Research Topic (Assign. 3) - Social Justice

Social Justice (Optional Topic)

"Gramsci, Freire, and Adult Education: Possibilities for Transformative Action"

By Peter Mayo

What should the goal of adult education be and how should it be achieved? These questions are at the center of Mayo's book, as he attempts to come up with a theory of "transformative adult education," starting with the work of Gramsci and Freire and including recent work of adult educators.

Gramsci and Freire might be considered Neo-Marxists by some. Each "intellectual/activist" believes that there exists oppressors and oppressed in the world. We all find ourselves somewhere in this spectrum of oppression. Taking this to be the case, each writer (and Mayo as well) believes that something must be done to change the status of the oppressed.

Gramsci wrote in the early 20th century - mostly working in Italy. While Freire worked in the second half of the century mainly in South America and passed away about 10 years ago. Each writer discusses what it means to be an "intellectual" and how there are different types of intellectuals. Gramsci believes there is such a thing as an "organic" intellectual, who belongs to a certain class and works to empower (in the case of the oppressed class) or keep the power (in the case of the oppressor class) of his or her class. Freire builds on this theory, writing that social movements must be lead by the oppressed themselves.

Education plays a role in each intellectual's vision of social movement. For Gramsci, education is critical to bringing workers into the communist/socialist cause. For Freire, education is perhaps even more critical to his vision. He believes that people must be taught to read and write within their particular historical context and that they should be given the tools to discover their own history. Instead of a banking model of education in which workers might be given communism (as a banker deposits money in a bank), Freire encourages teachers to give their students the tools and ability to achieve their own path (in the classroom and outside of it).

This is by no means a all-encompassing synopsis, but I hope it provides some idea of what this book is about. I believe each author is worth taking a look at - whether in this book or in others. "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" by Paolo Freire was particularly illuminating.

Each author believes in something called the praxis - or the point where thought and action meet. In other words, philosophy must be both thought and action. Learning/Education must include both thought and action. This could translate to active learners in the classroom (as opposed to teachers depositing information into students). This book is about adult education, but it may have implications for us as well. Freire's ideas have apparently been coopted by mainstream American education - though much of the social movement, oppressor/oppressed discussion is mostly left out. In my own classroom, however, I have noticed a need to focus on building blocks. My students seem to need these building blocks (reading, writing, map skills) before they might be ready to firmly tackle oppressor/oppressed issues. Freire and Grasmsci would probably say I was serving my middle class interests by not bringing in some discussion of the dichotomy, however. Mayo and the intellectuals he writes about all seem to believe that education is inherently political - regardless of which decisions we make.

On a somewhat separate note, I watched "Half Nelson" recently. It's about a white inner-city teacher who's dealing with a bad crack habit, but has a very interesting way of teaching history. He calls it "opposites" - the idea that opposites cause change in history. Marx thought that the lower class would eventually overthrow the upper class to seize hegemony and create one class of workers - which would signify the end of history. Of course this has not happened - but there are other opposites (in civil rights: some believe that all men are created equal - opposite believes that they are not - one side wins out...to a certain extent). :) History keeps going...