Research

The Word and the World: The Cultural Politics of Adult Literacy in Brazil

1995-2001

Researcher:
Lesley Bartlett

How do cultural politics shape basic education policies and classrooms practices? What impact does literacy learning have on the lives of adult students? Do literacy programs contribute to social change or help to maintain contemporary power relations?

Based on two years of ethnographic research in Brazil, this project examines the introduction, circulation, interpretation, and implementation of educational theorist Paulo Freire's ideas in the field of literacy over the past forty years, focusing in particular on the period from 1995 to the present. Freire asserted that learning to read "the word," and education more generally, can and should empower learners to develop and act upon their own critiques of power relations in "the world."  This bold redefinition of the purpose of education has motivated and continues to galvanize progressive educators around the world. Despite Freire's unparalleled influence in the fields of education and development, few studies have pushed beyond his inspiring ideas to examine the challenges popular education initiatives face when re-inventing his theory in practice. The Word and the World provides a rare ethnographic analysis of Freirean-style "critical" or "popular" adult literacy programs.

The Word and the World explores the influence of popular educational theory on cultural politics, policy, and classroom practice in Brazil. The book details the development of Freirean-style literacy non-governmental organizations in direct contradistinction to traditional (or what Freire called "banking") pedagogy and educational philosophy, placing the study in historical, social, and political economic context. Then, drawing on ethnographic data, the book examines the interpretation and implementation of critical literacy by two vital constituencies: teachers and students. I introduce and explain key elements of Freirean educational philosophy, including the concepts of dialogue, empowerment, and conscientization; I then demonstrate how teachers construe these ideas and translate them into classroom practice in paradoxical ways. I also show how students bring their own cultural lenses concerning the meaning, purpose, and effect of literacy programs to classroom interactions and the learning process. In moving from the national to the local level, and from theory to praxis, I build three over-arching arguments. First, classroom ethnography reveals some of the weaknesses in Freire's theory of knowledge, his understanding of teacher-student relationships, and his concepts of dialogue and conscientization. Second, literacy learning is a complex, historically situated and socially mediated process that relies upon the cultural resources provided inside and outside the classroom community. And finally, the potential impact of education on social change depends, to a great extent, not only on students' and teachers' cultural interpretations of schooling but also on political-economic and social structures.

Related publications:

Bartlett, Lesley. (in press) The Word and the World: The Cultural Politics of Literacy in Brazil. Hampton Press.

Bartlett, L. (in press) Human Capital or Human Connections? The Cultural Meanings of Education in Brazil. In Teachers College Record (to be published in July, 2007)

Bartlett, L. (2007). Literacy, Speech, and Shame: The Cultural Politics of Literacy and Language in Brazil. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 20, 6, 1-17.

Bartlett, L. (2007). The Comparative Ethnography of Educational Projects: Youth and Adult Literacy Programmes in Brazil. Compare 37, 2, 151-166.

Bartlett, L. (2007). To Seem and to Feel: Situated Identities and Literacy Practices. Teachers College Record 109, 1, 51-69.

Bartlett, L. (2005). Dialogue, Knowledge, and Teacher-Student Relations: Freirean Pedagogy in Theory and Practice. Comparative Education Review 49(3): 344-364.

Bartlett, L. (2005). Identity Work and Cultural Artifacts in Literacy Learning and Use: A Sociocultural Analysis. Language and Education 19(1): 1-9.

Bartlett, L. (2001) Women Teaching Class: Emotional Labor in Brazilian Literacy Classes. The Anthropology of Work Review 22, 3, 22-26.

Teachers College, Columbia University.