Synthesising Gramsci and Freire: Possibilities for a theory of transformative adult education

Abstract

This thesis focuses on two of the most cited figures in the debate on radical education, namely Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937) and Paulo Freire (b.1921). Both regarded forms of adult education as having an important role to play in a struggle for liberation from oppression. The thesis constitutes an attempt at examining the extent to which the combined insights of Gramsci and Freire can provide the foundation for a theory of radical adult education. Following a brief introduction, I examine separately Gramsci's and Freire's respective potential contributions to the development of such a theory. I then engage in a comparative analysis of their ideas which are relevant to adult education. In the next chapter, I identify some of the limitations in their work for its incorporation into such a theory. I indicate critical issues which are not addressed adequately by Gramsci and Freire and which need to be engaged with, in the interest of strengthening the proposed theory. This is followed by a chapter in which a synthesis of their ideas for the purposes of developing a theory of transformative adult education is carried out. In this chapter, I also include views emanating from a variety of other often interrelated fields. The theoretical considerations, in this chapter, will constitute the framework for an analysis of a Maltese case study centering around the work of a workers education organisation located at the University of Malta. The case study will serve as an example to illustrate the obstacles which stand in the way of and the possibilities for carrying out a transformative process of adult education in a specific context.