Emancipatory education and political action

Abstract

One of the main problems in developing our society along democratic lines has been the impact of a polarised political culture on local citizens and the inability of our educational system to encourage their active political participation. Teaching is commonly perceived as an apolitical activity, an unbiased and neutral transmission of dominant forms of knowledge. This idea has reinforced the reproduction of a culture of silence and apathy since teachers have become state conditioned devices unaware of the social and historical conditions in which their actions take place. This study, built upon a critical and emancipatory theory of education that sees conscientisation as the first step in the process of empowerment, gives a critical account of the changes in our socio-political culture and points out to the contradictions of teaching as a professional activity. It draws upon the theories of Freire and Habermas to focus on the importance of the political involvement of teachers as responsible and guiding members of the learning community. Freire's emancipatory theory of education focuses on the political aspects of teaching introducing the idea of a dialogic education engaged in liberating human beings from the bonds of conformity and passivity. On similar lines Habermas proposes the idea of communicative action that revives the public sphere and restores the citizens' political participation that has been lost due to an increased administrative control of the state. The dissertation thus has the emancipatory interest in identifying the enablements and limitations of the local political and educational systems and in outlining the possible actions that educators can undertake to advance democratic changes in our society. Educators who reflect critically on the social aspects of their actions and who are committed to develop the theoretical underpinnings to their thought in a manner that informs their reflective practices are potential actors, politically committed to promote democratic changes in society.