"The Problem Has to Do With Time": Traces of Freire Teaching in the University of Geneva

• In Event: Freirean Praxis in Dehumanizing Times

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss Freire's dilemmas in university teaching based on archival research in Geneva. Drawing from an evidentiary perspective, we present the educator's description of how he conducted his seminars and the main concerns expressed about the potentialities and limitations of his approach. In his letter to Jeanette Sabto, Freire mentions his fear of superficiality when adopting an approach that values all people's experiences in the educational process. He stresses the value of dialogue as an epistemological foundation through a problematization of time, not only in an informal context, but also within the university. He advocates that this risk is worth it, assuming people only learn by reconstructing knowledge in dialogue.

Author

• Maíra Tavares Mendes, University of Toronto - OISE