>> School of Ottawa, which closed a few years ago.  A

>> dear colleague rom the Carribbean was able to

>> receive her GED at the school and then go on to

>> College, University and is now a registered social

>> worker.  She is a change agent in our community

>> speaking out about structural racism in Canada and

>> teaching and speaking about the need for community/

>> culturally competent service.  My husband who helped

>> to start a new meals on wheels programs for

>> immigrant seniors was able to continue his education

>> by doing two years of classes at the Adult High

>> School before entering college. The vice principal

>> of the Adult High School encouraged student

>> leadership and my husband gave many motivational

>> speeches as well as coached students in public

>> speaking.  Isn't this peer learning, which is one of

>>  Freire's approaches.

>>

>> Bertie Mo

>>

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>>

>>    1. [PovertyRaceWomen 232] Re: GED programs with a

>>       populareducationapproach (Ujwala Samant)

>>    2. [PovertyRaceWomen 233] Re: GED

>>       programswithapopulareducationapproach

>> (andreawilder at comcast.net)

>>    3. [PovertyRaceWomen 234] Re: GED programs with a

>>       populareducationapproach (Andrea Wilder)

>>    4. [PovertyRaceWomen 235] Re: GED

>>       programswithapopulareducationapproach (Andrea

>> Wilder)

>>

>>

>>

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

>>

>> Message: 1

>> Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2007 15:22:59 -0800 (PST)

>> From: Ujwala Samant

>> Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 232] Re: GED programs

>> with a

>>  populareducationapproach

>> To: "The Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy

>> Discussion List"

>>

>>

>> Message-ID:

>>

> <20070109232259.60372.qmail at web55102.mail.re4.yahoo.com>

>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

>>

>> Andrea,

>>

>>> You asked me what marxism is, and I replied.  Did

>> I

>>> say that Freire

>>> followed the tenets that I described as Marxist?

>> No

>>> I did not say that.<<

>>

>> You said Freire succumbed to Marxism and then

>> proceeded to define it in terms that brought up

>> image

>> of what Marxism was to you. By virtue of that you

>> implied that is what you felt Freire fell for.

>>

>>> There was a lot of discussion about marxism  after

>>> the USSR broke up.

>>> I remember one guy on a radio talk show saying

>>> something like this:

>>> "But marxism has never been tried!"  (Others were

>>> calling the USSR a

>>> marxist-leninist state.)  He was right,   So what

>>> are we to do with the

>>>   contradiction?  I  listed the elements  of

>> marxism

>>> as it has been

>>> called, and as it has generally been agreed upon

>> in

>>> talk, newspapers,

>>> etc.<<

>>

>> That does not relate to the discussion right now.

>> Let's stick to what you said Marxism was and implied

>> that that was what Freire fell victim to.

>>

>>> "Socialism" has an allied problem of definitional

>>> incoherence. <<

>> In your interpretation I take it?

>>

>>>> The

>>> media often misapply the term "socialism" to mean

>> a

>>> top down

>>> government.   It's a scare word.<<

>>

>> Not where I come from. Sounds suspiciously like

>> capitalism to me.

>>

>>> I have not, except in one point, denied the

>>> usefulness of Freire's

>>> content.  I think Freire's linguistic  devices are

>>> unfortunate.<<

>>

>> As are Kant's, Hegel's, Piaget's, and we could go

>> on...

>>

>>> And I must ask, why aren't you writing examples of

>>> Freire's work,

>>> translated into your own idiom, in this

>> discussion?<<

>>

>> For me it is because I am amazed that one needs

>> examples. I work in a domain where I see this

>> popular

>> education/community development happen. All one has

>> to

>> do is search the net and search the NGO world. When

>> I

>> see communities in Andhra Pradesh ravaged by

>> HIV/AIDS

>> organising, and working with NGOS and government

>> agencies to make changes in their environment for

>> themselves, that is an excellent example of Freire

>> in

>> action. When 5-year olds are taught to resolve

>> conflicts and articulate their demands, I see the

>> seeds of power being sown. In SIDH when the

>> organisation is in seamless praxis with communities,

>> well.. I could go on. Listen, look beyond yourself

>> and

>> your world and you will find...

>>

>>> If you think that

>>> we need to be talking about Freire's content, why

>>> don't you do this

>>> yourself?  That  would be useful, I think. and

>> lots

>>> better than

>>> criticizing me for things I didn't say.  It would

>> be

>>> good for readers

>>> of this list serv to  have concrete  examples at

>>> hand for demystifying

>>> Freire.  I would like that immensely. I crave

>> plain

>>> talk.<<

>>

>> So, what you are saying that it is plain talk as

>> defined by you... Plain talk or talk of any kind

>> varies within the context. My personal example is

>> having to learn how to address an American audience

>> and write papers for American professors and accept

>> that one can get 100% on qualitative exams. How

>> about

>>

> === message truncated ===>

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