Radical Pedagogies

Introduction

Radical Pedagogies from the South are pedagogical praxes centring marginalised populations' epistemologies and cosmologies. These pedagogies have a fundamental principle: creating spaces to collectively exercise critical thinking and intentionally transform social realities towards social justice.

These practices stem from Afrocentric knowledge production, such as the practice of ubuntu translated in collective respect and affect, Paulo Freire's ideas, a radical Brazilian educator who pointed to the non-hierarchical relationship in the reflexive teaching-learning process. In this regard, they entice and enable curious and unsettling dialogues to identify the root causes of socio-educational issues and unveil contradictions and ideologies of sociocultural oppression with cognitive and affective rigour. These actions show the roots of decolonial thinking being put into practice.  

Radical Pedagogies do not originate from formal academic institutions but from the silenced voices of learners and educators committed to participative education that is respectful and in support of social justice. Such participatory exchange among different collectives is guided by ubuntu ethics, dedicated to understanding the diversity within the community, and respecting differences as a necessary part that forms the whole group.

This section will provide references and classroom resources for those interested in implementing these practices. 

Black Experimental Theatre (TEN)

Was a Brazilian theatrical group set up by Abdias do Nascimento between 1944 and 1961. TEN is a revolutionary practice for centring the narratives of Black people and transforming them into theatrical productions which did not replicate the stereotyped experiences of Black people. TEN's legacy is enormous for showing all the immense possibilities of being a negro without rendering to the colonial slaver models. TEN proposes an abolitionist narrative by telling the stories of those who dared to live on their terms and through art.

Theatre of the Oppressed

Is a theatre method developed by Brazilian dramaturg Augusto Boal whose aim is to transform oppression by using cooperative techniques amongst participants to overcome injustices. Its transformative proposition is that change can be creative, starting from our own experiences, and it can help us not only to face inequalities but to see the world from a different/freeing perspective.

Both Theatre of the Oppressed and Black Experimental Theatre talk to each other and create new ways of liberation and emancipation. Specifically, to our project, the aim is to use these methods to develop playful activities which dialogue with these practices in their capacity to challenge racism. By dialoguing with them, we incorporate theatre as a unique tool to denounce, challenge, and seek to be free from social injustices and oppressive situations.

Besides Augusto Boal and Abdias do Nascimento, this project dialogues with Carolina Maria de Jesus, Paulo Freire and actions from feminist clowning. Below, you can find a short bio from these authors. Our aim is to entice your curiosity and stimulate you to find other brilliant authors who challenge colonial thinking and create decolonial narratives in their artistic practices.

Epistemological Circles

Are pedagogical tools for creating spaces for dialogue to change reality. These circles were inspired by Paulo Freire's Cultural Circles, whose aim was to educate young adults to become critical, ethical, committed beings through the problematisation of their social existences (Figueiredo e Silva, 2021). As a radical pedagogy, this praxis has been implemented by the MafroEduc group- a Study and Research Group about Afrocentric Education in Brazil. As a praxis, it consists in promoting self-reflection exercises using dialogues. According to people Mend from Serre Leoa, when two or more people become interested in the same issue, and decide to talk about it, both become wiser and more powerful. This exercise happens through a curious and restless conversation by reading the world around us and its systems of production and inequalities, such as social, gender, race, sexuality and generational. Epistemological Circles can help to unveil ideologies of oppression, such as the myth of racial democracy in Brazil.

Web of Thread

This is an exercise we learned with Mama D Ujuaje during a workshop part of The Food Journey organised by dr rashné limki at the Royal Botanical Gardens in 2021. In this exercise, a web of thread is used to collectively evaluate activities, reflections and learnings and together weave daring possibilities of radical pedagogies. In practice, a person starts holding a ball of wool or any other fabric/material and shares a comment. It can be a critique, a story of what is definitely not a radical pedagogy (because by defining what is not we can sometimes clarify what it is), or a happy feeling, a moment that led to reflection, any kind of learning/comment, a dreaming of a different past/future/present, what we would like a radical pedagogy to be. Anything. Everyone witnesses what is said and then the next person raises their hand or demonstrate that they want to speak in any form. The ball is then thrown at them (gently!) and both parties keep holding the string in front of them with their hands – this continues until everyone shares something and the ball is returned to the first person to start sharing. There will be a drawing of sorts in the middle of the circle (or your geometrical formation of preference): this spider web is the physical creation of the intellectual-emotional work carried out by the group. Ideally everyone should help tidy the knots and return the string into a ball shape, as nobody should be overburdened with the work of tidying up.

Example, from a transcription of our workshop on Day 3:

Gabriela: It can be a critique, it can be like a story of what is not a radical pedagogy or solidarity because by defining what is not, sometimes, it can help us to define what it is. So, experiences that you had, like I learned this is in a difficult way. What is a more loving way of learning and exchanging?  

Anything you learned from the past few days? It should be very organic. Someone says something, you don't have to raise your hand or anything. Someone starts saying and you throw the ball and you hold up. Now, anything you want to say. What kicked your mind when I said that? 

1. I can be far away from home, but still feel at home. It does come down to...I'd be treated in respect, for example, and stood what still in the end of the day lots of my ideas can be shared. But here it was very as you mentioned and that's because we all shared in way that we all have been experiencing oppression, etc., to have this experience of being marginalised or to have a colonial legacy inscribed in our bodies and being able to share that, I felt like sisters in the struggle, in a way. Sorry, I am all over the place. Sorry, this is what I have now.

2. One thing that really stands out to me is how both Raimunda and Edineia and, like, their radical pedagogies are very spiritual, very spirituality-based. It is like a nice, really transformative way of how the whole like Western institutions that are like constructed based on rationality and science. This is part of the work to going back to be human and going back to what our bodies and minds are trying to tell us and kind of break away from this binary between the mind/body, and kind of emerge all together and so that we can move forwards as if fully formed human beings rather than just braked into pieces".

3. Very moved and touched by the openness of the key note speakers. Although it can be quite technical at sometimes...profit that universities make. There is so much to take in. Thank you.

Speaking about... 

4. Dr Katucha: How we can be and speak in our true selfs in spaces of oppression? This is the main challenge when we acknowledge the importance of having radical pedagogies and trying to practice them when we are dealing with those parts that we haven’t mend all the pieces together yet. But we know is there. Radical pedagogies acquire a radical love and spaces to be held in our educational spaces! In your bed, bathroom, etc.

5. Following up on institutions...institutions like this, even though we use these spaces, don't allow us to the time and the time/space to do these things. Actually, this for me is radical pedagogy: finding the time and space to come here to talk about these things. I think we can recognise...that the way these spaces work don't give us the time and does not allow us the energy to come and think about these things. So, I think the most radical thing that I have done lately was deciding to put work on my PhD and that would come here.

6. At the beginning of this practice and as we started to unravel the yarn, there were many knots. For me, untangling these knots had a figurative meaning. We have been here over the last days and we've developed some bonds/connections. We have talked about our pain and challenges. Being here and trying to untangle these knots is radical. It is radical to identify these challenges, ourselves, our suffering and collectively heal ourselves in order to make the world a better place.   

7. I am just really grateful. The world sometimes feel like a really isolating place. It has been a long time since I've been in an institution, lots of trauma, lots of healing, disrupting, and I have just felt a lot, really moved by the stories and the work that has been done. It provides so much hope that there are others really pushing against everything that they tell us. I kind of feel lost for words which is not normal for me. This is kind of a therapeutic space, and something about that continuous circle of sharing felt very symbolic. And there has been some connections for me here. Hearing from both of the speakers, speaking about the land, and the boat to the land, and feeling your roots, putting your hands in the soil and remembering where you come from is a disruption from the thinking, the learning, the sensing and just reminding ourselves that we are whole beings allowed also to experience joy and liberation and there were moments I really felt that in this space. A lot of heavy stuff but also just pockets of so much joy, and friendship and relationship. Grateful for everybody. 

References

Abdias do Nascimento was a writer, actor, dramaturg, university lecturer, politician and Human Rights activist. In 1944, he set up the Black Experimental Theatre (TEN) in Brazil to offer a scenic space for black protagonism. So far, there were no great black actresses/actors in the national scenario and the ones who used to play performed caricature roles, such as housekeepers. By creating an Afrocentric theatre, Abdias do Nascimento develops a radical approach by challenging Brazil's traditional Eurocentric aesthetic and colonial thought. He affirmed the capacity of black people. In this sense, TEN triggered other relevant events: the Congress of Black People, the Black National Convention and the Quilombo newspaper, which all represented spaces for social complaint and rescuing/promoting African-based values relevant to forming a national culture.

Paulo Freire was a renowned radical thinker and educator recognised by his many books, particularly for the Pedagogy of the Oppressed. He argued against the dominant thinking of a knowledge hierarchy and advocated for contextualised/applied teaching techniques. He rejected the idea that teachers were the prime knowledge owners and believed everyone was intelligent and had valuable experiences. Freire believed that "no one teaches another, nor is anyone self-taught. People teach each other, mediated by the world." He developed a revolutionary pedagogical method to teach young adults how to read and write, which made him very famous. For Freire, dialogue is vital to promote critical reflection and make people talk about the world's injustices and change them.

Augusto Boal created the Theatre of the Oppressed while in exile. He had left Brazil after being incarcerated for his art by the military coup. His techniques connected to the audience's feelings, ideas and sensations. In his own words, the theatre was "the multiple mirrors of the eyes of others." By stimulating the capacity to think sensibly, he helped to unveil internalised oppressors; by offering people the chance to talk, interfere, and intervene in their realities, he created opportunities for them to see themselves as part of the solution and be able to change the world.

Carolina Maria de Jesus was a Brazilian writer, poet and composer who described the challenges endured by a significant number of Brazilian black women living in a racist, elitist and patriarchal society. She became famous for her best-seller book “Eviction Room: Diary of a Favelada” whose poetic narrative changed Brazilian literature forever, in 1978. Carolina Maria de Jesus courageously spoke about social injustices, which attracted much criticism against her, especially from the elitist, white Brazilian society who ostracised her until her death. Nonetheless, her legacy was to reject the inferior spaces offered to her constantly and become a best-seller author who was translated into more than 14 languages and sold more than a million books worldwide. Her books, poems and articles are references for our project and are artistical manifestations that offer us new perspectives to think about other mentalities. She inspires us to be critical and constantly question reality by being present in reflective practices about decolonial knowledge.

This project also gets inspiration from other women and their protagonism in developing radical pedagogies in literature and theatre, such as Conceição Evaristo, a renowned Brazilian writer, researcher, and linguist whose books explore issues about race and ancestrality. Evaristo created the expression escrevivência, which means the desire to register life and living. And also, Melissa Caminha, an educator and researcher known as "Little Lavender" clow, whose deconstructive practices about biological notions provide spaces for comical, fun and laughter. Melissa is part of a new movement demanding the recognition of female comicity as a category encompassing plural feminine forms in their varied manifestations. Moreover, the following individuals inspire us:

• Audre Lorde
• Lélia González
• Luísa Mahin
• Maria Beatriz Nascimento
• Patricia Hill Collins
• Suzanne Césaire
• Tatiana Nascimento