Kritikai pedagógia, demokratikus oktatás, önszerveződés

CRITICAL PEDAGOGY, DEMOCRATIC EDUCATION, SELF-ORGANIZATION

Panel on critical pedagogy (20th June) + workshop (21st June)

Part 3 of the discussion series Beyond representation? – Social marginality, arts and movements
Coordinated by: Bíró Noémi and Gegő Virág

A magyar nyelvű változat az első oldalon olvasható. 
Versiunea în limba română se află pe pagina a treia.

The relationship between education and representation is one of the key points of criticism seeking to understand pedagogy in its social relations system — whether it is part of an everyday indignation about the „failure of democracy” or of a professional discourse that examines the possibilities of self-representation. This issue may be related to public education, with its great potential to act as an institution for the redistribution of knowledge, which would provide the greatest number of people with the knowledge needed for self-advocacy. And it can also focus on the emancipatory potential of pedagogy, which can enable learning to become an active part of social events through a consciousness process.

The pedagogical philosophy associated primarily with Paulo Freire’s, based on social critique, seeks to reveal, through education, the hierarchical, oppressive and exploitative relationships that exist in a given society. Its purpose is to provide individuals and groups won the periphery of society with the necessary knowledge and tools for recognizing the social conditions that determine their existence and to help them work together. Political representation, participation, and advocacy are thus not primarily linked to the political institutional system, but rather to a community-based, socially oriented activity.

What are the challenges of representation in pedagogical practice? How does the relationship between theory and praxis appear in critical pedagogical practice? What are the tools by which critical pedagogy can contribute to the bottom-up political participation of marginalized communities? How does critical pedagogy relate to other pedagogical philosophies and methodologies?

Our series of events will try to explore the topics of pedagogy and representation within two workshops and a panel discussion: on the 30th May during the reading seminar conducted by the Save As group (Mentés Másként) we could learn the basics of critical pedagogy, which will be used for the activities (on the 21th June) of the Deviszont Community Space (Deviszont Közösségi Tér) for high school students. The series of workshops will be followed by an open panel discussion with the members of the Deviszont Community Space and the Save As group.

Program:

20th June, 19.00 — 21.00 — panel discussion with members of Deviszont Community Space and the Save As… Group

During the roundtable discussion, the Deviszont Community Space from Budapest and the Save As.. will introduce themselves and their activities, and share their experiences with each other and the audience.

In the second half of the program, we discuss two topics in smaller groups.
1. Critical pedagogy vs. the system
In what local environment does Deviszont and Save as… work? What is their relationship with the school system and local social and community institutions? Is Deviszont an after-school program (“Tanoda”), and what can be the role of after-school programs in today’s institutional system? How can we create a platform for dialogue between actors in the educational system?

2. How to do critical pedagogy?
What is the role of the facilitator (activity organizer) in Deviszont, how do they work with the people who come to them, how are young people’s opinions being heard? What are the problems that Save As… has encountered concerning the role of democratic educators among teachers and teacher training students?

Invitees:
Fernengel Ági, Szarka Alexandra — Deviszont Community Space
Jakab Villő Hanga — Save As…
Moderator: Gegő Virág — Save As…

(Romanian translation will be available for the Hungarian-language presentation of the two groups. Small group discussions will be conducted in Hungarian and English.)

21st June, 9.30 — 12.30 — Critical Pedagogy in Vocational Education and the Suburbs of Budapest – Workshop by Deviszont Community Space

The members of Deviszont Community Space will present their program and pedagogical methodology. Together with those the participants, they will look at some of their completed activity plans and tell us what worked well in practice and what did not work. Next, working in smaller groups, everyone can create their own work plan for young people based on nontraditional methods.

Workshop leaders: Fernengel Ági, Szarka Alexandra — Deviszont Community Space

(The language of the workshop activities is Hungarian.)

Address: tranzit.ro/Cluj
Napoca street (Jókai u.) 16, I. floor
Cluj, Romania

Invitees:

The idea of the Deviszont Community Space was born out of outrage due to the systematic reproduction of educational inequalities. After two years of preparation, a place was created in the outskirts of Budapest, which can be used by young people in vocational education in their free time, where they can be part of a community and join programs based on critical pedagogy. The space began to be organized by young social workers, educators, philosophers and sociologists from November 2018 onwards, and has since been expanded with new members.

The Save As.. Group aims to break down the misconceptions about education and rethink practices that make it impossible to establish a democratic and functional education system. The ambiguous name also refers to methods for including all children in education. By organizing a pedagogical conference and expanding its scope of activities, Save As… aims to create a platform for discussion about education and for sharing information about questions regarding public education. Save As… operates with a systematic, interdisciplinary pedagogical model, and it considers essential to address the civil sphere in addition to involving teachers and the academic sphere.