Klaus Mollenhauer: Emancipation, Bildung and six questions for education

Klaus Mollenhauer (1928–1998) is one of the most important German theorists of education in the postwar era. Mollenhauer is often remembered in Germany today for his first book titled Education and Emancipation: Polemical Sketches, but he received international renown for his final monograph, Forgotten Connections: On Culture and Upbringing. Although Mollenhauer characterized Forgotten Connections as actually working to move towards a more “substantial conception of emancipation,” many of his followers and colleagues such as Kaufmann et al. saw it as nothing less than an act of “infidelity to those who had taken on his emancipatory pedagogy” ( Kaufmann et al., 1991 : 86). In the light of these differences in emphasis and interpretation, this paper provides an overview of Forgotten Connections that (following Wivestad and Saevi) sees it as presenting six main questions and themes—ranging from “Why do we have children” to “How can we respect and draw out a child’s inherent character?” However, in doing so, this paper simultaneously traces Mollenhauer’s own efforts to develop a more substantial concept of personal and political emancipation in this text.

Theoretical and research achievements of critical pedagogy in Poland

The aim of the article is to present the achievements and the current state of critical pedagogy in Poland, its sources of inspiration and theoretical analyses, and educational practices. The name "critical pedagogy" is adopted as a general name for complementary and synergistic pedagogical theories, research practices, and practical actions, which are concerned with mechanisms of liberation from experienced and understood oppression to responsible and courageous participation in social life. The text introduces the issues of the problem areas of "detailed" critical pedagogies, whose common goal is to discover and change those places and practices where are created conditions for experiences of recognition, freedom, and justice. These are an emancipatory pedagogy, a critical pedagogy of resistance, a critical gender pedagogy, and a pedagogy of recognition. In the text are also descriptions of practices in the critical research paradigm that underpins and framed scientific dissertations and educational activities. In the text are also descriptions of practices in the critical research paradigm that underpins and framed scientific dissertations and educational activities.

Pedagogias emancipadoras e novos sentidos de comunidade na América Latina

Este trabalho apresenta uma reflexão a respeito dos discursos, das práticas e dos atores educacionais alternativos, tanto históricos quanto emergentes, identificando algumas características comuns e referentes discursivos convergentes que anunciam e expressam a emergência de novos imaginários e paradigmas de transformação social.Palavras-chave: Pedagogia emancipadora; Comunidade; Alternativas pedagógicas; América Latina. ABSTRACT: This paper presents a reflection on alternative, historical, and emerging educational discourses, practices and actors. The author identifies some common features and convergent discursive referents that announce and express the emergence of new imaginaries and social transformation paradigms.Keywords: Emancipatory pedagogy; Community; Pedagogical alternatives; Latin America.

Engaging in Popular Communal Imagination and the Holy Week Culture in Malta: Emancipatory Thinking and the Holy Land/Jerusalem Narrative

This paper derives its impetus from a project of community learning centring on a Holy Land narrative that captures the imagination in many parts of Southern Europe, including the community and country in question. The focus is the series of activities surrounding Holy Week in the Roman Catholic calendar and the country in question is Malta. This article sheds light on the politics of the event or, more accurately, the relationship of Holy Week and politics primarily in Malta but also in several parts of Southern Europe, most notably Spain, well known for its Semana Santa activities. Reference will be made to Malta, Italy, Egypt and Spain in pursuit of an emancipatory reading of the Jerusalem/Palestine narrative, drawing inspiration from Liberation Theology, Postcolonial theory and Emancipatory Pedagogy.

Preparing Critical Educators and Community-Engaged Scholars Through Participatory Action Research

Participatory action research (PAR) is a community-based form of inquiry conducted with individuals affected by an issue or problem being studied rather than about them. Rather than a method of inquiry, PAR is an epistemological stance towards knowledge and knowledge creation that is rooted in critical, emancipatory pedagogy. Because it is an orientation, rather than a discrete method, PAR is difficult to teach. Here the authors explore the experiences of both undergraduate pre-service teachers and doctoral students as they seek to reconcile PAR principles and practice with their personal and professional backgrounds. The purpose is not to present the best approach for teaching PAR in the university classroom; rather, it is a reflective exploration of the experiences of the authors' participants, which reveals rich insights into what it feels like to become researchers within the ‘culture' of formal higher education in the United States.

Technology of Story: Documenting Culturally Sustaining Anti-Racist Teaching

Our education system, an extension of our society, has created a monster of historical sociocultural and linguistic inequities, traumas, structural racism, and oppressions. Culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy honor students’ funds of knowledge as their authentic power and voice. The oral family stories became vehicles to navigate and facilitate educational partnerships in becoming more culturally responsive for these teacher candidates. Oral stories, as documents, became the content within the context of the writing workshop process. These documented stories became the technological bridge that supported students’ home experiences with academic language and content to meet curricular goals. During the writing process, storytelling coaches validated their mentees’ voices, experiences, and identities. For coaches, the stories were the beginning of seeing students differently; challenging their own biases and recognizing embedded structural oppression and racial inequality. These stories provided opportunities for building trusting and meaningful relationships more representative of humanistic and emancipatory pedagogy.