What Is Popular Education? Concept And Practical Applications
The philosophy and work of the Brazilian Paulo Freire have left a very extensive mark both in pedagogy and in the social sciences because they have allowed the establishment of dialogues and reflections on the development of educational practice in different contexts, especially in Latin America.
Next We will describe in an introductory way one of the key concepts of his work: Popular Education
The antecedents of pedagogy can be traced back to the first stages of Western philosophical thought. However, school and education as institutions that aim to socialize the youngest is mainly based on the values of the modern era.
In Latin America, modern educational institutions and practices were consolidated at the end of the 19th century along with other economic and political systems that had many consequences, some of them conflictive and even painful for oppressed populations and groups.
From there, different strategies were proposed, among which were schools and public education. But their response was soon insufficient, so other alternatives were also developed in the field of social sciences, which To a large extent, they were driven by the thinking of the Brazilian pedagogue Paulo Freire
What is Popular Education?
Popular Education is a current of thought and action, that is, a theoretical and methodological orientation within the area of social sciences (although its strongest application has been in pedagogy and social and community work), which has been very important for the development of programs aimed at the “popular” sector.
The word “popular” arises from the opposition between “the popular” and “the official”, where “the popular” refers to a practice or thought that is opposite to the official one. For its part, “the official” is a practice or a thought that is accepted by a majority, although it has generally been imposed and not consensual.
In more practical terms, The concept of Popular Education has been useful to exercise resistance to the dominant models, not only educational but also political and social
In this sense, it is a practice that seeks to create more just and humane societies in defense of human rights, identities, gender, the environment, (among other phenomena that express social problems), trying to modify the role of actors who are little considered or who are normally considered passive in official models.
Where does it come from? Some background
Popular Education is nourished by cultural and community theories and is characterized by being a comprehensive proposal with political and ethical commitments. It is based on participation, dialogue and the recognition of different knowledge during educational practice, which is understood to not only occur within the school, but in different spaces.
It is developed from the philosophy and proposals of Paulo Freire, who had made a long journey through places in Latin America, whose main characteristic was political oppression.
Freire had been linked to different movements and participatory organizations and from there he became interested in systematizing some of his experiences. He had recognized the need to strengthen social actors, and to enhance environments of participation and changes in mentalities through cultural and social production.
Some of these organizational projects are, for example, the Recife Popular Culture Movement where Freire coordinated the Adult Reeducation project. Likewise, the Popular Education trend is influenced by different social and political phenomena that gave rise to the development of theories such as liberation theology, the theory of marginality or popular promotion, especially in the 60’s.
Education as a practice of freedom
The intention of Popular Education is to develop strategies to strengthen and preserve the community; more specifically the communication and political organization of historically oppressed popular sectors (understanding that these strategies should not be imposed, as had traditionally happened in Latin American territory).
In other words, understands pedagogy as a communicative action that has effects on the construction of the person and the collective
From there, Popular Education reflects on the role of the educator and allows us to go beyond the position of authority or conceiving him as the only bearer of valid knowledge; but understands the educator as a mediator in the educational space.
This allows us to consider the contradictions that educational practice itself generates in the educator, who constantly finds himself in the need to decide between being open to diversity or using the logic of imposition.
For this current, education is not a purely mechanical process, but rather it is a process that must take into account the subject of education, that is, its culture, its knowledge, its history, its expectations and its possibilities to project a future. In other words, try to recognize the other as a subject of knowledge, and not as a passive subject.
One of the problems that Popular Education currently faces is that it has frequently been equated with training, projects or programs developed by NGOs but which again leave social actors as passive. That’s why, It has been a project in constant construction and debate and has inspired numerous social movements not only in Latin America but around the world.
Related works
Other very popular works by Paulo Freire that are significantly related to Popular Education are the Pedagogy of Indignation, Pedagogy of Dialogue and Conflict, Politics and Education, Popular Culture, Popular Education, Cultural Action for Freedom and other writings; and perhaps the two most famous are Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Education as a Practice of Freedom.
