Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Education for Liberation: Introduction to the Friere Method

Education for Liberation at the Brecht Forum
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
2-DAY WORKSHOP
Sliding Scale of $65-$85/day

Carmelina Cartei, Kate Cavanagh,Sally Hyppolite,Esperanza Martell & Julie Novas

This is an introductory hands-on workshop in the use of popular education techniques based on the complementary approaches to Education for Liberation developed by two Brasilian cultural activists: philosopher Paulo Freire, author of "Pedagogy of the Oppressed," and theater director Augusto Boal, Workers Party (PT) activist and founder of the Theater of the Oppressed.

In this introduction to the theory of the pedagogy of the oppressed and its practical application, participants will learn through practice the three basic steps of the Freire methodology:1) to express and see reality as it is experienced by the participants; 2) to understand this reality by analyzing it and exploring the root causes of problems; and 3) to act in order to change this reality.

Framed as a power analysis for decolonizing the mind and empowering oppressed communities in struggle, the workshop is designed for community organizers as well as educators and labor, political and solidarity activists in view of helping them actively plan and implement effective strategies for social action in their groups and communities.

The Corporate Classroom

NY Times Op Ed on Education.

Roughly a third of all American high school students drop out.

“In math and science, for example, our fourth graders are among the top students globally. By roughly eighth grade, they’re in the middle of the pack. And by the 12th grade, U.S. students are scoring generally near the bottom of all industrialized countries.

Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, offered a brutal critique of the nation’s high schools a few years ago, describing them as “obsolete” and saying, “When I compare our high schools with what I see when I’m traveling abroad, I am terrified for our work force of tomorrow.



Whenever I read this type of article - I often wonder why we must continue to mention the "work force of tomorrow" as though this is the biggest problem we have to solve - our ability to compete in global industry.

Why are a third of our students dropping out? We are pushing them out. Joe Kincheloe says, "When technologies of power such as standardized testing and curricular standardization are in place, possibility decreases that marginalized students will gain the confidence to reshape their relation to power or even reshape power's relationship to them...Most students who find themselves in such disempowered situations don't have the confidence to continue" (Critical Pedagogy).

Isn't education about a vision of justice and equality? When we place corporate and capitalist interests at the center of our schooling, we create power structures and systems that are not in the best interest of our children. When we focus on creating a stable work force- aren't we creating a pedagogy of low expectations? Looking to keep our society as ordered and efficient as possible? Making sure that those who are at the "bottom" now continue to stay there?

Education is about alleviating suffering. It is about justice. It's not about training a work force so that the rich can get richer and power structures can stay the same.

Children in our schools need to learn how to ask questions and pose problems. To ask the questions of our society that forces those who are marginalized to enter lotteries to compete for decent educations or some sort of health care.

When we "standardize" our classrooms and schools, we continue to "standardize" our students and the status-quo of our society.