Paulo Freire's Pedagogical Praxis, Place-Based Education, and Mad Studies: Centering People's and Communities' Stories

• In Event: Freire's Legacy for Social Resistance

Abstract

As the theoretical lenses of Paulo Freire's pedagogical praxis, place-based education, and Mad studies seek to center the voices of historically disenfranchised groups breaking the binary thinking of us versus them, I raised the following epistemological curiosity: What would a theoretical synthesis of these three frameworks look like? I will conduct a theoretical inquiry to identify emergent themes, key aspects, and commonalities between the three theoretical strands by discussing the following epistemological categories: lived experiences, praxis as a political act, and community development. Briefly, this synthesis centers Mad educators' and youth's personal and collective experiences. It promotes a praxis of collaboration between academia and community, disrupting the top-down approaches of hegemonic biopsychiatric, scientific research, and education bureaucratic experts' discourses.

Author

• Miriam Furlan Brighente, Eastern Michigan University
  Presenting Author