To this day, conferences in honour of the legacy of Paulo Freire are hosted, illustrating his vast and deep contribution to education, especially in communities and societies grappling with issues of inequality and social injustice. To name but one among many
such contributions, a paper was delivered at the PENA Symposium at Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia (Darder, 2012).
In recent years, a conference – also one among many - Paulo Freire: The Global Legacy
Conference 2012 serves as an example of his contribution. The conference was hosted by
the University of Waikato, Te Whare Wananga o Waikato, New Zealand as a “retrospective celebration of his work and its legacy and influence across the globe” (Rikowski, 2012/03/31 blog, http://rikowski.wordpress.com). This university works closely with the Mãori communities to make higher education accessible to them and to foster an environment of success (www.waikato.ac.nz). The conference included
experienced and new researchers, policy-makers and practitioners from all over the world. Some of the keynote speakers included Dr Nita Freire, Prof Peter McLaren, Prof Linda Tuhiwai Smith and Prof Peter Roberts who spoke on a variety of topics. These topics included: The philosophy of education society in Australasia (opening address);
Occupying critical pedagogy: Reclaiming the legacy of Freire; Practicing freedom – Mãori development in a neo-liberal world; as well as Paulo Freire and the idea of openness (www.waikato.ac.nz/globalstudies).
In the discussion sessions were scholars and practitioners from places such as Tonga, Kenya, Pakistan, India, United Arab Emirates, Australia and New Zealand. The broad themes of the conference were: globalisation, de-colonisation, indigenous cultures and cultural studies (Rikowski, 2012).
The introductory note of the UNESCO MOST Education and Social Transformation Seminar (www.unesco.org/most/freireeng) reflects on the different views of Paulo Freire as follows:
Freire’s method has the great merit of respecting and taking into account the knowledge of the populations to be taught (reading and writing). It underlines the link between knowledge, ability and power and the importance of dialogue and participation in learning. But it raises nevertheless practical and theoretical
questions, which call into question its validity. What were the influences of Freire’s method on action-research into Latin America and elsewhere? What dialogues have been established between various forms of thinking about social transformation? It is advisable to specify that Freire is especially known by/for his method of combating illiteracy, but his contributions to reflecting on pedagogy in general, and more particularly to any pedagogy engaged in, and committed to, the process of social transformation are as significant as his “method”.
It is in conferences, seminars and symposia like these that the impact of the teachings of Paulo Freire is reflected in the legacy promoted by institutions of higher education such as, amongst others, the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) in Argentina, as well as the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Stellenbosch University (SU) and the University of the Western Cape in South Africa. As examples of the impact of the philosophy of Paulo Freire, these universities demonstrate how his teachings influenced the very nature of the institutions, as reflected specifically in their vision and mission statements.
The University of Buenos Aires gives expression to its role and relationship with communities and society specifically as inherent to its main mission – “training
professional is a long-term commitment with the society, as well as carrying out research in order to improve the human and social life quality (sic)”
(www.uba.ar/ingles/about/extentionprograms). The extension department is responsible for establishing a direct relationship with different areas and social entities and forms a nexus between teaching and research. Joint work of teachers and students embraces a wide range of problems, including health, education, environment, children’s and adolescents’ rights, social vulnerability, and crime and violence.
In the case of the UKZN, the foundation of the work done at its PFI is grounded in the mission statement; principles and core values, as well as its goals. The mission statement refers to the support of the university for “national and regional development, and the welfare and upliftment of the wider community, through the generation and
(www.ukzn.ac.za/about-ukzn/vision-and-mission). One of its goals is to work for
responsible community engagement, by contributing through knowledge that adds value to the communities it serves.
Another approach to expressing a pedagogy of hope in the context of South African higher education is the Community, Self and Identity (CSI) project. Based on the work of bell hooks (2003), it examined how invited guest speakers as part of a collaborative, inter-institutional module contributed to the pedagogy of hope hooks uses
autobiographical narrative “to offer a critical analysis of experiences of marginalization, particularly of race and gender” (Carolissen et al., 2011: 158). The CSI is an
interdisciplinary collaboration project between the Psychology Department and Centre for Teaching and Learning of Stellenbosch University and the Social Work and
Occupational Therapy Departments of University of the Western Cape. Participants aim to engage with students across boundaries of universities, professions, race, gender and class to “critically examine their assumptions about their disciplines through engagement with the ‘other’” (Carolissen et al., 2011: 159). This is done through contact and online discussions, essays, drawings as well as guest speakers, including a theatre group, in relation to the notion of pedagogy of hope. The guest speakers brought to this course a multitude of teaching and learning opportunities for identification, for being unsettled and for feeling affirmed (Carolissen et al., 2011: 165-166).
The Rector and Vice-Chancellor of Stellenbosch University, Prof. H Russel Botman, proclaimed in his inaugural speech (Botman, 2007: 5) that, for SU “to understand the core of our own institutional strength and establish a new pedagogical framework – A Pedagogy of Hope, based on the theory of Paulo Freire seems the most appropriate”. At the time, Vision 2012 of SU had to be geared to using a number of themes specifically the Millennium Development Goals derived from the international development agenda. He saw his leadership as fostering the pursuit of ‘the South African hope’ in service of those who had lost hope (Botman, 2007: 7-8). The SU Hope Project was developed across the university with initiatives in all faculties, including a special issue of the South
hope in the form of the SU Hope Project, the university saw the beginnings of the theory of Paulo Freire becoming a pedagogy as expressed in Vision 2030 as part of the
Institutional Intent and Strategy, 2013- 2018 (www.sun.ac.za).
So, the education philosophy of Paulo Freire has been used in many ways: projects, organisations, institutes, academic conferences, symposia and seminars – in honour of his legacy and the contributions it has made and can make to change the world ̶ to make it “less ugly, more human, more just, more decent” (Freire, 2004: 101).
The idea expressed as follows is referred to as the Easter Experience: “those who authentically commit themselves to the people must re-examine themselves constantly. This conversion is so radical as not to allow for ambivalent behavior… Conversion to the people requires a profound rebirth. Those who undergo it must take on a new form of existence; they can no longer remain as they were” (www.freire.org/paulo-
freire/concepts-used-by-paulo-freire).