Freire's Pedagogy Research Articles

A theory for aftercare of human trafficking survivors for nursing practice in low resource settings

Research on aftercare for human trafficking survivors highlights the limited knowledge of the needs of survivors; the evaluation of current aftercare; and the process of recovery navigated by the survivor in aftercare (Oram et al., 2012; Locke, 2010; Hacker & Cohen, 2012). Furthermore there has been a transition in aftercare where the victim or survivor, who before was seen as a passive victim of circumstance of their life and in need of therapeutic intervention, is now seen as having an active role in their recovery, thus facilitating recovery (Hacker & Cohen, 2012). The need for a theory grounded in survivor's voices therefore motivated this grounded theory study underpinned by Freire's (1970) Pedagogy of the oppressed. The aim of the theory is to inform nursing care of human trafficking survivors in low resource settings. The findings elicit a theoretical model of the renewed self, and the conditions that facilitate this process in care of human trafficking survivors. The recommendations of this paper may improve the nursing care provided to human trafficking survivors and equip nurses and other health professionals with the knowledge and skills to promote the renewing of human trafficking survivors.

Paulo Freire's pedagogy and Marxism: political education in Via Campesina Brazil

This article discusses processes of political education in Via Campesina Brazil, whose movements in recent years have dealt remarkably with the themes of youth and education. For analytical purposes, I present two ideal types of political education: one refers to the old communist hegemony in our social movements, while the other refers to the influence of Liberation Theology and Marxist dissident sectors from the 1970s. From the analysis of documents collected and interviews, as well as the relevant literature, I conclude that there exists a greater connection between the political education of Via Campesina Brazil and the second ideal type.

Mrs. Klein and Paulo Freire: Coda for the Pain of Symbolization in the Lifeworld of the Mind

AbstractThe preceding symposium articles speculate on the psychosocial dynamics of discrimination as reverberating with grief, mourning, melancholia, and denial. They invite a psychoanalytic paradox on the fate of inchoate loss and its complex relation to oppression and depression: constellations of attachment to loss met with its social and psychical disavowal render inexpressible to the other the work of mourning and drive its myriad expressions. A different way of putting the dilemma is that grief calls upon symbolic equation (collapse of subject with object) and the pain of symbolization (contingency without certainty). Deborah Britzman's coda reads the psychoanalyst Melanie Klein's consideration of depression as the origin of the human condition with Paulo Freire's call to educators for a radical humanization to release oppression. Between Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Klein's Love, Guilt, and Reparation, the coda traces a signifying loss that attests to the entwined roots of the self/other matrix with attention to the needed fluctuations within interiority and exteriority, loss and the depressive position, illness and health, and psychoanalysis with pedagogy.

The Politics and Ethics of Extensão Universitária in Brazil: Engaging Communities in Teaching and Scholarship

Teaching community requires more than transmitting a set of skills or technical knowledge. It is perhaps one of the greatest challenges of the twenty-first century. This paper contributes to the pedagogy of community in higher education through the analysis of university extension in Brazil. Three elements are crucial to the success of the Brazilian university extension model to teach community. The first is the historical commitment to ethical and political principles and values aimed at social justice, inclusion, and transformation, as well as a shared critical understanding of the complexity of social, economic, and political inequality. Second, the method is derived from critical theory, primarily in the form of Freirean pedagogy, as well as participant and action research. Third, the institutionalization of university extension through the Ministry of Education has provided the necessary means and support at the local, regional, and national levels. Latin America has a unique model of university extension that was developed in the twentieth century, with significant contributions from student movements. Liberation theology and Paulo Freire's critical pedagogy are also noteworthy historical undercurrents that have shaped Brazil's 2012 National Policy of University Extension. Community is achieved through ongoing interactions based on reciprocity among faculty, staff, students, and the general public; the dialogical method; and the common goal and commitment of prioritizing the needs of socially excluded segments of the population.

Metodologias ativas nas aulas de Administração Financeira: alternativa ao método tradicional de ensino para o despertar da motivação intrínseca e o desenvolvimento da autonomia

Este artigo apresenta uma experiência pedagógica na disciplina Administração Financeira. Seu objetivo foi o de investigar, nas respostas a um questionário, se a atividade educativa baseada em metodologias ativas, aplicada na disciplina Administração Financeira, no curso de graduação em Administração de Empresas, pode oferecer espaços formativos que potencializem o desenvolvimento da motivação intrínseca dos educandos a ponto de se revelar pertinente para o desenvolvimento da autonomia desses alunos e, assim, caracterizar-se como alternativa viável para se colocar em prática a pedagogia freiriana. Para tanto, a estratégia de ensino adotada visou possibilitar a interpretação de problemas que simularam situações reais. Foi aplicado um questionário e utilizou-se a análise de conteúdo bardiniana para verificar as impressões dos educandos sobre a própria atividade e a respectiva contribuição para a formação profissional e pessoal desses aprendizes. A análise empreendida aponta para o fato de as metodologias ativas serem viáveis ao método tradicional de ensino no que tange ao despertar do interesse, da motivação e do desenvolvimento quanto à aprendizagem. Aponta, também, para sua consonância com a pedagogia freiriana.

PAR and Digital Inclusion, An Analysis Using the Capabilities Approach and Critical Pedagogy

This paper draws upon the capability approach and critical pedagogy to analyse the value of using Problem-posing Education, a participatory action research method, in a digital inclusion initiative in Brazil. First it the capability approach and explains why using critical pedagogy is a valuable way to deal with issues of power, collective conscientisation and adaptive preference. Freire's pedagogy is then presented and conscientisation is explained as a process of raising critical awareness and praxis. The case study, presents empirical work conducted in Campinas, together with a NGO named CDI, which offers free internet access and basic ICT skills using a Freire's inspired methodology. Findings are then explained and discussed using the theoretical framework. This paper concludes that there is great value in using Freire's critical pedagogy for digital inclusion, but that further research is necessary to identify less resource intense solutions that can provide students with both conscientisation and skills.

Pacto pelo ensino médio e currículo: reflexões a partir dos cadernos de formação e relatório final do PNEM Rondônia

The vocation of this article is to discuss the dimensions of the existing secondary school curriculum in the continuing education of the federal government titled "Pacto Nacional pelo Fortalecimento do Ensino Médio- PNEM" for the teachers of the state school system of Rondonia. This training allowed seeing with new eyes the pedagogical practices of teachers with the subject of the last stage of basic education. Therefore, it takes a qualitative approach, and its methodological approach relies on the analysis of the formation of the notebooks used by course participants and the final report prepared by the educational program coordinator in the state of Rondônia. Even though our research still in development, the theoretical basis and data collection phase, we rely on the multiculturalist theory, as in Freire's pedagogy, which raises the critical reading, questioning and intervention in reality. We understand that curriculum policies are hybrid, polyphonic, produced by discourses that circulate in different educational space- time. We understand that the curriculum as a social instrument is built collectively, with the participation of each subject to enforce the quality of education in secondary school territories.

Guest Lecturing on Geographies of Religion

This 'Teaching Tips' article focuses on my recent experience of guest-lecturing in colleagues' classes. Influenced by Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed, my initial guest-teaching revolved around posing an argument about geographies of religion as 'grounded theologies' as a problem for students to challenge. However, my recent guest lectures have involved interviewing my colleagues' students to discover why they find grounded theologies interesting. I show that this new mode of guest-lecturing - also influenced by Freire - has opened up new conversations at a primal ontological level through a wider breadth of topics discussed, including occupy movements, Game of Thrones, Black Nordic Metal, and modern imperialist ideologies. Following Sam Rocha's folk phenomenology, I suggest that the primal depths that this interview-lecture style of guest lecturing is perhaps worth a try, even though I plan to use the argumentative lecture in the future as well.

Steps of Renewed Praxis

Since the turn of this century, engaged intellectuals have argued for the refunctioning of a utopian process within actually existing politics. While I accept the caveats about utopianism's ineffectiveness or co-optation that are the bedrock of the cold stream of the Marxist tradition (from Marx and Engels to Bloch and Jameson), I nevertheless (with utopians of the Left such as Ruth Levitas) step into the warm stream of a “militant optimism,” in Bloch's words, that aims to set free “the repressed elements of the new, humanized society.” I therefore examine the dialectical tension of the negative and positive hermeneutics of the utopian method (as seen in Jameson and Levitas) and then focus on the early stages of consciousness raising in a utopian process that does not abstractly declare hope but rather concretely educates and activates it (doing so through the examples of Freire's critical pedagogy and Alinsky's community organizing).

Pedagogy of an empty hand: What are the goods of education? What is teaching good for?

Taking inspiration from Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed, I propose to work through some of the features of “false generosity” that arise in education and specifically in moments of acute crisis. This inquiry, which begins with (and was sparked by) events following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, continues with a discussion of Philippe Falardeau's (2011) film Monsieur Lazhar, and concludes with a reflection on Jacques Derrida's ethic of hospitality (elegantly applied by Jen Gilbert in her thinking about sexuality in schools.) Derrida provides a supplement to Freire's notion of “true generosity” by offering a radical (if impossible) model of unconditional giving and welcome. Of primary concern throughout this essay is how a posture of sympathetic paternalism expressed through superficial and symbolic gestures may not only preempt the delicate and hard work of symbolizing loss, but also obstruct the possibility of a more genuine and humanizing solidarity (what Freire would call “true generosity” and what Derrida would call an ethics of “unconditional hospitality”). The goal of providing solid and soothing guidance in situations of uncertainty may seem laudable. But are there moments when the oath of “doing no harm” is in itself harmful? Can we forge new answers to the questions: What are the goods of education? What is teaching good for?

Educational change: a case for a 'pedagogy of compassion'

This paper sets out to advance the concept of an ‘epistemology of compassion’ first proposed by Vandeyar (2013; 2016). Utilising a single embedded case study and the theoretical mooring of post-conflict pedagogy this paper attempts to find links between Jansen’s perceptions of a post-conflict pedagogy and Freirean pedagogy and to argue a case for a ‘pedagogy of compassion’ as a possible approach to addressing and transforming education in post-apartheid South Africa. Data capture comprised a mix of semi-structured interviews, observations and field notes. Data was analysed by means of the content analysis method. Findings were threefold. First, the implementation of a ‘pedagogy of compassion’ enabled the teacher to dismantle polarised thinking and to shatter the polite silence of post-apartheid South African society. Second, teachers not only need to be able to raise the critical consciousness of learners but they need to adopt an ‘epistemology of compassion’ in order to enable learners to become active critical citizens, imbued with a sense of common humanity and compassion. And third, becoming an agent of transformative change may challenge the very premise of teachers’ identities and practices, but by empowering the learner to exert influence on her world, the teacher is in turn also changed and empowered. Â

On the limits of the human in the curriculum field

Humanism and the concept of the human that informs pedagogical discourse have been increasingly questioned by what has been called “post-human times.” In this paper, we situate Paulo Freire's (1970) Pedagogy of the Oppressed, and Nathan Snaza and John Weaver's (2014) Posthumanism and Educational Research within these debates. Both books raise ethical and political questions about the limits of the human. By going beyond a simple opposition between these works, our aim is to map connections and suspensions by which they are paradoxically connected. Our commitment is also related to how a debate on ethics is raised, featuring an interrogation of the human as a theoretical and political category. Between the two books, we bring up the issue of limits, margins, borders and boundaries, but also the instability, fluidity and vulnerability of the human and his/her relationship and dependence of living organisms, including non-human lives. The limits open up to explorations of literal, metaphoric and material relations, and also transmigrations and hybridizations between the human and the non-human. In this sense, we argue that it is necessary to question the centrality of the humanist conception of “man” in education, which Freire defended, but it is also relevant to question the centrality of modern Western cosmology in providing meanings about the human and non-human in curriculum studies.

Disability, Sexual Health, and Participatory Video: Advocating for Sexual Rights

This action research study addresses sexual health as a critical human rights issue in the disability community. Twelve participants engaged in the co-creation and editing of a series of videos about the dimensions of sexual rights as experienced and understood by persons with developmental disabilities. The participants also uploaded the videos onto digital platforms and took on the role of community educators while incorporating their videos into their larger advocacy campaign.This article begins with a brief review of the literature on sexual health and disability, noting there is a paucity of research that considers storied narratives when exploring the topic of sexual rights and disablement. Drawing on critical disability theory and Freirean pedagogy, the second section explores how a group of adults with developmental disabilities used participatory video as an advocacy tool in disrupting colonial voices through reclaiming histories and leading discussions about their sexual rights. Further implications and limitations to this study are also addressed.

Using cotton, needles and threads to break the women's silence: embroideries as a decolonising framework

Like many other countries in the world, South Africa is going through a process of transformation (with a high focus on gender transformation). After existing under an oppressive apartheid regime that rendered many people as second-class citizens for decades, most South Africans are seeking ways to move forward and make meaning of their newly found democracy. One of the ways in which meaning and balance is sought is through empowerment processes that have been put in place by the government and other non-governmental agencies. With this in the background, and borrowing from Paulo Freire's pedagogy of the oppressed and Yuval-Davis's notions of citizenship, this paper seeks to look at how empowerment is understood, put into action and possible challenges that accompany it. Drawing briefly from a research project I conducted, I shall highlight how visual methodologies such as embroideries can be used as narratives that break the silence and challenge the taken for granted. I will further highlight the importance of taking seriously the effects of history in the present, and the importance of engaging the communities with which we work in our quest for meaning-making and social justice.

A análise de redes sociais como ferramenta para o mapeamento de relações entre atores sociais de um projeto de extensão universitária

O objetivo deste artigo é apresentar o resultado de uma investigação, feita por meio da análise de redes sociais (ARS), a fim de compreender como as relações entre os sujeitos envolvidos direta e/ou indiretamente em um projeto de extensão universitária foram estabelecidas. O projeto de extensão, vinculado a uma universidade paranaense, utilizou a pedagogia freireana como forma de promover a construção coletiva do conhecimento, a partir da realização de rodas de conversa e oficinas de capacitação técnica. As atividades do projeto foram acompanhadas durante nove meses, e analisadas em duas etapas: a etapa inicial, referente à sua estruturação, e a etapa final, referente às relações estabelecidas entre os atores sociais - professores, estudantes e membros das comunidades. Por meio da ARS, foi possível identificar os atores principais, bem como as relações estabelecidas entre os mesmos. Percebeu-se ainda que o modelo de estruturação do projeto promoveu interações entre os atores, permitindo a disseminação da informação sobre Soberania e Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional.

Explorations of the structure-agency dialectic as a tool for framing equity in science education

Explorations of the structure-agency dialectic as a tool for framing equity in science education

Transparency and open data in the classroom: a pedagogical exercise to construct civic awareness about access to public digital data in Brazil

This paper presents the pedagogical experience of the open data administration course whose acronym in Portuguese is 'ATADA', at UNESP, Brazil. After some theoretical explanations about data transparency limitations in the day-to-day of the citizen, we present this experience based in Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of Autonomy. Brazilians seem not to have yet a clear perspective on this topic, or the necessary awareness to test the real existence of transparency and openness in their life. ATADA course was designed to introduce students in the field using participatory action research (PAR), creating research communities. In doing so, ATADA research communities reviewed 19 cases of Public Data into Brazilian e-government sites. The results of the two first versions of ATADA, developed in 2011 and 2012, are presented as well as two concepts produced to describe our findings regarding open access and data transparency: the 'minimum legal bureaucratic template' and 'data opacity'.

Paulo Freire e a produção de subjetividades democráticas: da recusa do dirigismo à promoção da autonomia

Em sua tese de 1959, Paulo Freire interpretou o Brasil a partir de uma "antinomia fundamental": à "emergência do povo na vida pública" não corresponderia uma adequada "disposição mental" para agir, pois essa população seria "inexperiente" em regimes democráticos. O objetivo deste texto é analisar a proposta pedagógica de Freire como uma saída para esse problema histórico nacional, apontando-o como a tentativa de produção de subjetividades democráticas, cidadãs. Para isso, centra-se a discussão em torno de dois conceitos, o de dirigismo e o de autonomia, e sugere-se uma interpretação de Freire em dois níveis hierarquizados: em um há uma relação horizontal de troca dialógica e em outro, englobante, há uma relação vertical de transformação dos "dispositivos mentais". Aponta-se, a partir de pesquisa documental sobre a "Experiência de Angicos", como a tensão entre esses dois níveis constituiu a principal dificuldade encontrada - a de produzir autonomia a partir de uma relação de autoridade.

Ecos de Angicos: temas freireanos e a pedagogia atual

O texto propõe-se a refletir sobre o legado de Paulo Freire e a sua contribuição para a educação contemporânea. São identificados quatro elementos da pedagogia freireana que são de especial relevância na pedagogia atual: a) a recriação e o cultivo do pensamento utópico; b) a radicalidade como base da ação ético-pedagógica; c) o diálogo como princípio metodológico; d) a libertação da pedagogia para uma nova rigorosidade. Os "ecos de Angicos" ajudam a articular diferentes posições, não temendo o trabalho nas fronteiras das áreas de conhecimento e as perspectivas epistemológicas; ao mesmo tempo, desafiam a ir às raízes e compreender as condições sociais nas quais as práticas educativas estão inseridas e onde são criadas as condições para a emergência dos "inéditos viáveis".

Theater of the Oppressed in an After-School Program: Middle School Students’ Perspectives on Bullying and Prevention

This article examines students' participation in Boalian Theater activities to role-play, rehearse, and develop strategies to use when bullied or witnessing bullying.IntroductionBullying is a form of aggression where there is systematic use and abuse of power (AERA, 2013). is now considered a prevalent and often neglected problem in schools both within and outside the United States (NEA, 2003). Bullying occurs in all grades across gender, race, ethnicity, and socio-economic status. This paper is relevant to middle school teachers and administrators as it examines the role of Theater of the Oppressed activities as a tool for engaging middle school students in talking about their experiences with bullying and rehearsing possible actions when being bullied or witnessing acts of bullying, with the goal of creating a more humane environment.Early adolescence is a time of rapid growth and change during which these 10- to 15-year-olds form their adult personalities, dispositions, values, and attitudes (NMSA, 2010). Adolescents need experiences that help increase self-efficacy and a positive ethnic identity. At the same time, they need experiences that help them to understand racial, ethnic, and/or sexual differences by engaging in perspective-taking and empathy.Many times, middle school students respond to racial, ethnic, and/or sexual differences in their peers by bullying. About 28 percent of 12- to 18-year-olds have reported being bullied at school during any school year (DeVoe 8c Bauer, 2011; Robers, Zhang, Truman, 8c Snyder, 2012). Bullying occurrs with greater frequency among middle schoolaged youth than high school-aged youth (Nansel et al., 2001). Research findings on bullying show that bullying is often aimed at specific groups. For example, students with disabilities (Rose & Espelage, 2012), African American youth (Turner, Finkelhor, Hamby, Shattuck, 8c Omrod, 2011), and LGBTQyouth (Espelage, Green, 8c Polanin 2012; Poteat 8c Rivers, 2010) are vulnerable groups to bullying, harassment, and victimization.Middle school students learn best in safe environments that are characterized by active student engagement; where students have opportunities to share, reflect, and imagine possibilities; and where their oral, written, and artistic voices are heard (NMSA, 2010). One such learning environment is created with the use of Boalian Theater.Augusto Boal's Theater of the Oppressed (TO) is grounded in the work of Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970) and is a safe aesthetic and a democratic space for young adolescents to come together to rehearse for reality and restore dialogue among human beings (Bhukhanwala, 2007; Boal, 2003, 2006; Cahnmann-Taylor 8c Souto-Manning, 2010; Harman 8c French, 2004). For Greene (1995), aesthetic spaces allow students and teachers to imagine. Imagination is a way of engaging in empathy and perspective-taking: It is becoming a friend of someone else's mind (p. 38). With this approach, theater is seen as a reflection of daily activities and serves the function of bringing a student community together for celebration, entertainment, and dialogue (Blanco, 2000), as well as for problem-posing and generating multiple possibilities. Jackson (1991) says, Victims of the under consideration are able to offer alternative solutions because they themselves are personally acquainted with oppression (p. xxiv).Bullying is an action that is repeated over time and involves an imbalance of power (Olweus, 1993). In more recent times, this definition has broadened to include varied forms of aggression such as verbal, physical, sexual, or digital media-based (for example, text messages, social media, and websites); or it may include being threatened, having things forcefully taken, or being socially excluded (Espelage, 2012; Vaillancourt et al., 2008).There are no simple explanations for bullying; rather, it is a complex phenomenon with many causal factors and consequences. …