Unfit to Be a Slave: A Guide to Adult Education for Liberation (Anti-colonial Educational Perspectives for Transformative Change, 3)

Out of over 40 years of experience in adult or worker education, David Greene brings us tools to develop consciousness and leadership for social change. Based on the power of our huge working class to understand this economic system and to organize, this book aims to empower educators, students and other workers with science applied to solving the serious social problems we face today. We are confronted with the issues of low-wage, part-time and temporary jobs, inadequate housing, health care, and transportation, inequality and injustice, at the same time as the greatest concentration of wealth in human history. The disparity of wealth and control has never been greater. The only way out of this deepening crisis is through education. To change this we need understanding that is based on the clearest reflection of the real world. Unfit to Be a Slave employs the tools of theory and informed practice, to guide us to create spaces to share experience, study historyℓ́ℓs lessons and develop consciousness. As a collective and organized force we can transform our communities, our countries and our world. Mythologies that tell people, ℓ́ℓThings donℓ́ℓt change, ℓ́ℓ ℓ́ℓWe canℓ́ℓt do anything, ℓ́ℓ or ℓ́ℓIt has always been this way, ℓ́ℓ prevent poor and working class populations from taking necessary action on behalf of their own lives and families. Unfit to Be a Slave is meant to be a guide to education for social change Out of over 40 years of experience in adult or worker education, David Greene brings us tools to develop consciousness and leadership for social change. Based on the power of our huge working class to understand this economic system and to organize, this book aims to empower educators, students and other workers with science applied to solving the serious social problems we face today. We are confronted with the issues of low-wage, part-time and temporary jobs, inadequate housing, health care, and transportation, inequality and injustice, at the same time as the greatest concentration of wealth in human history. The disparity of wealth and control has never been greater. The only way out of this deepening crisis is through education. To change this we need understanding that is based on the clearest reflection of the real world. Unfit to Be a Slave employs the tools of theory and informed practice, to guide us to create spaces to share experience, study historyĺls lessons and develop consciousness. As a collective and organized force we can transform our communities, our countries and our world. Mythologies that tell people, ĺlThings donĺlt change, ĺl ĺlWe canĺlt do anything, ĺl or ĺlIt has always been this way, ĺl prevent poor and working class populations from taking necessary action on behalf of their own lives and families. Unfit to Be a Slave is meant to be a guide to education for social change CHAPTER 5: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY AND ADULT EDUCATIONPOLITICAL ECONOMY - A TOOL FOR LIBERATION; SURPLUS VALUE; ACCUMULATION OF WEALTH; POLARIZATION OF SOCIETY; POLARIZATION IN THE UNITED STATES; THE BASE AND THE SUPERSTRUCTURE OF THIS ECONOMIC SYSTEM; A CLASS ANALYSIS OF ADULT OR WORKER EDUCATION; THE UPS STORY; WHY A CLASS AN ALYSISIS CRITICAL TODAY!; UNDERSTANDING THE ECONOMY IS ESSENTIAL TO CHANGING IT!; A BROAD LOOK AT THE ECONOMY; WHOM DO WE BAIL OUT FIRST?; HEALTH INSURANCE PROFITEERS; PHARMACEUTICAL BANDITS; THE OFFENSIVE MILITARY; A VERY PROFITABLE PRISON SYSTEM; STOCK MARKET RECOVERY WHAT DO ADULT STUDENTS FIND WHEN THEY SEEK OUT CLASSES?TWO ROADS: EDUCATION FOR LIBERATION OR DOMESTICATION?; DOMESTICATING MISSIONARIES AND PROFESSIONALS OF THE STATE; THE PROFESSIONAL GATEKEEPER; THE MORE GEDS THE BETTER, RIGHT?; GATEKEEPER MYTHS; THE IDEOLOGY OF GATEKEEPING; QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER THREE; NOTES; CHAPTER 4: POLITICAL LITERACY The Voice of the Working Class; TAKING THE BLINDERS OFF; POPULAR EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS; TEACHER AND STUDENT EQUALITY; WHAT DO WE LOSE WHEN STUDENTS ARE DENIED VOICE?; MAKING NOISE! WORKERS' VOICES ARE MISSING; UNSPOKEN AND UNHEARD VOICES DEDICATION; TABLE OF CONTENTS; FOREWORD: Adult Education as Revolutionary Praxis; LITERACY AS PRODUCTIVE HUMAN LABOR; THE OPPRESSED AS THEIR OWN EXAMPLE; ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; CHAPTE R 1: LEARNING FOR LIFE : ADULT EDUCATIONAS EMPOWERMENT; MY STORY; POPULAR EDUCATION; THERE ARE NO NEUTRALS HERE; PRACTICE AND THEORY; A FRESH LOOK; PREPARATION FOR THE JOB MARKET IS NOT ENOUGH!; LISTENING AND RELEVANCY; LIMITATIONS AND POSSIBILITIES OF THE EXISTING SYSTEM; AN AUTO STRIK E IN WEST VIRGINIA; A FAIR ELECTIONS COMMITTEE; THE HAITIAN REVOLUTION; A SHOUT OUT! JOIN THE FIELD OF WORKER-EDUCATION! DIALOGUE QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTSQUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER ONE; NOTES; CHAPTER 2: THE FIELD OF ADULT OR WORKER EDUCATION; MILLIONS OF ADULT STUDENTS; TYPES OF LITERACY; STUDENTS AND POTENTIAL STUDENTS; LITERACY PROGRAMS; BAKE SALE TO SUPPORT VICTIMS OF HURRICANE KATRINA; A WEALTH OF EXPERIENCE; TEACHERS; VALIDATING THE EXPERIENCE OF ADULT EDUCATION STUDENTS; TEACHERS AND ORGANIZING; STABILITY AND VOICE; WORKER OR ADULT EDUCATION NEEDS TO BE REDEFINED; THE STATUS OF ADULT EDUCATION TODAY; QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER TWO; NOTES; CHAPTER 3: GATEKEEPERS AND SOCIAL CONTROL A MIGHTY RIVER OF PEOPLEWINNING OR LOSING; STUDENT VOICES - A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH; WHO BENEFITS FROM THIS SILENCE?; SUGGESTIONS FOR A CRITICAL PRACTICE OF ADULT EDUCATION; "LISTENING GOOD"; RECOGNIZING STUDENT KNOWLEDGE; DIALOGUE ABOUT ADULT EDUCATION; FROM DIALOGUE TO ACTION; STUDENT COMMITTEES; CLASS CONTENT AND LESSON PLANS; UTILIZING PUBLIC DOCUMENTS AND OTHER PUBLIC RESOURCES; LITTLE STEPS; LESSON TOPICS FOR ADULT EDUCATION; TEACHERS VOICES TOO, MUST BE ORGANIZED; VOICES FOR CRITICAL THINKING AND POPULAR EDUCATION; QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER FOUR; NOTES Front Matter....Pages i-xvi Learning for Life....Pages 1-17 The Field of Adult or Worker Education....Pages 19-41 Gatekeepers and Social Control....Pages 43-57 Political Literacy....Pages 59-78 The Political Economy and Adult Education....Pages 79-101 Tools for Social Change Consciousness and Social Transformation....Pages 103-126 Spaces and Schools for Education for Liberation....Pages 127-143 Conclusion....Pages 145-149 Back Matter....Pages 151-156 Out of over 40 years of experience in adult and worker education, David Greene brings us tools to develop consciousness and leadership for social change. Based on the power of our huge working class to understand the economic system and to organize, this book aims to empower educators , students and other workers with science applied to solving the serious social problems we face. [from back cover]