26-16
PAULO FREIRE’S METHOD OF CONSCIENTIZATION
Awareness raising—or conscientization, as Freire calls the development of
critical awareness—is an open-ended learning process carried out through ‘group
dialogue’. A group of persons comes together to discuss and try to solve problems
they have in common.
This is different from most educational situations, because the questions that
are raised during the group dialogues have no predetermined answers. There
is no ‘expert’ who has the answers and whose job it is to pass his knowledge on
to others. Instead, the persons in the group search for better understanding of the
problems they face together. Each person’s experiences and views have equal
value. Everyone takes part in looking at the problems and searching for solutions.
The person who acts as group leader or facilitator (whether an instructor of
health workers, or a health worker leading a group in her community) needs to
keep in mind that her role is not to lecture. In fact, the leader tries to avoid giving
her own opinions. Otherwise, persons may simply say “yes” to whatever the
leader says.
At the start of a discussion, the role of the group leader is to . . .
• encourage all persons lo take an active part,
• assure them that they are among friends and are free to speak their own
thoughts,
• advise them to listen carefully, and avoid interrupting each other, and
• warn them not to simply accept what another person says, but to think about
it carefully, or analyze it.
It is essential that the group leader genuinely feel that all persons in the group
have their own knowledge and valid points of view. That way, everyone can learn
from each other. The line between ‘teacher’ and ‘student’ is broken. The leader
becomes a ‘teacher/learner’. Each participant becomes a ‘learner/teacher’.
The leader’s role is mainly one of asking
questions. These should be questions that
help the group see the world around them
as a situation that challenges them to
change it— not as something unchangeable
and beyond their control.
A MORE
HOPEFUL LIFE
Helping people to realize that they have
within themselves the capacity 10 understand
and change their situation is not easy. This
is especially true with persons who have
learned to silently endure their misfortune and
who accept society’s view of themselves as
powerless, ignorant, and hopeless (see Magic
awareness, p. 26-12). But these are the persons
for whom a more critical understanding of their
situation can be the ladder toward a healthier
life.
POVERTY
AND
DESPAIR