23917: Kondrat: (reply) lenoir and burke re: Engle, democracy and education (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Peter Kondrat <petekondrat@yahoo.com>

John Engle's post on planting the seeds of progressive
pedagogy in Haiti hints at interesting connections
between a society's educational practices and its
democratic structures (or lack thereof).

(The US itself offers illustrations of the same
connections: the shortcoming of US educational
institutions are well-known, and we have just elected
a president who prides himself on being only minimally
informed of world events. Furthermore, those who voted
for this president were statistically much more likely
to have incorrect information about each candidate's
position.  The crisis of the US electoral system is
mirrored in the longstanding failures of the country
to produce well-informed critical thinkers. )

Engle's work suggests that there may be a causal
relationship between the culture of authoritarianism
and brutality in Haiti's educational institutions and
the crisis in that nation's political culture. It also
suggests that working to effect change in how Haiti
educates its children may be an important path toward
bring about reform in the society as a whole.

None of this is new to anyone who has read Freire and
other proponents of a pedagogy of liberation. Notably,
Engles actually implements the theories he espouses.
The great shortcoming of many who call themselves
"Freirian educators" or popular educators -- starting
with Paulo Freire himself -- is their willingness to
stand behhind a lectern and preach the gospel of
participatory education, rather than meeting learners
on their own terms, taking a problem-posing approach,
and listening.

Engle's work seems to come out of humility and an
abiding respect for the wisdom and competency of The
People. I was chagrined to see a couple of readers
take potshots at him, apparently without fully
digesting what he wrote.

Peter Kondrat
Brooklyn, NY



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