Dialogue, Knowledge, and Teacher‐Student Relations: Freirean Pedagogy in Theory and Practice

Abstract

I would like to thank Frances Vavrus, Janise Hurtig, Aurolyn Luykx, Dana Burde, Carolyn Kissane, Fida Adely, Annette Hansen, the participants at the Association of Development Researchers in Denmark’s (FAU) 2003 conference on education and development, and the coeditors and anonymous reviewers of Comparative Education Review for their invaluable feedback on this article. 1 For example, ActionAid’s Reflect project represents an internationally renowned example of the implementation of Freirean-based literacy; see David Archer and S. Cottingham, Action Research Report on Reflect: The Experience of Three Pilot Projects in Uganda, Bangladesh and El Salvador (London: Overseas Development Association, 1996); Julia Betts, “Literacies and Livelihood Strategies: Experience from Usulutan, El Salvador,” International Journal of Educational Development 23, no. 3 (2003): 291–98; Caroline Dyer and A. Choksi, “The Reflect Approach to Literacy: Some Issues of Method,” Compare 28, no. 1 (1997): 75–87; Anna Robinson-Pant, Why Eat Green Cucumbers at the Time of Dying? Exploring the Link between Women’s Literacy and Development: A Nepal Perspective (Hamburg: UNESCO Institute of Education, 2001). 2 In Latin America, the term “popular” denotes the poor and working classes; popular education is rooted in a Marxist class critique. On popular education in Latin America, see Robert Arnove, Education and Revolution in Nicaragua (New York: Praeger, 1986), and “Education as Contested Terrain in Nicaragua,” Comparative Education Review 39, no. 1 (1995): 28–54; Celso de Rui Beisiegel, Estado e educacao popular (Sao Paulo: Pioneira, 1974); Carlos Rodrigues Brandao, A questao politica da educacao popular (Sao Paulo: Brasiliense, 1980); Anthony Dewees and Stephen Klees, “Social Movements and the Transformation of National Policy: Street and Working Children in Brazil,” Comparative Education Review 39, no. 1 (1995): 76–100; Osmar Favero, ed., Cultura popular, educacao popular: Memoria dos anos 60 (Rio de Janeiro: Edicoes Graal, 1983); Marcy Fink, “Women and Popular Education in Latin America,” in Women and Education in Latin America, ed. Nelly P. Stromquist (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1992), 171–93; Marcy Fink and Robert F. Arnove, “Issues and Tensions in Popular Education in Latin America,” International Journal of Educational Development 11, no. 3 (1991): 221–30; Jose Willington Germano, Lendo e aprendendo: A campanha “de pe no chao” (Sao Paulo: Cortez Editora, 1982); John Hammond, Fighting to Learn: Popular Education and Guerrilla War in El Salvador (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1998); Sheryl Hirshon, And Also Teach Them to Read (Westport, CT: L. Hill, 1983); Oscar Jara, Contributions to the History of Popular Education in Peru (Lima: Tarea, 1990); Liam Kane, Popular Education and Social Change in Latin America (London: Latin American Bureau, 2001); Thomas J. La Belle, Nonformal Education and Social Change in Latin America (Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center Publications, University of California, Los Angeles, 1976); Thomas LaBelle, Nonformal Education and the Poor in Latin America and the Caribbean: Stability, Reform, or Revolution? (New York: Praeger, 1986); Robert Mackie, Literacy and Revolution: The Pedagogy of Paulo Freire (New York: Continuum, 1981); Valerie Miller, Between Struggle and Hope: The Nicaraguan Literacy Crusade (Boulder, CO: Westview, 1985); Vanilda Pereira Paiva, Educacao popular e educacao de adultos (Sao Paulo: Edicoes Loyola, 1973); Victoria Purcell-Gates and Robin Waterman, Now We Read, We See, We Speak: Portrait of Literacy Development in an Adult Freirean-Based Class (Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2000); Carlos Alberto Torres, The Politics of Nonformal Education in Latin America