"This is one of those readings," I said to Kirsten the other day as she sat under the very maple that I described in an earlier post, "that plays with your mind. It's thick — it's good but it's thick — it's changing everything for me".
Kirsten knew exactly what I was talking about. It was delightful, but no great surprise, that the rich journey I was undertaking through great mental effort in my graduate school readings had been an inspiring text to her as well. She had, of course, read the same text for leisure back in undergrad, had known about it all along and had integrated it into her own professional practice. I will resist the temptation to try to describe being in love with a person that I admire so deeply, partly because I don't suspect that I could.
But that was the moment that we began the dialogue of the dialogue, the discussion of the implications of the work of Paulo Freire and his seminal Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
Pedagogy of the Oppressed is thick and challenging for a reason, and as such it defies straight-forward explanation. Instead, here's a little re-tooling of my thinking with an eye on Freire's ideas.
I have always felt that it would be a mistake to try to promote a Western curriculum in Zambia — indeed, the people of Kibombomene don't want that — the education must be Zambian and run by Zambians if it is to be effective.
But one of our challenges is that the Zambian system itself is mired in Western inspiration (heavy English usage, content with little local context) which does not always translate into easy implementation into rural areas, like Kibo.
But to encourage the people, or the government, to de-Westernize their own work and develop their own truly Zambian curriculum is still tantamount to the Westerner stepping in and declaring "I Know The Right Way!" — the very idea has at its root an implicit hegemony.
So what, then, is my role?
Freire's work suggests that all of these ideas are the wrong focus. All of these ideas are rooted in the notion that I could stroll into town with some model or another that is going to be the "solution", if only it's implemented. And that will never work. Neither will doing nothing.
The solution lies in dialogue. Yes, I understand Western education systems well and yes, I believe based upon my research that the more Zambians direct their own education, the better off the school experience will be, and I know how to implement technology in education to great effect. Those are my experiences and my biases. And the people of Kibo have their own experiences and biases, and it will be of no service to guess or prejudge what these are until I can dialogue with them directly (Freire also insists, helpfully, that no person can truly speak on behalf of another). Together we will dialogue, not making an argument or promoting a world-view or striving for a "goal" or "solution", but rather for the sake of the human fulfillment that comes from dialogue. And if Freire is right, and we share true words rooted in both reflection and action, we will create; the school will come of it.
This isn't about dialectic. This isn't about a resolution of tensions. Intersection of differing world-views need not be tense, and there is no expectation of static resolution. But a dynamic school and curriculum and community can grow out of the dialogue.
It is important to understand that Freire wasn't just a theorist; his ideas were put into practice effectively in Brazil in the 1970s. I need to know more. Kirsten, my graduate program and my own research are facilitating this.
So after all, I don't need to have the "right" model or the right idea — that should never be my role. All I can do is know my ideas and models the best that I can, and bring them to the dialogue, and others will bring their ideas and models, and development will occur as it will. This essential idea of capacity development drives fundraisers and sponsors nuts because it defies all possibilities of establishing clear goals, timelines and methods of assessment; but even that tension doesn't need to be either-or if those values are also respected in the dialogue.
This project never was about me; but reading Freire shows me how the self-importance of saying "it's not about me" as an inflexible self-righteous philosophy still focusses the attention back to me; he shows me how to make sure that it's not about me. It's about the people of SWSC and the people of Kibombomene exploring "school" in a reflection/action based dialogue that is mediated by the world and realities that touch us.
And I'll tell you what that looks like when I get there. That is, in the final analysis, the only fair and true thing that I can do.
Comments are most welcome on this. I could use every idea and feeling that I can get my hands on right now.
Kirsten knew exactly what I was talking about. It was delightful, but no great surprise, that the rich journey I was undertaking through great mental effort in my graduate school readings had been an inspiring text to her as well. She had, of course, read the same text for leisure back in undergrad, had known about it all along and had integrated it into her own professional practice. I will resist the temptation to try to describe being in love with a person that I admire so deeply, partly because I don't suspect that I could.
But that was the moment that we began the dialogue of the dialogue, the discussion of the implications of the work of Paulo Freire and his seminal Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
Pedagogy of the Oppressed is thick and challenging for a reason, and as such it defies straight-forward explanation. Instead, here's a little re-tooling of my thinking with an eye on Freire's ideas.
I have always felt that it would be a mistake to try to promote a Western curriculum in Zambia — indeed, the people of Kibombomene don't want that — the education must be Zambian and run by Zambians if it is to be effective.
But one of our challenges is that the Zambian system itself is mired in Western inspiration (heavy English usage, content with little local context) which does not always translate into easy implementation into rural areas, like Kibo.
But to encourage the people, or the government, to de-Westernize their own work and develop their own truly Zambian curriculum is still tantamount to the Westerner stepping in and declaring "I Know The Right Way!" — the very idea has at its root an implicit hegemony.
So what, then, is my role?
Freire's work suggests that all of these ideas are the wrong focus. All of these ideas are rooted in the notion that I could stroll into town with some model or another that is going to be the "solution", if only it's implemented. And that will never work. Neither will doing nothing.
The solution lies in dialogue. Yes, I understand Western education systems well and yes, I believe based upon my research that the more Zambians direct their own education, the better off the school experience will be, and I know how to implement technology in education to great effect. Those are my experiences and my biases. And the people of Kibo have their own experiences and biases, and it will be of no service to guess or prejudge what these are until I can dialogue with them directly (Freire also insists, helpfully, that no person can truly speak on behalf of another). Together we will dialogue, not making an argument or promoting a world-view or striving for a "goal" or "solution", but rather for the sake of the human fulfillment that comes from dialogue. And if Freire is right, and we share true words rooted in both reflection and action, we will create; the school will come of it.
This isn't about dialectic. This isn't about a resolution of tensions. Intersection of differing world-views need not be tense, and there is no expectation of static resolution. But a dynamic school and curriculum and community can grow out of the dialogue.
It is important to understand that Freire wasn't just a theorist; his ideas were put into practice effectively in Brazil in the 1970s. I need to know more. Kirsten, my graduate program and my own research are facilitating this.
So after all, I don't need to have the "right" model or the right idea — that should never be my role. All I can do is know my ideas and models the best that I can, and bring them to the dialogue, and others will bring their ideas and models, and development will occur as it will. This essential idea of capacity development drives fundraisers and sponsors nuts because it defies all possibilities of establishing clear goals, timelines and methods of assessment; but even that tension doesn't need to be either-or if those values are also respected in the dialogue.
This project never was about me; but reading Freire shows me how the self-importance of saying "it's not about me" as an inflexible self-righteous philosophy still focusses the attention back to me; he shows me how to make sure that it's not about me. It's about the people of SWSC and the people of Kibombomene exploring "school" in a reflection/action based dialogue that is mediated by the world and realities that touch us.
And I'll tell you what that looks like when I get there. That is, in the final analysis, the only fair and true thing that I can do.
Comments are most welcome on this. I could use every idea and feeling that I can get my hands on right now.
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