Mural

Rémy presenta el mural de la RIDEF de Oaxaca 

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

Bad Air

Omar Cristiam Santos

On the third day of the “Art and Written Culture” workshop at RIDEF Oaxaca 2024, we immersed ourselves in a universe of colors and emotions. We began with the evocative story of "Bad Air," a tale from the oral tradition of Santiago Tilantongo, collected and adapted by Omar Cristiam Santos. This story guided us as we transformed our previous illustrations into vibrant visual landscapes. Amid laughter, jokes, and the soft accompaniment of music, the brushes danced on the paper with a unique elegance.





Some strokes were firm and decisive, others fluid and subtle, each reflecting the unique personality of its creator. With each mix of red, blue, and yellow, and with the emergence of greens, browns, and purples, our canvases came to life, creating a visual atmosphere that previously only existed in our minds. Each work became a window to our essence, an act of magic that transformed blank and gray spaces into vibrant reflections of the heart.



Célestin Freinet reminded us that “Art is a way to discover the truth that words cannot reach.” Through this process, we got to know ourselves more deeply, merging art, writing, and conversation in a sincere dialogue. We are in the final stretch, about to take our stories to the kamishibai. As Freinet said, “The school should be the workshop of creative freedom,” and in this workshop, that freedom manifested in every stroke and color. We are ready to share the magic within us and see how our creations find their voice on the kamishibai stage. “Every child is an artist, and the school should help that creativity to flourish,” Freinet said, and today, that creativity has blossomed in all its splendor.

Murciélago • Bat • Chauve-souris

El murciélago (Tibu) del taller Experiencias México" Foto de Enrigue.

The bat (Tibu) from the Experiences Mexico workshop" Photo by Enrigue.

Le chauve-souris (Tibu) de l'atelier Expériences Mexique" Photo de Enrigue.



Photo: Enrigue.

How a group organises itself to meet its needs, also in terms of participation

Léo 

Daily life at Ridef.

Interview with Pietro, also a member of the MCE 'instruments of democracy' group.

With some comrades sleeping at the Polideportivo, you proposed a meeting with the Ridef organisation group to seek solutions to some of the problems encountered in running this place, right?

There is a slightly longer chronology.
On the first day, when we were told about the ten o'clock limit for access to the Polideportivo, we immediately asked for an extension on the time because we only found out when we arrived in Oaxaca. Before that we didn't know.
Hence the request for the extension of the time, which then led to eleven o'clock, on the first day.
Then, all these days, we kept asking ourselves what was the best strategy to extend it further, initially talking among ourselves and there were very different positions even, to a point.
Those who wanted to be, let's say, more rutual, more confrontational, talked about speaking directly on stage, at the microphone and saying this. Others, on the other hand, proposed a collection of signatures of all the people in the Polideportivo to make our voice heard. The third position, which was the one we actually followed, was to seek an informal dialogue with the people in the Polideportivo to see if this demand was general, if it was a common demand and it was indeed so.

We started out in a group, and then we talked to various people in the Polideportivo to try both to broaden the group and to see if we were the only ones who wanted this. And we found several other people who agreed with us.
In addition, when we talked to other people, they told us of further problems: cleaning the dormitories, providing soap, toilet paper in the bathrooms. All these points could be discussed during the meeting with the organising group.
Later, again informally, we identified a person from the organising committee. We asked her for this extension.
We also tried to address our requests directly to the caretaker on site, but he told us that he had no power to act and that we should go to a higher level.
On the day we asked for it, several times a response was delayed until, in the evening, at a point when we were quite unnerved by the fact that we were not receiving a response, we made it known, somewhat heatedly, that we demanded a response.
So we said we couldn't talk to just one person.
The next day, we had this committee, which we did.

Was there therefore a lack of a tool to enable dialogue between Ridef participants and the organising group?

Yes, let's say that this question, for many of us in the original group, Italian for the most part, stems from the fact that, to a point, many of us are part of the "democracy" group of the MCE (Freinet pedagogy in Italy), which is very focused on instruments for participation and expression, and many of us have participated in various stages in institutional pedagogy (IP) where the focus on roles is very high.
And the roles are, in moi aviso, in line with this current, a necessary function to make the group stratify, articulate, organise itself with very clear things.
And then they are things that are done in a participatory manner.
At the start of a PI stage, the first thing you do is you identify the responsibilities that you feel are needed.
Usually the organising committee already makes a list of responsibilities, but the collective, the group, can propose further roles and they are assigned in a cooperative manner, to a point, so the organisers only have an initial role in starting the work.
But later, also to facilitate the success and work of the organising committee, this delegation work is done.
Then, in institutional pedagogy there are belts, levels whereby certain roles that are perhaps complicated and require specific knowledge are relegated to people who already have experience. But here we get into details that perhaps do not interest us.
But this idea, to a point, of having a clear idea of who does what is, in my opinion, an element of peace of mind for the people who participate, because they know who to look for if they need something, when they can do it, if it is planned, in what place and with whom.
This, I think, has to mirror the work that is done in the classroom because it is if the student does not know when to rest, who to tell when he has a problem, if something is wrong, that is, he gets frustrated and then he does those things that we consider problematic, I don't know, he leaves the classroom, he throws things on the floor, he shouts, all those things that humans do when they are frustrated.

Do you have any idea how this concern could be addressed in this type of event such as Ridef?

I think more or less in the same way as you do in other stage-type events, with a nice big poster where you write down the responsibilities and then people propose themselves and write their names on it.
When you present the programme, you identify time slots within which you can address these people: meeting who and when.

Support for the 17th of April School in Alpuyeca, Morelos

Antonio 

On Thursday night, a group of participants from RIDEF met with Guadalupe and Susana, from the 17th of April School – Alpuyeca, in the municipality of Xochitepec, State of Morelos. During this meeting, we learned directly from our colleagues about the work they have been doing at this school, which has become a social integration reference point in Alpuyeca. Among the numerous projects they carry out, they told us about their community radio station, Tekuan Radio, the Voice of the Guardians of the Hills, which has become a medium of expression for students, families, and members of their community.Alpuyeca is currently facing challenging times due to the emergence of foreign-funded mining projects in their territory, specifically a project for the extraction of gold, lithium, and cadmium, among other minerals. Social mobilization and radio activity against this project have led to a situation of violence that endangers the lives of those working to strengthen the community.

School 17 de abril at the Freinet Conference 

Those who denounce these projects are becoming targets of organized crime, as is the case with our colleagues. For this reason, they have had to leave Mexico for five months under a journalist protection program of the Barcelona City Council, due to death threats they received for their activism.Therefore, we have decided to establish a line of communication and support for the 17th of April School and Tekuan Radio through a WhatsApp group that you can join. It is important that we raise awareness from different places about the situation of communities suffering from the devastation of their land and lives, as this is how we prevent the silence that the perpetrators of this violence—the extractive companies and organized crime—want to impose.If you want to join the WhatsApp group, you can do so through the following link:
https://chat.whatsapp.com/EQpDvjC6uzm3yIiSYzcvX6
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PrimariaLasPalmas
Tekuan Radio: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069083694263

The Teacher Who Promised the Sea

Ricardo Ramos

I might remember it wrong, but I possibly met Sergi Bernal at the RIDEF in León. Maybe we were on the same bus to El Bierzo, and perhaps he was introduced to me while filming his documentary, which at that time didn’t have an ending yet. His film (*The Portraitist*) is about the archaeological discovery of the school notebooks of Antoni Benaiges' school group, a teacher murdered by fascism in 1936 in Spain. I probably said to him, "Sergi, that woman in row 7 is Chela de Tapia. She has a school in Mexico City that takes her students to the Gulf every year, to Patricio Redondo's school, where there is a sea."

 

 

A few years later (2024), my daughters and I watched *The Teacher Who Promised the Sea* in Oaxaca, and I am sure of the following: Benaiges' moving story is a universal testament to Freinet's pedagogy and its potential to transform society—in every girl who discovers herself as an artist, in every boy who admires how hardworking his father is, and in every classroom that collectively dreams of the unknown. I was moved to watch the film alongside the great-granddaughters of a Republican teacher exiled in Mexico and with my friends from the MCEP. If I hadn’t had a lump in my throat, I would have shouted, "España / mañana / será republicana... Spain / tomorrow / will be a Republic!"

Contemplation

Ixchel Santillán

"Boys and girls will rejoice / Fighting together, no one will stop us / Stronger together, to fight." Myriam Verdonck

How pleasant contemplation is; I place myself in a distant corner to observe the comings and goings of adults—smiling, restless, expectant. The Reunion, for most of those who attend, is a moment to see old friends again. For others, it’s our first time, but despite that, we immediately feel the warmth of hearts in every embrace.





Amidst that crowd of tall people, small bodies can be seen, clinging to the adult hands that accompany and guide them. They don’t question, speak little, and search among the people for some eyes that are more or less at their same height.

At first, almost everything is looking up, greetings in various languages, some of them unknown. Suddenly, they find what they have been searching for since their arrival. They timidly look at each other, smile, knowing they are equals, knowing they are accomplices, knowing they are childhood.

Una Storia

Edoardo

Il cuore serve per vedere le stelle. Perché? Vi racconto una storia accaduta tempo fa quando ho conosciuto un signore sempre arrabbiato, per il caldo del fuoco o il freddo del gelato, perché c'era silenzio per il troppo rumore, per il troppo profumo per il cattivo odore. Ebbene si! Era sempre arrabbiato perché quando era piccolo gli avevano tolto il cuore per giocarci un po' e poi era andato perso e mai più ritrovato. 

Arte de 千图网原创作品

E così era cresciuto senza vedere mai le stelle perché troppo impegnato ad arrabbiarsi anche con il buio che gli impediva di vedere al di la del suo naso.

Quanto è difficile, immaginate?, per una persona essere senza il cuore! Non riesce a provare emozioni o al contrario lo sovrastano perché non ha niente che le contenga. E poi ha sempre freddo!

E così restò da solo; è difficile per chiunque stare vicino ad una persona sempre arrabbiata.

Ma dopo un po'di tempo questo signore diventò un maestro e così il primo giorno di scuola incontrò tante bimbe e tanti bimbi che come si sa hanno un cuore grande. E poi crescono! E giocano! E giocando, un giorno giocarono a costruire un cuore che generosamente regalarono al loro maestro che lo mise proprio al posto giusto. In quel momento la rabbia se ne andò via ma lui ne trattenne un bel po' per farne largo uso contro le cose ingiuste.

Una notte lo troviamo camminando, senza niente per cui arrabbiarsi. Gli occhi puntati al cielo. E finalmente può vedere le stelle

Towards Anti-Racist Teaching

Alessandra Bilani

I would like to share a Padlet that is a collaborative work in progress and aims to gather concrete proposals for moving towards anti-racist teaching. The Padlet is bilingual (Dutch and French), but feel free to add your proposals even if you are unable to translate them into Dutch. I suggest organizing workshops, discussion groups, or meetings within your institutions to discuss this. Here is a proposal for how such a session could be structured: Show some examples from the Padlet.

This can be easily done by clicking on the triangle on the right. You then start a presentation. Individual writing time: each person notes down their ideas. In small groups, ideas are exchanged. One person is the secretary and takes notes to have a written record. In the large group, each group shares a few ideas. After the session, one person from each group adds the ideas to the Padlet. For a theoretical introduction, I recommend ‘L’école de l'inégalité - Nico Hirtt (2004)' and 'Onderwijs in een gekleurde samenleving - Orhan Agirdag (2020)' (in Dutch). Both books discuss the Belgian context. The dimensions for multicultural education, formulated by James Banks, have inspired a large part of the proposals on the Padlet. Here is the link:

https://padlet.com/alessandrabilani/culturele-diversiteit-op-school-la-diversit-culturelle-l-col-d5nglydn9q0h3gqg

An encounter with hierarchy

Alessandra Bilani

I'm going to tell you the story of a Freinet school where the teachers organized a workshop session. Several students proposed workshops and prepared them well. They were given the necessary materials and spaces. The posters were posted and many students signed up for the workshops that interested them. 

The day before the workshops, a student who hadn't signed up yet looked at the posters with the different options. Several workshops seemed interesting, but none of them really spoke to her. In addition, she saw that several had been cancelled. So she decided to propose a new workshop. She went to see a teacher responsible for the organization and asked if she could add one.

• It's not possible, the teacher replied.

• Why? the student asked.

• There is a protocol to follow.

• Why?

• We don't have any classrooms available, and we need to provide materials.

• I don't need anything for my workshop. And I will find a space where we can talk myself. Also, I saw that some workshops have been cancelled.

The teacher looks at her organization sheets.

• There is only one workshop that has been cancelled.

• So?

• Sorry, it's not possible.

Filled with incomprehension after this exchange, she still writes a description of her workshop in three languages ​​so that each participant can understand it and feel welcome. She contacts another teacher and asks her to pass the description on to the students.

• Have you already registered it with the responsible teachers? asks the second teacher.

• No, I was told that it was not possible. But I don't need any materials or any specific class.

• I'm sorry, but the registration period has passed.

• That's really too bad. I don't see the problem. I'm just asking you to communicate it. I have to do the communication on my own then.

• We have people in charge to make sure the organization runs smoothly. It took us two years of work. We ask you to respect the organization.

And that is how a personal initiative, proposed with the idea of ​​serving the community, was suppressed by the hierarchy, with the only explanation that there is an order to respect.
Any resemblance to actual events or persons is not coincidental.

The Breath of Memory and Writing

Omar Cristiam Santos

Today, the workshop "Art and Written Culture" within the framework of RIDEF has become a tapestry of intertwined memories, a dance of images and words on the vast stage of memory. On this second day, as if by magic, fragments of the past took shape, guided by the hands of those who, with passion and dedication, committed themselves to the art of storytelling.

We began our journey with the legend of the bat, that precious tale immortalized by the great Oaxacan writer Andrés Henestrosa with his pen. In his story, the bat, once the most beautiful being in creation, lost its feathers—a profound symbol of transformation and loss. As Célestin Freinet said, "Life is full of signs, and through them, we can decipher the messages of the soul." And in the echo of his words, each tale unraveled a fragment of the soul of the past.

We moved, like rivers that split, to the interpretation of the poem "Cuando pasas" by Jairo Aníbal Niño. In poetry, we found a mirror in which our thoughts and emotions were clearly reflected. Thus, under the light of inspiration, our voices came to life through Kamishibai panels. This ancient art, a visual storytelling medium, allowed us to share our adaptations and shape them with the warmth of our voices, as Freinet said, "The school should be a reflection of life, and art, the expression of what we carry within."

Creation became a parade of visions, each sprouting from the soul of its creator. Each story, carefully adapted with the Method of the Nine Statements, transformed into images and words, a metamorphosis that Freinet would have deeply admired: "Thought flows when the hands are busy creating." Blank spaces were filled with lines, and in that act of writing and drawing, memory became word and word became image.

Today, memory has become a constantly evolving canvas, painted with the hues of our stories. The connection between the past and the present, between writing and illustration, is an intimate bond that invites us to explore beyond the boundaries of reality. Each stroke, each word, each image, is a testament to our ability to transform the ephemeral into the eternal.

It is in this process where we find the true value of writing: in the ability to transform memory into art and in the magic of sharing our inner universe with others. I invite everyone to join this workshop, to be part of this journey where each memory becomes a story, each story an artwork, and each artwork a bridge that unites our souls.

Class exchange in Mexico

Andi Honegger, Mexico

The Freinet schools Escuela Manuel Bartolomé Cossío in Mexico City and Escuela Experi-mental Freinet in San Andrés Tuxtla have been organising class exchanges for 43 years. As part of my educational leave, I had the opportunity to accompany the sixth graders from the capital to San Andrés Tuxtla in the state of Veracruz for one week.

The Freinet schools in Mexico

Graciela González de Tapia, 1996

Together with others, José de Tapia introduced the Freinet techniques in Spain. Later, in exile, he and Graciela founded a school in Mexico that revolutionised the understanding of education. Graciela tells us about the development of the Freinet schools in Mexico.



From the magazine Kikiriki, No. 40

Background of Freinet's pedagogy in France and Spain

Rosa María Sandoval Montaño*

The modern school comes to Mexico

Herminio Almendros, ca. 1939 in Cuba

Around 1930, teachers interested in studying new ideas and pedagogical strategies began to appear in various public schools in Spain that were using traditional methods. One of them, Jesús Sanz, a teacher at the Escuela Normal in Lérida, Catalonia, was awarded a scholarship to the Rousseau Institute in Switzerland and learnt about Freinet's work during his stay in France. On his return to Lérida, he shared his experiences with Herminio Almendros, a school inspector, who established contact and exchange with the French teacher.

In this way, Almendros, together with teachers Patricio Redondo and José de Tapia, tested the school print shop with their groups of pupils. At teachers' meetings, Redondo and Tapia reported on these experiences in their schools and the advantages that the Freinet techniques brought to educational work. This gave rise to the Spanish Freinet Technique Co-operative, whose main objectives were the exchange of teaching suggestions, correspondence between schools and the production and dissemination of teaching materials. As part of this dissemination work, Herminio Almendros published the first book about Freinet in Spanish in 1932, entitled "La imprenta en la escuela" (The printing press at school).

In 1935, the magazine "Colaboración. Boletín de la Cooperativa Española de la Técnica Freinet" (Collaboration. Bulletin of the Spanish Cooperative of the Freinet Technique) was published by Ramón Costa Jou. However, with the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, this teachers' movement was dissolved, several of its members died and others went into exile in various countries. Patricio Redondo Moreno, José de Tapia Bujalance and Ramón Costa Jou escaped the Franco regime and settled in Mexico at various times, where they continued to work on this innovative pedagogical movement, which was also inspired by other thinkers such as Giner de los Ríos, Bartolomé Cossío and Francisco Ferrer Guardia.

The Modern School in Cuba

How Fidel Castro extols the benefits of the Modern School in Cuba

October 19611

We will shortly be able to give you a detailed account of the first Congress of Cuban followers of Freinet Techniques, which was held at the Cité Scolaire (School Center) on 15 and 16 September. As you can imagine, I was very sorry not to have been able to accept the kind invitation to visit Cuba for the occasion. We do hope that during the next holidays a delegation of the Modern School will be able to contact our comrades in Cuba. 

 

 

This is indeed an important event. For the first time, a country that is large, if not in terms of population, at least in terms of the political and moral influence it has acquired in the world, is officially adopting Freinet techniques, manufacturing printing equipment, publishing our files translated into Spanish, and printing 60,000 copies of our supplements, books and children's albums. Cuba is proving that our techniques are simple, within the reach of the people, that they arouse enthusiasm and the need for culture, and above all that they are better able than traditional methods to train people.

In a recent radio address, Fidel Castro told the Cuban people about the progress represented and guaranteed by the bold innovations made in the education of the people. We are pleased to publish a translation of this speech, with thanks to Fidel Castro for his lucid and generous concern for a liberating education, to the Minister of National Education for the boldness of his decisions, and to our friend Almendros, who remains the great driving force behind the educational revolution of which Cuba is an eloquent example.

C. FREINET

Appeal from the "Cooperative for Freinet Pedagogy e.V., Germany" to all educators and educational institutions

 

May 2024

We look back over the last 80 years in Germany, we can see, despite all the justified criticism in detail, that we have by and large lived in internal and external security and achieved a high degree of prosperity. There have been no armed conflicts for almost 80 years. That is unique in German history.

However, especially in recent times, things have happened and continue to happen that can shake our belief in the continuation of this state of affairs and thus give rise to uncertainty and fear of the future. Some of these may be real, but often they are also deliberately fueled. 

This happens through disinformation, false claims and targeted political influence for the purpose of destabilizing our political system. Trust in our democratic institutions, which have grown over decades for our benefit, is to be shaken by propaganda-like campaigns. The resulting desire for new security is then to be fuelled by impulses that once before, in the 1930s, plunged life in Germany into a situation of decades of suffering and brought death to many millions of people.

We plead you:

Become active in your schools, daycare centres or whatever educational institutions, come clean and resist the unbearable right-wing positions and dogmas that are increasingly spreading in our country.

It's about our country and its future. The more we think about it, the more we realize that, despite all the faults and weaknesses that this country has, we have a treasure that must be preserved by all means. Let us all work together to ensure that our democracy is not only preserved in its current form but, on the contrary, expanded and developed. We firmly believe that it is democracy in action that can put a stop to these tendencies.

Let us not lose this opportunity. In view of our country's history, we even have an obligation to take a stand.

The educators organized in the Cooperative for Freinet Pedagogy have been working closely with Freinet groups from around 30 countries worldwide for decades to give democracy sufficient space in their field of work (schools, daycare centres, etc.). The guiding principle in this work has always been Freinet's saying:

"The democracy of tomorrow is prepared by exercising democracy at school. An authoritarian regime at school cannot educate democratic citizens." (Célestin Freinet, Pedagogical Invariant No. 27)




For us Freinet educators, this has always meant prioritizing the teaching of democracy over the practice of democracy in order to gradually develop a democratic attitude in children and young people. The principles of a diversity-conscious school are multilingualism and multi-perspectivity, interculturality and internationality as well as many forms of democratic participation.

With this in mind, let's start work first thing tomorrow:

Let us transform our institutions into consistently democratic institutions in which learners and teachers can develop and consolidate their democratic attitudes.

Let's start tomorrow by expanding or setting up class councils and school assemblies in which learners (including teachers) can try out real co-determination and learn how to deal with boundaries.

Utilize democratic education to focus in particular on decision-making processes in class councils and school assemblies.

Create situations in which learners can experience and develop self-efficacy and self-confidence.

Get together with like-minded people and communicate with others.

Even small steps can have the impact of setting a good example.

Develop a variety of creative opportunities through music, art, theatre and language to explore life in diversity. Freinet pedagogy is our source. In our projects, young people deal with multilingualism, religious diversity, social power structures and the associated identity conflicts.

This appeal could be a start. Let's get in touch and work together to maintain and develop democracy.

Let's make it happen.

On behalf of and in consultation with the board of the German "Kooperative für Freinetpädagogik"

Hartmut Glänzel, former chairman, glaenzel@t-online.de

Gitta Kovermann, former president of the FIMEM, b.kovermann@t-online.de

Franz Steinberger, current board member, franz.steinberger@wirnet.de

The Workshop of the Body - Sabine and Karine

 

How do you choose a long workshop?

Why choose a long body workshop?

What are the expectations and discoveries?

Sabine teaches children aged 10 and 11.

Karine with children aged 3 and 4.

They went to their first long workshop session:

Juan's body workshop...

You've just finished your first long workshop session.

How did you find it?

- It's very interesting because there's not a lot of talking, which makes it easier to get involved. You talk with your body, showing and doing. That's when you realise that body language, dance, theatre and mime are very international.

- It's universal.

- At a meeting as long as the RIDEF, it's important to get moving.

- It's good for you.

- It rests the mind.

- You meet a lot of people in this workshop.

- It's easier to meet people.

- You're less bothered about the language, you get to know people much more quickly and you laugh very quickly.

- We laugh a lot in this workshop.

What makes you laugh?

- When we can't dance, for example. We motivate each other, we help each other and in the end we all manage. The fact that you can't do it makes you laugh when it's a question of the body, whereas when it's a question of speech, you're more embarrassed.

- We're really glad we chose this workshop.

How did you choose this workshop?

- The presentation helped a bit, but it was mainly because I knew Juan.

It's also because I'm involved in the translation group, and I can do it, but it tires me out.

I told myself that I shouldn't choose a workshop that would make me more tired.

I was very interested in another workshop on South American teaching methods, but I was afraid of the mental fatigue of having to translate again, first for myself and then for others.

Did your choice of workshop have any implications for your work as a teacher?

- Yes, because I'd already offered body expression to my pupils and I realised that it was really important for the children I teach, who are special children. I really want to do more next year and this workshop will enrich me and I'll be more at ease with my pupils in this area.

You say that your students are special. Could you be more specific?

They have difficulty communicating. Some resort to violence.

This year I proposed a "dance" project and I was very worried that my hyperactive and violent pupils wouldn't be able to take part.

In the end, they were great and they were even the driving force behind the activity, whereas I had thought that dance would be difficult with the boys.

The whole class managed to work together.

It's a good way of calming them down and enabling them to see that they can succeed with others without having behavioural problems. Once they're involved in this activity, they forget their tough-guy image and get away from their aggressive behaviour.

So I want to do more of it, all the way through, every week, all year round.

I'd also like to do it as an 'outdoor class', to do body expression with my pupils outside, to find a place near the school to do an 'outdoor class' with moments of body expression.

Why outside?

We'll do it inside too, but outside there's space, trees, street furniture that can be used for improvisation matches and poetry. It's a richer and more stimulating environment than the classroom, which is more sterile, or even the sports hall, which is just as sterile.

The fear I have is that they'll be afraid to let themselves go because of people walking by and staring at them.

It may not work, but I want us to try.

And you, Karine, did you choose the same way?

- No, I knew I wanted to do this long workshop for a long time.

I'd done other things at other RIDEFs, but this time I needed to get moving and do something less cerebral.

So it's a long-standing project and it's a workshop that can be found at every RIDEF.

- Yes, and I really needed it. It's also linked to my professional situation, which has been very trying this year.

Sitting down too much, having to listen, having to talk, having to translate...

Perhaps what's true for children is also true for adults?

- Yes, I needed something lighter.

- What's more, it's something I like, because I already have a body practice and I'd already had a little experience of this workshop (Juan came from Spain to offer this workshop at an ICEM congress in France).

I offer bodywork activities to my students but for me it's very important to practise it yourself.

In my personal theatre work, for example, I work a lot on staging, but I need to get back to bodywork.

- I too have a personal practice in traditional dance and partner dance.

But here, in the workshop, we have something in common, which is that we are educators with the perspective of the Freinet pedagogy, this emancipatory pedagogy, which is not at all the case in the dance classes that I personally practise.

It's not at all the natural tango method, for example.

Here, I can think about what I could do with the children in my class and I'm in contact with people with whom I can discuss what they're doing in their class. It's a kind of emulation between teachers.

- We see something different to what we do ourselves.

- And we don't have the same practices: some share their dance practices, others their theatre practices, for example. And even in the same field, like dance for example, my personal practice is very coded, it's not contemporary dance for example.

How would you describe this type of bodywork in this workshop?

- It's more a case of trial and error.

Some people have different practices and others have none.

And when these people are together, they share, they experiment, they grope, they try, they discuss, they build.

- There's no notion of performance, as you might find in other places where these activities are usually practised.

We go to this workshop for our own sake, but also to think about how we can offer this activity in the classroom.

- This workshop is also a reminder of all that is possible.

We don't necessarily discover everything, but we are reminded of the importance of certain activities that we have forgotten about or that we no longer practise without knowing why.

Memory of the Cloud People in Primary School

Review by Bux

The bronze history fills squares with statues and seeks to erase local memories, making it difficult for us to recover the memory of the Za (cloud) people and many others. Its noise prevents us from perceiving the human heartbeat that is heard when we read this magnificent book with an open mind. It's about knowing and preserving a world that was different and better, and that we now know inspired a change in mentality in Europe, which at that time knew nothing of freedoms, federalism, or even democracy (Greek democracy was something else), and certainly nothing about respect for nature, and very little about the struggle for the communal. 

All this was discovered in America, and fortunately, some indigenous peoples have preserved these values, although at a high cost.Tequio (cooperation in collective work), mutual aid between families (guelaguetza), the sense of the festival as a shared joy of life, are elements of the Zapotec peoples that are present in our pedagogy, just as respect for nature, mutual care... these are ways of life that must be defended here and all over the world against imperialist threats, however well-disguised in good intentions they may be. 

The book critically analyzes a school that colonizes the minds of children and youth with the dominant discourse. In his book The Work Plans, Freinet insists on not accepting the history imposed on us but on building our own history from the memory and interests of the students. A few years ago, Patro asked me to talk about colonialism. I didn't fully understand where he wanted to go. This book helps me recognize the presence of colonialism in our minds and behaviors. The Spanish conquerors and their Creole, Anglo-American, etc., continuators won but did not convince. 

This book does not seek the vindication of an identity for the sake of identity, but the struggle for values that are at stake and for a way of life worth living. What is a gachupín doing defending the culture of indigenous peoples? Firstly, because my Spanish, Jewish, Arab ancestors, more Christian than Catholic, and other unbelievers stayed in the Peninsula, resisting imperial politics with very bloody struggles like those of the Communities of Castile or the Germanías in Valencia. But above all, because the values of the American peoples have inspired the best of Western culture, and although with little hope, we hope it will evolve to avoid the collapse of society and the Earth.So we must continue to learn from indigenous peoples; from the love that parents and children sometimes show each other amid poverty, something truly moving and enviable, that we wish we had in Europe. 

The book rigorously addresses, with quotes from widely recognized figures in sociology and anthropology, a critical analysis of school content and the hidden nationalist curriculum, as well as didactic proposals to rectify the damage that school too often does to our youth, to our future, and to avoid this, it is essential to reinforce the idea of community and collective spirit in our classrooms.

The Ridef languages

With 216 people attending the 35th Ridef in Oaxaca, together we speak 19 languages! 

In the graph below, you can see how many Ridefians speak each language. 

Only 48 people don't know Spanish. 31 of them know English. Of the people who don't know either Spanish or Enlgish, 10 understand French, and 7 don't speak any of the official languages of the Ridef. Be sure to help them out! 

It is nice to see that there are quite a few people who know a local language – probably there are more, but not everybody thinks it's worth mentioning these.