How I Came Closer to Paulo Freire and Célestin Freinet

Fernando Jiménez Mier y Terán*

In previous posts, I have written some ideas related to Paulo Freire and Célestin Freinet. I will now recount to the reader how my approach to these remarkable contemporary educators, visionaries, with great values and committed to the people, came about.

 

Ricardo, Fernando, Antonio, and Bux at the RIDEF in Oaxaca, 2024

 

I was about to complete my law degree and in my thesis, I managed to incorporate some reflections from Paulo taken from his book Education as the Practice of Freedom (June 20, 1972 edition). This small but great book came into my hands in the most curious and valued way possible. The catalyst was my father, Fernando Jiménez Bajata. One day, El Viejo (as he used to sign some writings addressed to me) said: I bought a very interesting book about education, and I would like us to talk about it. Invite two or three friends for breakfast on Saturday and reflect on Paulo Freire's teachings (this was how things were usually done at home). It was on that occasion (towards the end of 1972) that I first heard the terms banking and liberating applied to education. Dad, in full maturity, died of a heart problem a few months later, in May 1973, when I had already obtained my degree. The initial approach to Paulo Freire was one of the many gifts I received from El Viejo, my first great life teacher.

Dad's death shook me. Two years later, my life took a turn, I left – like Freire – law, moved to sociology, and eventually became caught up to this day in the field of education, primarily related to the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), which I have been investigating since 1977. In 1982, I published Authoritarianism in the Governance of the UNAM, which was my master's thesis in sociology, advised with lucidity, simplicity, rigor, commitment, and generosity by Manuel Pérez Rocha, my second life teacher.

But let's continue with my approach to Freire. During the first semester of 1984, on a date I haven't recorded, I had the fortune to participate at Ciudad Universitaria in a meeting with professors from UNAM, gathered around Paulo Freire to listen to him. However, the great lesson that the fewer than 20 participants took away was that soon Paulo, with great warmth, stayed in long sleeves of a red checkered shirt and had all of us engage in informal dialogue. Dad would have been happy to participate in the meeting and to talk with Paulo. My approach to Freire, then, was enriched and tightened under these unimaginable conditions.

I remember that during a break, I told Paulo something like this: At this university, not even the banking education is done well: the professors pretend to teach, the students pretend to learn, and the institution pretends to organize the routine educational process. He told me that I was exaggerating. To this day, I still don't know who was right. What is certain is that it is urgent to reflect in order to transform the university's banking educational practices.

On the other hand, my knowledge of Freinet, without a doubt, is due to Manuel Pérez Rocha. Manuel told me about teacher José de Tapia, who introduced Freinet education first in Spain and then in Mexico. Teacher Pepe, from our very first conversation, told me about Freinet's school work, and that same day, I was able to see his practice with students. Pepe quickly became my third life teacher and put in my hands the book Parables for a Popular Pedagogy: The Sayings of Matthew, which I was captivated by. Since then, I established a very deep relationship with teacher Pepe, we built a solid friendship, I gained his trust, he opened his mind and heart, agreed to be interviewed, told me everything I asked, and together, hand in hand, we created the book A Singular Teacher: Life, Thought, and Work of José de Tapia and Bujalance, although, as I have always said, Pepe is the true author of the text.

Over the years, I discovered the presence of two books on education in El Viejo's library. I now keep it as part of my own; it contains many volumes, especially on literature, history, law, philosophy, religion, and very few on education, including one by Freire, Education as the Practice of Freedom, and another by Freinet, Freinet Techniques of the Modern School. I was thrilled that dad also showed interest in Freinet. It goes without saying that I keep the two little books, like gold, alongside many others on the educational topic that I have been studying.

Note: I cannot hide my preference for Freinet, on whom I will continue to write on this page, and acknowledge that I know much less about Freire, who is studied at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters at UNAM by Miguel Escobar Guerrero, one of the organizers of the mentioned meeting, who also lived closely with Freire and has original things to tell.

Let's raise our gaze on education!

To Fabián, my son, for encouraging me to write these lines; I remember you as a Freirean literacy student.

* Professor at UNAM

jimenezmyt@gmail.com