Freire
The work of the Brazilian educator Paulo Freire was very influential in the development of Reflect, his thoughts and vision help us to clarify many complicated questions related to life, learning and liberation. In the 1950s Freire lived and worked in the slum areas of Recife focusing on adult literacy, while recognising that "illiteracy is just one of the concrete expressions of an unjust social reality". He developed a new approach to literacy, which linked "learning to read the word with learning to read the world". The central premise of Freire’s theory is that no education is neutral – it can be used for domination/domestication or liberation. Fundamental to Freire’s educational philosophy is the notion of collective action and continuing struggle on the part of the oppressed to liberate themselves from all forms of domination. The oppressed are active subjects in their own struggle.
Condemning the ‘banking’ concept of education (where the learner is seen as a passive empty deposit into which knowledge and literacy can be invested) Freire sought to provide the analytical framework and skills for people to define, challenge, change and make their own development depending on their specific cultural and historical context. He believed that most non-literate people lived in a “culture of silence, [Where] thinking is difficult. Speaking is forbidden.” (Freire 1972). ‘Conscientization’ (the process of learning to perceive social, political and economic contradictions – and of taking action against the oppressive elements of reality) was needed so that the learners would “perceive the reality of oppression, not as a closed world from which there is no exit, but as a limiting situation which they can transform” (Freire 1972).
Conscientization uses “codifications” (pictures or photographs, which capture essential problems or contradictions in the lives of the learners). These allow learners to reflect, first of all describing the images and then “problematising” them - analysing their deep structure, until they come face to face with their own lives. “Decodification” involves “dialogue” (a discussion where people in a trusting environment face a new understanding and awareness) which was seen by Freire as fundamental. He had a vision of a liberated humanity, hence his theory embodies a language of hope and possibility for the potential empowerment of the oppressed.
Limits and distortions of Freire: There are various criticisms of Freire. Some people focus on the limitations of his writings (for example his failure to address gender issues in his earlier work, or that at times he appears to respect non-literate people and regard them as knowledgeable, while at others he portrays them as powerless and ignorant, submerged in a “culture of silence” and suffering from a “fatalistic consciousness”). Others highlight the fact that while many groups claim to work with his methods most in use primers (with bland phrases replaced by more socially-based words) and many struggle with the idea of dialogue.
Reflect builds on the theoretical Framework of Freire – attempting to overcome the limits of Freire through: working with participatory methodology; encompassing a broader conception of literacy as one of many communication practices; and focusing more explicitly on power analysis.
See also: articles in Education Action 8, PLA Notes and the theory section of the mother manual.