Literacy and the pedagogy of liberation: Nicaragua in the Latin American context, 1979-1989.
Date
1990
Authors
Guajardo, Luis.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Dalhousie University
Abstract
Description
While there has been recently an increased awareness regarding the problem of illiteracy within industrialized nations, this problem is incomparably more serious in developing countries. Illiteracy is also more clearly seen in these countries as a result of external and internal structures of dependency and oppression. Internationally, most of the illiterate are found in the dependent countries and, in these poorer societies, they are also the ones who suffer most from the unjust and oppressive social structures to which illiteracy is related.
In Latin America, the response to dependency and oppression has resulted in a growing movement towards liberation which is clearly reflected in the current socio-political struggles as well as in the development of discourses and practices which seek the realization of such a liberation. Within these practices, Paulo Freire's proposal for an education for liberation has become the most influential paradigm underlying the new approaches to literacy and popular education. In this context, Nicaragua's revolutionary experience is seen as one of the most dramatic attempts towards liberation and the implementation of these new approaches to literacy and adult education.
Exploring the socio-historical roots of dependency and oppression in Latin America, this study offers a critical analysis of liberation pedagogy and its concrete application in Nicaragua. A major conclusion of the thesis is that while liberation pedagogy is indeed a genuine and innovative educational response to the problem of illiteracy and oppression, its contribution to radical social transformation is more limited and complex than the theory assumes. The case of Nicaragua, with its achievements and shortcomings, is presented as a clear illustration of this phenomenon.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Dalhousie University (Canada), 1990.
In Latin America, the response to dependency and oppression has resulted in a growing movement towards liberation which is clearly reflected in the current socio-political struggles as well as in the development of discourses and practices which seek the realization of such a liberation. Within these practices, Paulo Freire's proposal for an education for liberation has become the most influential paradigm underlying the new approaches to literacy and popular education. In this context, Nicaragua's revolutionary experience is seen as one of the most dramatic attempts towards liberation and the implementation of these new approaches to literacy and adult education.
Exploring the socio-historical roots of dependency and oppression in Latin America, this study offers a critical analysis of liberation pedagogy and its concrete application in Nicaragua. A major conclusion of the thesis is that while liberation pedagogy is indeed a genuine and innovative educational response to the problem of illiteracy and oppression, its contribution to radical social transformation is more limited and complex than the theory assumes. The case of Nicaragua, with its achievements and shortcomings, is presented as a clear illustration of this phenomenon.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Dalhousie University (Canada), 1990.
Keywords
Education, Adult and Continuing., Political Science, General., Education, Philosophy of.