Going Back to the Basics: Freire & Pachaysana

This month, we are going to revisit some of the main ideas of one of Pachaysana’s biggest spiritual mentors, Paulo Freire, by exploring his ideas in conjunction to the work that Pachaysana carries out. 

We would like to come back to some of the basics of Freire’s work for a couple of reasons. Freirean thought opened up a window into rethinking and questioning what is education, what is knowledge, who is a knower, and what the purpose of education should be. Additionally, Freirean thought has inspired a lot of the work that Pachaysana does, and it feels especially relevant for our organization in this moment as we take part in a process of redesigning and rethinking who we are and how to best fulfill our mission and vision.

Here are the Freirean ideas we would like to explore: 

• Education as a journey towards becoming more human
• Praxis committed to collective liberation is a dynamic cycle between theory, action and reflection 
• We are all knowers and we are all on a perpetual pedagogical process

Image: Taking learning outside with our Rehearsing Change cohort last semester in Tzawata (Spring 2019). 

Education as a Journey towards Becoming More Human

In addition to Freire’s work on education, he also wrote a lot on the topic of what it means to become more human. For Freire, becoming human should be the entire focus of education. This involves not only becoming the authors of our own stories, but also becoming witnesses to it. To be more fully human is to rethink ourselves critically in the space and time we inhabit through reflection and dialogue with others. 

At Pachaysana, we strive to engage in educational processes wherein our diverse ways of knowing and being are not only allowed or recognized, but also invited and encouraged. Through our years of work we have seen how collective dialogue, reflection and creation has had a deep impact on participants, facilitators and communities in our journeys to become more human. 

We just concluded one of our short-term programs with the University of North Carolina Asheville. During the program, students visited La Mariscal, Tzawata, Pintag, and Vicundo; did a toxic tour with UDAPT; created a short performance about their collective story and much more. It was an intensive program, as well as a powerful experience where students interacted with the world and perspectives different from their own, and engaged with tools to rethink who they are in the mix of a globalized world. They saw how similar, different and connected we all are. They saw unjust relationships of power as well as relationships based on caring and commitment to the land and to the community. By the end many students commented on how transformative this time has been for them. I wonder if this is what Freire meant; they became more human.

Image: International students from our short-term program and community members from Pintag work together to create a chakana to celebrate Inti Raymi, or the summer solstice  (Summer 2019).

Praxis Committed to Collective Liberation is a Dynamic Cycle between Theory, Action and Reflection 

Humans have the wonderful ability to become both witnesses and authors of their lives at the same time. Freire thought of humans as beings of “praxis” for this reason. Humans can integrate their actions with their reflections, and, for Freire, actions which can transform our reality are born from this interrelation between action and reflection, and therefore are also sources of knowledge and creation.  

Freire’s cycle of praxis is one of the basic principles of Pachaysana’s work. In this spirit, the Pachaysana team took two full weeks of this month to rethink, redesign and recreate who we are. We engaged in critical but caring and compassionate reflections on our previous work and revisited the reason for our existence and the theories and principles that inspire and drive our efforts. After having many dialogues and implementing organizational changes, we are excited for what is to come! 

Image: Playing Theatre of the Oppressed games in a class to spark conversations on power and relationships (Spring 2019). 

We are all Knowers & We are All on a Perpetual Pedagogical Process

Every person’s story, reality and lived experience grants them with knowledge not only about themselves, but about the world we live in. There are so many ways of creating knowledge, sharing knowledge and practicing knowledge, but historically the world has considered western epistemologies and ontologies the only valid and legitimate guide. Freire argued that for social change to take place our gaze needs to be redirected towards those who have been historically marginalized and silenced. It is them who know and experience the world not as a bubble but as a battlefield where power is constantly negotiated, and strategy is key to success. 

Our summer research project is coming up, and it is geared towards exploring this very complex dynamic of hegemonic epistemologies in the university setting. As we have shared in previous newsletters, the project involves participants from Tzawata and Bavoroe creating a workshop for various groups from la Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) to explore what a pluri-epistemological education would look like: where all forms of knowing and being in the world are not only recognized, but valued as legitimate forms of knowledge worth learning/exploring and sharing. 

Image: Our Narration class from this past semester practicing their presentation about the history of struggle in Tzawata (Spring 2019).