The Practice of Liberation: Radical Pedagogy in Almanaque Escuela Para Todos Open Access

Abstract

My honors thesis consists of a two-part analysis of the Costa Rican Almanaque Escuela Para Todos. The almanac, first published in 1966, consists of yearly editions aimed at improving educational attainment and literacy for rural Central American adults. The almanac was the most widely distributed publication in Central America at the start of the 21^st century and has been in publication for fifty-three years. So far, the majority of the literature on the almanac comes from celebratory publications written exclusively by and for Central Americans. English-language academia seems to have missed what I perceive as an important Latin American educational project.[1] Thus, a principal motivation of my thesis is to introduce Escuela Para Todos Almanac to an English-speaking audience and contextualize the almanac within the broader context of popular education in Latin America. Secondly, I hope to further the collective understanding of Escuela Para Todos by connecting the almanac to larger pedagogical theories and evaluating the almanac within the framework of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire’s liberation pedagogy. In my analysis, I argue that Escuela Para Todos is ideologically grounded in Freire’s liberation-based approach to education. Furthermore, I assert that the content of the almanac strongly reflects Freirean principles, suggesting an effective implementation of his theory. I conclude that Almanaque Escuela Para Todos is a successful case of an educational project based in liberation pedagogy and merits more attention by scholars of Latin American and popular education.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface…………………………………………………………………………………..…1

I.              Introduction………………………………………………………………………...……...2

II.            Background

1.    Education in Latin America: Issues and Developments……………………………...5

2.    Paulo Freire and Liberation Pedagogy……………………………………………….11

3.    Methodology…………………………………………………………………………20

III.          Understanding Almanaque Escuela Para Todos

1.    History and Philosophy of Almanaque Escuela Para Todos………………………...23

2.    Structure and Content of Almanaque Escuela Para Todos………………………….28

IV.         Connecting Escuela Para Todos to Freire………………………………………….........39

V.           Analysis of Almanaque Esccuela Para Todos…………………………………………...47

1.    Problematic Areas……………………………………………………………………61

VI.         Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….65

VII.       Appendix…………………………………………………………………………….…...79

VIII.     Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………….…76

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Spanish and Portuguese
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Latin American Studies Education, Pedagogy Literature, Latin American
Keyword	Latin American Education Costa Rica critical pedagogy
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Karen Stolley, Emory University
Committee Members	Robyn Clarke, Emory University Susan Tamasi, Emory University

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