"If citizenship education is to be emancipatory, it must begin with the assumption that its major aim is not "to fit" students into the existing society; instead its primary purpose must be to stimulate their passions, imaginations, and intellects so that they will be moved to challenge the social, political, and economic forces that weigh so heavily upon their lives . . . At its core, this form of education is political, and its goal is a genuine democratic society, one that is responsive to the needs of all and not just of a privileged few " - Henry Giroux (Quoted in Seed of Freedom, p. 180)
"Education has fundamental connections with the idea of human emancipation, though it is constantly in danger of being captured for other interests. In a society disfigured by class exploitation, sexual and racial oppression, and in chronic danger of war and environmental destruction, the only education worth the name is one that forms people capable of taking part in their own liberation" - R.W. Connell (Quoted in Seeds of Freedom, p. 19)
Many years ago, I worked for a small human rights organization in Guatemala called the Network in Solidarity with Guatemala (NISGUA). I was a human rights accompanier and lived and worked in a small community of returned refugees called Ixtahuacan Chiquito in the Ixcan Jungle very close to the boarder with Mexico. While working with NISGUA I had the opportunity to visit many other returned refuge communities to attend gatherings of Mama Maquin, a Women's Organization started in the refugee camps in Mexico that continued their work upon return to Guatemala. One such village was Santa Maria Tzeja which has had a long term relationship with a Church in Needam, Massachusettes and has been very active in supporting educational development in its community, the region and country as a whole. Clark Taylor first visited Santa Maria Tzeja in 1985 and was one of the founding member of the community partnership. His first book, The Return of Guatemala's Refuges: Reweaving the Torn was practically required reading for our organization. When I saw that he had written a new book, I was curious to read it. When I learned its focus was on education, I was excited.
The book is called Seeds of Freedom: Liberating Education in Guatemala. I picked it up thinking I would enjoy reading about communities I once new well and some people I had met or worked with before. It certainly did bring back a flood of memories and a longing to visit again. However, I did not expect to connect with the book on such a profound level as an educator. He traces the history of the village from its first settlement in 1970, the building of the community, the massacre and ensuing repression in the village during the war, the flight of many to Mexico that lead to so many years in refugee camps, their return in 1994, and the development of the village since. He tells the story through the lens of the communities commitment to education as a liberating force for them, their children, the Maya, the poor, the oppressed, their region, and their country.
He places the community's history and experience within the context of Liberation Theology and Liberating Education. Liberation Theology is an important social justice movement within the Catholic Church in Latin America that was especially influential in the sixties and seventies. It "understood religion as an instrument of transformation, as a way through which the poorest could recover their dignity and improve the conditions of their lives" (Taylor, p.69) Liberating Education is the pedagogy outlined by Paolo Friere in Pedagogy of the Oppressed and other work and by many other scholars, educators, and activist. It is motivated by the belief that education is a practice of freedom. In this model, teachers are empowering allies of students and co-learners with students. It is a joint political project in which "An important teaching goal . . . is both to affirm the natural curiosity of students and to extend it with probing questions into an increasingly critical consciousness of the world in which they live." (Taylor, p. 24). It is an education which seeks cultural diversity and inclusion, empowers students to demand their human rights, poses problems and challenges the students to act and reflect, surfaces internalized oppression, expects joy in learning, respects student knowledge while inspiring them to consider the convictions of others, and believes that the struggle for freedom is worth it.
In Guatemala, and many other places in the world, this approach to teaching and learning is and has been a challenge to the power structure and has had significant consequences for those that have practiced and supported this work. In this inspiring work, Taylor tells the story of the community and their commitment to liberating education through the lens of several students who survived the massacre, went to school in the refugee camps, and then continued their studies upon their return to Guatemala. This village of about 1,300 people in very rural Guatemala now boasts an elementary school, middle school, and is planning for a high school. In a country where many, especially in the countryside, barely have an elementary or middle school education, in 2010, more than 250 students had graduated high school and 72, half of them women, had completed at least some university. These well educated, politically empowered, social justice minded individuals are beginning to take leadership roles within the region and the country and will take steps to chart the future of their homeland. It is a very promising and hopeful step for Guatemala and the world.
It is a remarkable book which is inspiring to me as a human being and an educator. To see how committed the members of this community were and continue to be to this empowering form of education when it has been not just difficult but also dangerous, challenges me to be a better educator for the students with whom I am about to work as the new year begins. It reminds me that what I do with them must be relevant and empowering for them and for the world because my liberation is bound up with theirs (Taylor, p. 186). There is not a moment to loose.
"Education has fundamental connections with the idea of human emancipation, though it is constantly in danger of being captured for other interests. In a society disfigured by class exploitation, sexual and racial oppression, and in chronic danger of war and environmental destruction, the only education worth the name is one that forms people capable of taking part in their own liberation" - R.W. Connell (Quoted in Seeds of Freedom, p. 19)
Many years ago, I worked for a small human rights organization in Guatemala called the Network in Solidarity with Guatemala (NISGUA). I was a human rights accompanier and lived and worked in a small community of returned refugees called Ixtahuacan Chiquito in the Ixcan Jungle very close to the boarder with Mexico. While working with NISGUA I had the opportunity to visit many other returned refuge communities to attend gatherings of Mama Maquin, a Women's Organization started in the refugee camps in Mexico that continued their work upon return to Guatemala. One such village was Santa Maria Tzeja which has had a long term relationship with a Church in Needam, Massachusettes and has been very active in supporting educational development in its community, the region and country as a whole. Clark Taylor first visited Santa Maria Tzeja in 1985 and was one of the founding member of the community partnership. His first book, The Return of Guatemala's Refuges: Reweaving the Torn was practically required reading for our organization. When I saw that he had written a new book, I was curious to read it. When I learned its focus was on education, I was excited.
The book is called Seeds of Freedom: Liberating Education in Guatemala. I picked it up thinking I would enjoy reading about communities I once new well and some people I had met or worked with before. It certainly did bring back a flood of memories and a longing to visit again. However, I did not expect to connect with the book on such a profound level as an educator. He traces the history of the village from its first settlement in 1970, the building of the community, the massacre and ensuing repression in the village during the war, the flight of many to Mexico that lead to so many years in refugee camps, their return in 1994, and the development of the village since. He tells the story through the lens of the communities commitment to education as a liberating force for them, their children, the Maya, the poor, the oppressed, their region, and their country.
He places the community's history and experience within the context of Liberation Theology and Liberating Education. Liberation Theology is an important social justice movement within the Catholic Church in Latin America that was especially influential in the sixties and seventies. It "understood religion as an instrument of transformation, as a way through which the poorest could recover their dignity and improve the conditions of their lives" (Taylor, p.69) Liberating Education is the pedagogy outlined by Paolo Friere in Pedagogy of the Oppressed and other work and by many other scholars, educators, and activist. It is motivated by the belief that education is a practice of freedom. In this model, teachers are empowering allies of students and co-learners with students. It is a joint political project in which "An important teaching goal . . . is both to affirm the natural curiosity of students and to extend it with probing questions into an increasingly critical consciousness of the world in which they live." (Taylor, p. 24). It is an education which seeks cultural diversity and inclusion, empowers students to demand their human rights, poses problems and challenges the students to act and reflect, surfaces internalized oppression, expects joy in learning, respects student knowledge while inspiring them to consider the convictions of others, and believes that the struggle for freedom is worth it.
In Guatemala, and many other places in the world, this approach to teaching and learning is and has been a challenge to the power structure and has had significant consequences for those that have practiced and supported this work. In this inspiring work, Taylor tells the story of the community and their commitment to liberating education through the lens of several students who survived the massacre, went to school in the refugee camps, and then continued their studies upon their return to Guatemala. This village of about 1,300 people in very rural Guatemala now boasts an elementary school, middle school, and is planning for a high school. In a country where many, especially in the countryside, barely have an elementary or middle school education, in 2010, more than 250 students had graduated high school and 72, half of them women, had completed at least some university. These well educated, politically empowered, social justice minded individuals are beginning to take leadership roles within the region and the country and will take steps to chart the future of their homeland. It is a very promising and hopeful step for Guatemala and the world.
It is a remarkable book which is inspiring to me as a human being and an educator. To see how committed the members of this community were and continue to be to this empowering form of education when it has been not just difficult but also dangerous, challenges me to be a better educator for the students with whom I am about to work as the new year begins. It reminds me that what I do with them must be relevant and empowering for them and for the world because my liberation is bound up with theirs (Taylor, p. 186). There is not a moment to loose.