Social Transformation and "Popular Schooling" in Brazil.

In Brazil, the "popular," or people's, school serves as alternative schooling for "street" children and illiterate adult students. Many programs are created with local resources; others are supported by nonprofit organizations, or by public, local, and international funding. Many of the children enrolled in the programs come from broken homes, or are without parents--left to wander the large cities of Brazil. Ignored and living as street urchins, young children rely on begging to survive, while older children mix work with petty theft, prostitution, and drug dealing. As these children struggle for survival, going to school is not a top priority. Nevertheless, they do have the option of attending school in special education centers founded by different organizations and institutions.

In general, a very high percentage of Brazilian children drop out of school, beginning in the early elementary grades. According to the 1980 national census, 33 percent (7.6 million) of the 23 million children age 7 to 14 were unschooled. As many intellectuals and community leaders have said, Brazil is a country where 20 percent of the population owns 80 percent of the wealth (e.g., Torres, 1994). Therefore, many scholarly debates about popular schooling in Brazil revolve around issues of equality of educational opportunity, as defined by access to school, permanence, and quality. Within this context, some educational programs discussed in this article were designed to provide students with the basic knowledge to survive in a hostile world. This article will focus on three of these programs (or initiatives) that are directly or indirectly embedded in Freirean (referring to Paulo Freire, Secretary of Education for the municipality of Sao Paulo) principles: Sao Paulo Interdisciplinary School Reform, Projeto Axe: Schooling for Street Children, and Porto Alegre Participative Citizenship. The programs are characterized by their utilization of children's daily life experiences to help them construct their own knowledge, rather than just memorize or receive knowledge. In this case, the teacher uses examples of students' real life experiences, rather than just focusing on mastery of knowledge. This approach gives students the opportunity to be agents of their own history, rather than being passive and dehumanized objects.

Sao Paulo Interdisciplinary School Reform

Nearly half of Brazilians have attended school for less than two years, which represents an inadequate level of functional literacy. Seventy-five percent of Brazilians over the age of 5 have less than four years of formal education. Out of nearly 88 million Brazilians over the age of 10, a woeful 25.5 percent are illiterate. Tragically, parents consumed with issues of surviving widespread poverty and inequality face two choices: either send their children to a "demoralizing public school or keep them in total exclusion" (Divisao Oficial de Trabalho da Secretaria Municipal de Educacao [DOT-SME], 1989).

The children who do go to school often cannot see the connections between classroom activities and their daily lives. Frequently, they forget what they learn, or they resist learning altogether. And, when parents are illiterate, they have difficulty trying to help their children with homework.

In 1989, Paulo Freire proposed an interdisciplinary approach in the public schools and announced the formation of adult education programs. The interdisciplinary concept brought to light social empowerment opportunities for disenfranchised populations. Formerly illiterate children and adults alike became citizens who knew how to "read the word and the world" (Freire & Macedo, 1987). These educational initiatives transformed schools into spaces ready to receive the local community's culture and knowledge. The content and process of these principles allowed students to recognize that they could, indeed, effect changes at a personal and social level. It also brought to light a new social consciousness, whereby everyone could participate as a functional citizen (Freire, 1970, 1997, 2000).

Freire (1993) explains in detail how this approach, widely implemented in the Sao Paulo Municipal School District, works. In short, this educational method is a "problem posing" or problem-based approach. It invites parents, community leaders, students, administrators, and educators to brainstorm about the main issues and problems facing the school's local community. Out of this encounter, the participants choose topics for thematic units. Educators then use the topics to develop lesson plans in an interdisciplinary system. Teachers from each discipline work with the topics, approaching them from their content area of specialization. From a social empowerment viewpoint, the initiative has had widespread success. For example, working with environmental themes spurred the community to conservation measures, and even generated revenue from recyclable resources.

This interdisciplinary system incorporates different stages. After developing thematic topics, the "study of reality" stage begins. Educators analyze the topics' relevance to the local school community and assess how to address the theme according to children's different age levels. In the second stage, participants review the roles assumed by students, educators, and the community as a whole. Educators then try to approximate the students' daily life experiences and make connections to academic content. At this stage, the teachers serve as organizers of the curriculum and pedagogical practice. Ultimately, the program seeks to democratize children's access to information.

The changes implemented at the Sao Paulo School District substituted a formal curriculum for an operational one that permeates all of the functions of the school. In this way, the interdisciplinary model is justified; by using local knowledge as a powerful and necessary presence, educators create a curriculum that ties the daily operation of the school into the community's concerns.

According to Freire (1970), education is not politically neutral; it is directly related to societal organization and structural reproduction. Educators must always face the challenge of redefining their insights. It is not expected that teachers will act uncritically, but rather as agents of their own oratory, of their own history, on behalf of the students. The conflicts that arise out of this process must be understood as part of the learning objectives. As this is a collective process, this becomes nothing less than a call to civic participation. Students, parents, educators, and administrators become integral and responsible agents committed to the development of a better future.

These first steps lead to an emancipatory education that allows students and educators to understand the multiple scientific, social, cultural, political, economic, and historical aspects of their complex daily lives. The next step is to extrapolate the totality of the phenomenon contained within the reality of the community. Interpretations of local phenomena contain broader explanations that must be studied. Therefore, the teaching and learning experience alternates between micro to macro understanding and vice-versa. In this process, memorization is discarded. What is proposed is to take the practice as the real basis of knowledge.

As they work to produce selected facts, students learn to use new conceptual instruments. These new conceptual instruments, revealed by the teacher's orientation, facilitate a more elaborate understanding of reality. Within this context, the teacher must be careful when constructing significant learning situations, relating lessons to students' concepts of a concrete phenomenon, encouraging students to become active agents of their own learning, and addressing scientific concepts in the students' language. It is necessary that those concepts the students work on (with the teacher's orientation) become scientific in nature (DOT-SME, 1990).

In one classroom that utilized the Freirean approach, the teacher asked the students to stand while she outlined the next activity. She told the students that the left side of the classroom would be for "no" answers and the right side would be for "yes" answers; as the teacher read various statements, the students were to walk slowly to the side that represented their beliefs about each statement. The teacher would make such statements as: "The mayor is solely responsible for keeping our city clean. Do you agree or disagree?" "The community should organize itself and attempt to resolve its own problems, rather then wait for the authorities to do it. Do you agree or disagree?" The students often struggled through the decision-making process, torn between staying true to their own beliefs and following the choices of their peers. At times, the students were equally divided on an issue; most of the time, however, a majority emerged. After the exercise was completed, the students participated in an exciting discussion about their choices, as well as about the diversity of the class's opinions. In this classroom experience, knowledge developed through critical thinking, creativity, evaluation of reality, and decision-making skills.

In an informal dialogue with scholars at Chapman University, California, Ana Maria Freire (Paulo Freire's wife) explained how this pedagogical notion and consciousness-raising begin:

An inner city student from Sao Paulo was found to be incapable of doing math exercises in the classroom. On the street he applied similar concepts by selling goodies or candies, and he was able to count the money and give exact change back without any difficulty. In class, he was embarrassed and was feeling disconnected, because the math class was too abstract and distant from his reality. It was also found that this student was skillful [and] talented, and he was the chosen leader at the local grassroot samba parade.

Ana Maria Freire went on to say that:

A child is like a plant inside a room [that] turns around to face and embrace the sunlight, as the sun is crucial for its revitalization, survival, and growth. By the same token, a child may feel connected or disconnected from the learning experience, depending on the pedagogical approaches used in the classroom.

The questions that arise are: Whose interests are being served by the learning experience: students', educators', or those of the dominant groups? Whose educational versions benefit the students and, subsequently, the local community the most? What aspect of Freirean education principles present content and process for the basis of social transformative pedagogies?

Since, as Oakes (1985) points out, schools reflect the culture at large, in order to understand schools one ought to understand their context. Therefore, to interpret social context, the use of critical hermeneutics, as a rigorous methodological approach, can enable the researcher to interpret narratives (or text) and construct meaning within its cultural circumstances.

The impact of Freire's work in Brazil resonates at broad social and educational levels. For example, the theme of the 1999 street carnival parade in Sao Paulo (as chosen by Leandro de Itaquera, a grassroots, Afro-Brazilian samba school organization) was "For Paulo Freire, Education Is a Jump to Freedom." The samba song they prepared for the occasion, "Wake up, my Brazil" (see Figure 1), reveals the population's struggle and their search for liberation. The lyrics suggest that this school wants to demonstrate their daily reality and struggle as it permeates to the "blackboard" of their educational settings.

Figure 1

   //: Wake up, my Brazil
   Wake up to happiness
   I want love, I want to love
   In freedom, Today://

   Today, Leandro so beautiful, plays its role
   Ask permission, and shows
   Reality as it is
   Our struggle continues on the blackboard.

   My samba group jumps to the future
   And goes to war with pen in hand
   Our colors demand education
   Without prejudice or discrimination

   //: Inspired by a Divine Light
   We will sing with a single voice
   And Paulo Freire, is present among us://

   Mister
   I will not let go of my rights
   I too have my notion
   In the universe of creation
   Minds are gifted with virtue and power
   All it takes is to open the door and they will flourish

   The world where magic creates ideals
   And knowledge is not distinguished by social class
   It is time to reflect
   Consciousness be in every heart

   //: A gleam of tight shines, change
   Long live youth, children
   In faith that burns
   Happy future, Brazilian nation://

The Leandro of Itaquera grassroots school embodies a level of empowered consciousness. In other words, group members have claimed the right to have their own voices and ideas play a role in the universe of creation, rather than being fed a predetermined curriculum or educational agenda that they do not relate to and/or that they feel disconnected from. The song shows their awareness of the source of empowerment. The people are confident of possessing minds rich with virtue and power. The lyrics of "Wake Up, My Brazil" also express an optimistic view of people's ability to transform the world into a place where "magic creates ideals."

Many Brazilian classrooms likewise embrace Freirean principles. For example, in the inner city of Rio de Janeiro, one teacher asked the students to write about their life histories. The class made books out of cardboard material. Then, the students wrote and illustrated their personal stories, which they collected in their books. The students felt so proud of their books that many carried them everywhere they went. As they shared each other's books, the experience proved to be valuable and empowering.

Projeto Axe: Schooling for Street Children

Another school model of popular education has been used in northeastern Brazil, in the city of Salvador, in the state of Bahia. Projeto Axe, a nonprofit organization, takes credit for removing thousands of children from the streets through emancipatory education. "Axe," a Yoruba word, refers to the awakening of inner sources of power and positive energy (Foster, 1994).

The Axe program reinvents curriculum to incorporate a variety of activities closely related to the customs and traditions of local life and culture. It is proving to be effective in helping children turn their anger, fears, and frustrations into positive energy and discover new meaning in their lives. Terra Nuova (an Italian non-governmental organization) and the Brazilian National Movement Agency provided the initial funding for Projeto Axe. Soon, the program gained national and international attention. Many other cities, even outside Brazil, started using a similar approach. Education leaders in New York and Los Angeles are implementing the same philosophy when working with gang members.

In Bahia, the local community participates in a dance known as "Capoeira." Capoeira was created by the first African habitants of this region, brought as slaves by the Portuguese colonizers. While the colonizers thought the slaves were dancing as part of their religious rituals, they really were practicing and adjusting the "ritual" as a means to kick the colonizer slave master down from his horse. Capoeira thus became a symbol of emancipation in the region.

Today, the Capoeira is rich with folkloric quality. In Bahia, the majority of the citizens are Afro-Brazilian, and it is common to see Capoeira being practiced in public places and on the streets. Therefore, the Axe project used Capoeira as an integral component of the curriculum. The benefits gained by incorporating Capoeira into the curriculum are obvious as program participants are re-integrated into society as functional and dignified citizens.

The program content is based on self-motivation, creativity, critical thinking, and dialogue about real issues associated with life on the streets. The children establish their learning pace as they produce knowledge through collective engagement activities, which incorporate percussion, dance, art, culture, entertainment, and literacy classes. This lively schooling has great significance for children; they learn to transform their personal life stories into an evolving educational experience that contains new life possibilities. They develop hope, self-esteem, and new notions of citizenship. Classroom discipline is constructed democratically; the students and the educators create a workable environment characterized by respect for each other's differences. Above all, they learn to trust their newly discovered potential to change their own lives.

The project also includes vocational education. The environmental awareness aspect of the project enhances the children's abilities to become collaborative authors of ideas that provide them with real, practical ways to make a living. According to the Financial Times (London) (Foster, 1994), the project is working with 3,000 (out of an estimated total of 16,000) "street" children in the city of Salvador, Brazil. The majority of those who participate in the program either find jobs or are reunited with their families. Although this success is notable, the reality is that an unacceptable number of children remain living on the streets of Brazil. The private sector is becoming more involved by assisting with the vocational aspect of the program and by employing many of the students.

The program, now about 10 years old, is growing and receiving worldwide recognition. In collaboration with the municipality of Salvador, Projeto Axe recently opened a public school. Other private, professional, governmental, and institutional organizations, such as UNICEF Brazil, the Brazilian government, the U.S. State Department, and prominent benefactors are endorsing and supporting this program. Articles documenting aspects of the project's outstanding performance and results have appeared in The Los Angeles Times (Chaporal, 1994), The Washington Post (Devroy, 1995), and the Financial Times (London) (Foster, 1994) (among other newspapers).

The success of this program is not achieved overnight; it requires a gradual course of action. A staff member, Marcos Carvalho, explains: "We can only [successfully move children out of the streets] if the children are offered real alternatives that they can freely accept. It is a delicate and complex process." According to Carvalho, the street educators play an important role. Initially, educators reflect on their own lives to understand how their personal educational experiences affected them. Such reflection helps them understand the children and transmit a sense of security to them. Also, educators must understand the process of social marginalization that reproduces itself on the streets. By being aware of street practices, and by accompanying the children through their struggles, educators can develop pedagogical alternatives. Therefore, Carvalho stresses that the first phase of the work is observation. He recommends that street educators consistently revisit the same location at the same time each day. During this phase, educators immerse themselves in discovery of the children's daily behaviors and life experiences. When the children eventually approach the adults and ask, "Who are you?" the educator(s) may answer: "Who would you like me (or us) to be?" From this point on, a dialogue begins as children's desires and stories are uncovered. Educators are discouraged, however, from providing loans to children, who are accustomed to begging. Instead, the program fosters the beginning of what is called the pedagogy of desire (Bianchi dos Reis, 2000).

The pedagogy of desire, inspired by Lacan (1978), focuses on the relationship between the symbolic and the real. For example, the symbolic word "Exu," used in local religious rituals, historically has been interpreted by many as the manifestation of evil. In the Axe's pedagogical context, this expression can be used in a welcoming and inclusive anthropological demonstration, allowing children to express their rebellious feelings toward a system that is not working for them. Through the construction of a pedagogy of desire and schoolwork enjoyment, the next step is to attempt entering into the children's world without homilies or any authoritarian conversation. As is common in any relationship, mutual discovery takes time and trust. At this stage, the children express great interest in playing, so the implemented curriculum is designed around outdoor field trips. Staff and children play leisurely games while educators talk to each child about their family, survival efforts, and other issues.

Many of the children of Salvador, Bahia, are, for a number of reasons, estranged from their families and forced to live on the streets. Some children become prostitutes, exploited by international tourists who visit Brazil for that purpose, or even by locals. According to Projecto Axe's Carvalho, the children's fragmented stories are a mosaic to be recomposed. For street children, who are accustomed to plentiful outdoor space, a structured classroom can be reminiscent of time spent at repressive institutions. When in closed spaces, the children usually feel they have to restrain their behavior. After the initial introductory period, therefore, Axe's staff members gradually begin to use educational instruments, such as theatrical games or some other indoor educational entertainment, to allay the children's discomfort.

Many children on the street foresee only a desperate future. During interviews with children in similar settings throughout Brazil, the children shared their bleak views of their futures. One child said: "Future! Who knows? I could be dead tomorrow." Another one said: "Growing up, watching this (referring to slums, drug dealing, and crime) on a regular basis, the future seems bleak. The drug dealers have a lot of money and women, but they die early. They don't make much of their lives. But we cannot even trust the police either." A third child stated, "In the future, I will most likely be in jail." If they remain in communication with the educators, however, the children gradually imagine future possibilities outside of street life.

Projections of better possibilities are accompanied by feelings of trust and hope learned at Projeto Axe. One child from Axe, whose interview was videotaped, said, "Many kids on the street are in need of support and love. I didn't know what love was until I came to Axe." Many of Axe's students participate in a parade funded by public and private sponsors. One student said, "People think that the parade is for rich people, but they are wrong." The students make their own parade costumes (building self-esteem). All of the different cultures, music, and histories are represented in the parade. Through it, the students learn to celebrate life, and recognize that what is simple and humble is also beautiful. They develop a sense of pride and learn how to transform their lives. They find that in the world of creativity and imagination there is no right or wrong; all colors are beautiful, all shapes and mixes are gorgeous.

As the children learn to trust adults, they learn to care for themselves in a healthier way, rather than relying upon adult assistance. Through this experience, they discover their rights as citizens, while becoming engaged in the struggle to secure their dignity. For street children, emotional and physical growth is hard. They have to learn different ways to respond to situations encountered on the streets; they have to learn to claim their rights while warding off disrespect and intrusion.

With time and experience, the students learn to discern their own rights (as well as the rights of others), and develop the assertiveness necessary to properly defend themselves. Projeto Axe's leaders open a dialogue with public authorities and build basic support services at the community level. According to Projeto Axe's director, Cesare Della Rocca, the program must be in a state of continual critical assessment to ensure that its actions, aims, and mission are aligned with the social demands. Its institutional mission is based on the principles of fundamental human rights, construction of scientific knowledge, and respect for the students' values and cultural practices. The project also offers networking possibilities to address the needs of those in extreme poverty. The project is actively involved with both municipal and state governments, acting as advocates for children's rights and health care concerns. Ultimately, this positive education experience exposes issues related to community organization and resource distribution, and raises questions about the program's effectiveness in providing opportunities for upward mobility to those most in need.

Porto Alegre Participative Citizenship

In Porto Alegre, one of the largest cities in southern Brazil, the opportunity for social and economic upward mobility is proportional to new and democratic citizenship participation. One noted project is the "Participatory Budget." The members of each community gather at local meetings and decide, as a group, how the community will allocate its financial resources for education, health care, public safety, and other areas. Customarily, in other parts of Brazil, the mayor or governmental authorities have absolute, unchallenged control over such budgetary decisions, which often leads to corruption and misappropriation of funds. Since citizens are not educated in civic participation, and are accustomed to blindly following orders, many people have difficulty imagining themselves as citizens with rights. In contrast, the democratic leadership of the Labor Party in Porto Alegre has provided local citizens the opportunity to participate in many important decisions that affect the quality of their lives.

After winning the election, the local members of the Labor Party began an initiative to assist those people most in need. This initiative was deeply intertwined with popular education programs, reinforcing the idea that a school's goal is not merely to produce skillful future labor, but rather to focus on the enhancement of a democratic citizenship. This ideal is possible in an environment of true equity, critical engagement, and democratic participation (Fraser, 1997).

According to a Prefeitura Municipal de Porto Alegre document, A Paixao de Aprender: Apreder Participando, Aprendendo a Participar (The Passion To Learn: Learn By Participating, Learning To Participate) (1993), education is the process of humanizing human beings. In other words, it is a collective and individual construction of knowledge, values, attitudes, and sentiments in the direction of critical awareness and action. Thus, education calls for taking proactive positions to build a more just and authentically democratic society.

Another publication from the Prefeitura Municipal de Porto Alegre (1994) states that a public administration should have a commitment to education that is in the collective public's interest. Schools must integrate the whole community, including its civil and social movements, into its mission statement and curriculum elaboration.

Education that incorporates the popular culture has empowering attributes and qualities that start with early childhood education. Educators are open to embrace students' cultural and local identities as sources for content and academic process. It is a validating, and ultimately humanizing, experience when students are not considered to be merely blank slates and teachers are not considered mere transmitters of knowledge. Both teachers and students are open to learn from each other and to generate (or construct) knowledge together. For teachers, constant reflection on daily practices in order to gauge effectiveness eventually leads to revision of content and process based on emergent discoveries. It becomes hands-on, or participatory, research, applied to the teaching and learning of the classroom praxis. By the same token, students also need to use participatory research while engaged in the search for their passion. According to Freire (2000), what students discover by themselves is usually retained for life.

Conclusion

Should the pedagogical approach be centered on the students or on the teachers? What should be the teacher's role? According to Giroux (1998), teachers should not be the center of knowledge and power if the knowledge they advocate reproduces the hegemonic social order. Teachers must become transformative intellectuals who practice a pedagogy whereby both teachers and students become committed to the study of daily life, as opposed to memorization. Students have difficulty doing this process alone; they need a teacher who can help them identify hegemonic structures and create a critical language (Aronowitz & Giroux, 1985). Consequently, the teacher's leadership role and knowledge can be either liberating or limiting for students.

Critical pedagogical approaches can help students construct an engaging knowledge based on their realities and also help them to use their background experiences as a self-empowerment tool (Freire & Macedo, 1987). This means building schools as sites for historical, critical, and transformative action (McLaren & Leonard, 1993). In this process, critical educators emphasize how social identities are constructed within unequal relations of power in the schools (Weiler, 1988). The interdisciplinary approaches to learning and cultural differences address the dialectical and multifaceted experiences of everyday life. Freire (1970) notes that if the agents (teachers and students) are dichotomized, knowledge will be very limited.

Educators should identify and deconstruct hegemonic structures to re-create democratic possibilities. Giroux (1985) envisioned teachers as transformative intellectuals who constantly reflect upon their position in the social order and acknowledge students as transformative intellectuals. Yet, this vision also represents a challenge that promotes an increased awareness of this understanding, and conveys a sense of urgency for change. Such changes are based on the development of a discourse that unites a critical language with the language of possibility for both teachers and students, enabling them to recognize that they can, indeed, effect transformations in their schools, communities, and lives.

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Cesar Augusto Rossatto is Assistant
Professor, Social Sciences,
Critical Pedagogy, and
Multiculturalism, University of
Texas, El Paso.