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This book displays the striking creativity and profound insight that characterized Freire's work to the very end of his life-an uplifting and provocative exploration not only for educators, but also for all that learn and live.
In Teaching toward Freedom, William Ayers illuminates the hope as well as the conflict that characterizes the craft of education: how it can be used in authoritarian ways at the service of the state, the church, or a restrictive existing social order-or, as he envisions it, as a way for students to become more fully human, more engaged, more participatory, more free. Using examples from his own classroom experiences as well as from popular culture, film, and novels, Ayers redraws the lines concerning how we teach, why we teach, and the surprising things we uncover when we allow students to become visible, vocal authors of their own lives and stories. This lucid and inspiring book will help teachers at every level to realize that ideal.
Cultural Writing. Education. Anarchism. Elizabeth Byrne Ferm (1857-1944) was principal of the Modern School at Stelton, a utopian-anarchist colony in New Jersey. Stating that "Education, free from outer interference, would flow as normally through human life as the sun, moon and stars move on their way and so fulfill their use and destiny," Ferm proposes an educative practice distinct from pedagogy, one where the task of the educator is to get out of the way of the self-directed child. If at first this book seems addressed only to young teachers or parents, consider the first sentence: "If human life had been left free to reveal itself, there would be no need to consider the question of education."
In this volume, we have chosen to highlight the importance of education to human rights by reprinting two articles written by Paulo Freire (1921-1997) in 1970 for the Harvard Educational Review. These articles contain many of Freire's original ideas on human rights and education--issues that are central to his work. Freire was a pioneer in promoting the universal right to education and literacy as part of a commitment to people's struggle against oppression. As Jerome Bruner recognized after Freire's death in May 1997, Freire left as a legacy his commitment to basic human rights: "He was a brave man as well as a far-sighted one. He made us aware of our mindless cruelties, and now the challenge to all of us is to do something about those cruelties." (e-mail communication to CREA Research Center, University of Barcelona, May 1997.) By Paulo Freire, with an introduction by Marta Soler-Gallart and Bárbara M. Brizuela
Although academic freedom in teaching and learning methods is crucial to a nation’s growth, the concept comes with numerous misnomers and is subjected to much academic debate and doubt. This volume maps out how truth and intellectual integrity remain the fundamental principle on which the foundation of a university should be laid.
Social Sciences Today: Between Theory and Practice is a collection of essays that will appeal to teachers and researchers of social sciences no matter the level of instruction. The essays deal with three main issues of social sciences in Europe and Asia nowadays: educational theory (education as a social phenomenon—active learning, continuous training, cultivation of creativity in schoolchildren, design and implementation of educational subsystems, environmental education, environmental awareness, management strategies for homework, reform of the social protection system, and youth education); theory and methodology of the curriculum and of education—educational class, e-learning implementation; philosophy, psychology and sociology of education—counselling, education, educational principles, emotionality, focus, freedom, human needs, ideal, plagiarism, psycho-moral profile, research design, self-confidence, sociability, and values); society in the context of globalisation (foreign language knowledge, the information age, the interaction between culture and translation, and peace education); and identity, alterity and multiculturalism (cultural encounter, education, ethnic animosity, habitus, language, racism, and the village).
Seeds of Freedom is a remarkable case study of liberating education in the remote Guatemalan Maya indigenous village of Santa Maria Tzeja in the four decades since it was first settled in 1970. Clark Taylor's account begins at a time in which the majority of the village consisted of illiterate landless and land-poor peasant farmers working in conditions close to slavery. With the help of a Catholic priest, the village's founding pioneers were granted land, settled the village, established a school for their children, and began to prosper. By 2010 the village's emerging professionals were filling increasingly important social change roles at the local, regional, and national levels and nearly all children are educated with many to a university level. As such Santa Maria has come to exemplify the theory and practice of liberating education. The book tells the history of this remarkable community and reveals the transformative potential of the radical pedagogy of Paulo Freire and others. Santa Maria has thus become an example of dynamic liberating education, and its history has much to offer educators, students and solidarity activists throughout the world.
Reclaiming Freedom in Education examines the notion of ‘freedom’ within educational settings. Following an investigation of the new ‘Free Schools’ in the UK, it argues that this name is a misnomer, and instead explores the original free schools of the 1960s and 1970s, using these models as a lens through which to explore contemporary examples of radical schooling, notably those which describe themselves as democratic and/or progressive. By arguing that in radical educational contexts both ‘positive freedom’ and ‘negative freedom’ are apparent, and that the notion that ‘responsible freedom’ is more pertinent than that of ‘absolute freedom’, this book posits that freedom can be seen to operate in a number of ways including ‘freedom to be’, ‘freedom to think’, ‘freedom to choose’ and ‘freedom to self-govern’. The book: Describes how freedom can be used to inform educational structures, policies, pedagogies and practices across a range of settings Features illustrative case studies of radical free schools and alternative education spaces which have been underpinned by a commitment to freedom and to advancing social justice Critiques the current policy agenda to use ‘freedom’ to make education more competitive through claims that it correlates with higher test scores and academic success Considers some of the challenges for teachers, educators and students of offering and experiencing freedom in education, and argues that despite these, the case for advancing freedom is both urgent and compelling Creating discussions about the new meaning and role that ‘freedom’ can have in improving education, Reclaiming Freedom in Education is a practical contribution to educational activism, which will be a key point of reference for teachers, parents, researchers and students on undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Education Studies, Early Childhood Studies and doctorates.
In Teaching to Transgress, bell hooks-writer, teacher, and insurgent black intellectual-writes about a new kind of education, education as the practice of freedom. Teaching students to "transgress" against racial, sexual, and class boundaries in order to achieve the gift of freedom is, for hooks, the teacher's most important goal. bell hooks speaks to the heart of education today: how can we rethink teaching practices in the age of multiculturalism? What do we do about teachers who do not want to teach, and students who do not want to learn? How should we deal with racism and sexism in the classroom? Full of passion and politics, Teaching to Transgress combines a practical knowledge of the classroom with a deeply felt connection to the world of emotions and feelings. This is the rare book about teachers and students that dares to raise critical questions about eras and rage, grief and reconciliation, and the future of teaching itself. "To educate as the practice of freedom", writes bell hooks, "is a way of teaching that anyone can learn." Teaching to Transgress is the record of one gifted teacher's struggle to make classrooms work.
