Process
While in the preliminary program you received we are referred to as
"lecturers," we feel more comfortable introducing ourselves as "facilitators."
The difference, for us, entails more than mere semantics. Our approach
to education was influenced by Paolo Freire’s pedagogy
of liberation and the ways it can be applied to various social justice
and political struggles. A pedagogy of liberation entails a radical transformation
of the traditional relationship between a teacher and a student or a lecturer
and a participant, which is structured around very clear power inequalities.
Rather than viewing ourselves as experts , whose role is to transmit information
to you, we envision a process that is more egalitarian. We see ourselves
as part of a learning community, which we will create together during the
first week. This community will provide a nurturing environment in which
we all can learn and teach simultaneously. As facilitators, we will take
responsibility for facilitating the process and for sharing both experience
and knowledge. However, instead of using the format of a traditional lecture,
we envision a process that is highly experiential and interactive, involving
work in small groups, role-playing, workshops and large-group discussions.
To ensure that the first week of the course meets your expectations, we
will be asking for your input and feedback throughout the week.
Content
In addition to building a learning community, the goals of the first
week, as we see them at the moment are to create a conceptual basis for
the entire course and help you clarify your own goals and expectations
from the course. We plan to pay particular attention to such issues as
conflicts, their effects and transformation, grassroots activism in a global
context and questions of identity and difference, particularly when involving
structured power inequalities. At the same time, we would like to create
a program that will provide you with both the knowledge and the skills
to be more effective in your work. Towards this end, we will encourage
you to raise any issue or problem that you or your organization are dealing
with.