Education and political action : a case study of a project

Bibliography: pages 105-107.Educational projects offering an alternative to the traditional, formal system are increasing in number. Many hold ideals of participative learning and the development of personal autonomy but are also committed to a particular political vision. The interest of this case-study lies in the consideration of how such educational values may interact with a call to support and act upon a set of beliefs. This tension between open-ended educational work and directed action is a central problem in Paulo Freire's pedagogy. Freire talks of consciousness-raising as the process by which people become aware of the political implications of their personal situations. He advocates experience-based learning but also has an analysis of society which 'conscious' people are to realize. Conscientization, in these terms, is caught between a desire to have people take responsibility for their own learning and to teach a specific view of society. The learning process thus comes into conflict with the curriculum content with priority necessarily being given to one over the other. Freireian concepts such as dialogue, praxis and transformation are central to many alternative educational projects although they are frequently ill-defined, containing contradictions and creating confusion. This may be reflected in their organizational structures as well as in their outreach work. This study considers the relationships between learning and action, individuality and unity and equality and expertise so as to articulate the difficulties faced by the project under discussion. The aim of this study is not to provide a set of solutions for the project to adopt but rather to define areas of concern so that the project itself is better able to determine its own direction. The means by which these areas are uncovered and shared with interested parties is therefore of central importance. Thus the limits and possibilities of participant-observation as an evaluative approach are explored with particular interest in the setting up of the contract, the definition of the problem and the communication of the insights gained back to the project stakeholders. The project selected for this case-study is 'End Racism and Sexism through Education' (E.R.A.S.E.), a small, Cape Town based initiative