THE POWER OF BIOGRAPHY: SHIFTING THE BOUNDARIES OF KNOWLEDGE THROUGH EMANCIPATORY PEDAGOGY AND CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS

In this paper1 I describe the application of the experiential and emancipatory strategies of Gramsci(1971, 1977, 1988), Freire (1970, 1972, 1973) and Giroux (1983, 1994, 1997) in an attempt toshift the boundaries of knowledge and to develop critical consciousness among students using theauthor’s work with international students as an example. Sewpaul (2004a; 2004b) describedcreative teaching/learning strategies and the use of discourse ethics in the development ofcitizenship education with local students. The main argument in this paper is that critical reflectionon one’s social and political realities and the capacity to develop action strategies consequent uponthese reflections constitute central elements in shifting the boundaries of knowledge. Both localand international student populations need to be viewed as “client” groups insofar as we recognisethat they enter the classroom and the field-training context with varying degrees of disadvantage.One of these disadvantages is the control of consciousness by means of state machinery andideology (Gramsci, 1977) in an attempt to maintain capitalist and ruling-class hegemony, which isa feature of both Western and non-Western societies