Popular Education Working Group Discussion

What do we want to do at 2012 Conference?

Tess Ewing — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 16:49:24 -0400

We are belatedly trying to get together a confernce call for next week to discuss what our Working Group would like to propose for the 2012 UALE conference in Pittsburgh. Workshops? Meeting time? Anything else?

I will be sending out a Meeting Wizard email to you all separately with a couple of proposed times. When you get it, please follow the link and let us know if the times work for you.

If none of them is good for you, don't fear: we will have more calls in the future. But the time is creeping up on us, so we want to get the ball rolling.

By the way, Eric Muldoon, who has been one of our 3 co-chairs for the last few years, has stepped down. So we are looking for a replacement. If you’d like to do it, please let us know

Popular Education Working Group

Popular Education Workshop

ruthneedleman — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 12:06:39 -0500

You have all been silenced by some extraordinary force of nature. We need to talk about how we plan to carry out the workshop beyond the few suggestions I made. Help!

Popular Education Working Group

Popular Education Task Force workshop at UALE conference

Tess Ewing — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 12:30:36 -0500

The Popular Education Task Force plans to do a workshop on popular education, the basics, the advantages and the challenges at the 2011 UALE meeting. Here is a preliminary plan to begin our discussion and identify those who wish to participate.

This is a very rough sketch, developed to be changed and shaped. Give us feedback and let us know if you want to be involved.

2 hrs total

Activity 1: Each person writes down 3 words that come to mind in describing popular education. Then in groups of four, they select 3-5 words and write each one on a separate 8x11” paper. They also introduce themselves to each other and contribute two questions they would like to see answered during the session.

Depending on size, have everyone do a one sentence intro as their group posts their words and facilitators write down their questions.

As groups post words, the facilitator clusters similar ones and clarifies meanings with the group. Once all the words are up, ask what is missing, ask for help categorizing or organizing words, and then ask for comments on what these words say/mean and how popular education might differ from other forms of education.

Make sure certain key phrases are up: participatory, experience-based, problem-solving, action-oriented, reflective…
Distinguish through questions the difference between participation and participant agency in shaping the workshop.
Distinguish between techniques and pedagogy or methodology.
Use the questions they raise to deepen this introductory discussion.

Activity 2: Develop based on questions. Through discussion find the core questions or difficulties in popular education that participants have identified. Based on level of understanding, perhaps, set up new groups

Those most familiar with pedagogy, work on a trigger and also an explanation of the role of a trigger.
Other groups take questions and discuss them and report back their discussion “creatively.” Report Back & discussion

Activity 3: Debrief methodology used in the first two activities, explain experience-based, triggers, and other issues. Open discussion (with leadership), pointing toward a few central conclusions about popular education.

Activity 4: How and when can worker educators make the best use of popular education? Open and broad-ranging discussion.

Popular Education Working Group

Who Says Popular Educators are Luddites?

Tess Ewing — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 10:35:49 -0500

Here is living proof that Popular Educators can use electronic technology in their teaching as well as anyone else!Steve with video monitor: Popular Educator Steve Schnapp uses cutting-edge AV equipment

Popular Education Working Group

The importance of generating conversation in the classroom

ruthneedleman — Wed, 26 May 2010 10:39:27 -0400

I have finally posted the short bell hooks piece on conversaiton. Can we converse?

Popular Education Working Group