The pedagogy of activism : learning to change the world

Much of the theorisation regarding radical adult education in Australia has concentrated on activists\u27 pedagogy in the context of critical learning. Learning in social action is largely seen as taking place informally; it is tacit and implied and not always identified or articulated as knowledge or learning. This paper argues how activists\u27 learning is embodied; the whole person is central to how meaning is made. A person\u27s learning is embedded in significant identity change as they \u27learn to be and become an activist\u27. Activists use their emotions, cognition and their physical body to make meaning. The symbolic use of the body is particularly important in the processes of direct action. Activists\u27 learning is mainly informal, social and situated in practice, and they learn from one another by socialisation in a community of practice. Central to the paper is there is much to be learned from the important pedagogy of these activists, I argue that learning in radical adult education should be more prominent in the current discourses of lifelong learning and adult education in general