WITHDRAWN: Paulo Freire and the Situated Politics of Prison Pedagogies

• In Event: 47.098 - Sheraton Roundtable Session Eight - Osgoode Ballroom
  In Roundtable Session: 47.098-2 - Freire SIG Roundtable

Abstract

It has been argued that teaching in jails and prisons means believing that jails and prisons can be rehabilitative spaces (Rodriguez, 2006). This paper confronts the role of prison education programs in the age of mass incarceration by examining Freire’s notion of education as a form of situated politics. By interrogating the belief that “reading the world always precedes reading the word, and reading the word implies continually reading the world” (Freire & Macedo, 1987, p. 35), this paper explores how Freireian pedagogy, and its dialogical underpinnings, might best be utilized in classes taught in jails and prisons. Particular attention is paid to classroom dynamics and the relationships between incarcerated students, instructors, and correctional officers.

Author

• Gregory T Bruno, Teachers College, Columbia University