The Making of Book Pedagogy of the Oppressed: Paulo Freire's Approach to Literacy, Training and Adult Education

An unanswered question on the making of Pedagogy of the Oppressed is when, where and how this book was written, edited, and published. The Preface of the original Portuguese handwritten manuscript is dated in Chile by 1967. Some scholars imply that the manuscript was finished sometime in March or April 1969. By then, Freire had left Chile and three of his books had been published by the Institute of Research and Training in Agrarian Reform, ICIRA. Freire himself had already committed the English translation, from the original Portuguese manuscript with Herder & Herder in New York, together with the Spanish translation published by Tierra Nueva in Uruguay. This book explores the ways in which Freire's time and work in Chile proved to be decisive in the making of Pedagogy of the Oppressed , widely considered one of the most important books on critical pedagogy and adult learning and education in the twentieth century. The scope is confined to Paulo Freire's years of political exile in Chile, from late November 1964 to mid-April 1969. It builds upon evidence provided by scholarly research to answer four questions. What did Paulo Freire do during his years of exile in Chile. In which institutional contexts did he develop his pedagogical methods and political ideas? How was his literacy training method and participatory research approach shared throughout Latin America and the rest of the world? To what extent did his exile in Chile influence a paradigm shift in literacy training and adult education? Contents Preface Illustrations Figures Tables Notes on Contributors 1. Paulo Freire: A Chronicle of His Exile in Chile 1 Paulo Freire’s Approach to Literacy and Adult Education 2 Early Writings and Political Exile 3 Adult Education as Cultural Action for Freedom 4 Literacy, Training and Agrarian Reform 5 Closing Remarks References 2. Freire in the Memory: Testimonies from Former Peasant Movement Leaders in the Chilean Agrarian 1 The Story behind This Essay 2 The Image of Freire through Testimonies: What Was and What Was Not Literacy? 3 Peasant Reception of Freire 4 Final Remarks: Documentary Heritage and Intangible Cultural Heritage Notes References Appendix A: Data from the Interviewees Appendix B: Basic Questionnaire Applied to All Interviewees Appendix C: List of Basic Documents from Paulo Freire’s Collection1 Paulo Freire Writings from Collaborators Note 3. The Action Image of Society in Rural Chile: Politics, Culture, Words, and Images 1 MINEDUC: Adaptation and Massification of Paulo Freire’s Method 2 The Research of Vocabular Universe and Generative Words 3 Literacy: “La Raíz y la Espiga” 4 CORA: The Agrarian Reform Corporation and the Generating Words for Peasant Training Programs 5 INDAP: The National Institute of Agricultural Development – Farmer Training and Agricultural Extension Programs 6 ICIRA: Research, Training and Cultural Action 7 Thematic Research on the Cultural Universe of Peasants and a Method of Peasant Programming at El Recurso Notes References 4. Publishers and Editors in the Making of Pedagogy of the Oppressed 1 Latin American Catholics and Protestants in the Shaping of Liberationist Christianity 2 Paulo Freire and His Intellectual Production as an Author 3 ICIRA: Publishing and Editing Paulo Freire during the Agrarian Reform in Chile 4 APE: Publisihng and Editing Paulo Freire during the Catholic Aggiornamento in Colombia 5 Tierra Nueva (TN): Publishing and Editing Paulo Freire from Protestantism at Rio de la Plata (Argentina) 6 Closing Remarks Notes References