CR #3: Knowledge Requires Experience
To be humanized is to be. To be your own person, aware of the capabilities for transformation and revolution, to be capable and in control of your decisions and being without restrictions. Dehumanization is when humanity is stolen and people are degraded by oppressors as a means of control and power. Dehumanization exists so the oppressors “consciousness tends to transform everything surrounding it into an object of its domination. The earth, the property, production, the creations of people, people themselves, time– everything is reduced to the status of objects at its disposal” (Freire, p. 11). The humanization of people is to be aware so while dehumanization persists throughout generations, the oppressed yearn to have control over their lives again and be free, not subversed into society. To become critically conscious is “being with the world, and this permanent and unavoidable… it is, in essence, a ‘way towards’ something apart from itself and outside itself, which surrounds it and which it apprehends by means of its ideational capacity. (Friere, p. 17). Mental liberation from the oppressors requires resisting wanted to be the oppressor, which is what could be misconstrued when doing self-liberation. Critical consciousness is imperative to be free because as we internalized dehumanization through self-deprecation, we limit our ways of thinking to be free. Through critical consciousness (consisting of knowledge, reflection, activism, and praxis), liberation from colonization can be achieved if done throughout a lifespan of reflection and praxis. As our knowledge grows, we can undo the effects of colonization through building community and liberation through education and action.
“When [the oppressed] discover within themselves the yearning to be free, they perceive that this yearning can be transformed into reality only when the same yearning is aroused in their comrades… They discover that without freedom they cannot exist authentically. Yet, although they desire authentic existence, they fear” (Friere, p 4,5).
Every day we grow. We acquire new information as we move through the day whether it is something about ourselves or a new theory concept. “Knowledge grows from and is a reflection of social experience”( Freire, Horton p. xvi) meaning that knowledge itself is apart of lived experiences and how we analyze and perceive them adds to our evergrowing bank of wisdom, based on the social context of where we grew up. When we access new knowledge, it is up to us with reflection to question the knowledge we already know based on our morals. Unlearning is apart of the process of learning. If we were to learn about a community we don’t have prior experience or knowledge about through a book or as a lecture, we will never really “figure it out because [we] are trying to get an answer that can only come from the people in the life situation.” (Horton, p.xxi) Authentic knowledge comes from first-hand experiences. I was inspired by the ESL students I help on the first day and I hope as the semester goes on, that they will tell me their stories and hope they realize in their collective participation in learning English, that they have more power to gather from and contribute to a more equitable society.
I immediately noticed from the reading that “real liberation is achieved through popular participation. Participation, in turn, is realized through an educational practice that itself is both liberatory and participatory, that simultaneously creates a new society and involves the people themselves in the creation of their own knowledge”. As the students learn English, we are building a community of learners eager to pass on the information they learned so more can be liberated from certain barriers and have more access to resources. By helping teach English, it is a first step of reaching how they know (through weekly interactions and communication), then we can further involve people in reaching liberation by understanding ways they think and move forward from there towards critical thinking through a central understanding. In order for the people to liberate themselves, we as educators or caregivers have to walk with them through the process of liberation and gain the knowledge we seek in collaboration rather than just saying “here, take what u get from here and use it for your job”. “I cannot fight for a freer society if at the same time I don’t respect the knowledge of the people” (Friere, 101). For me to practice “authentic knowledge” means using my lived experiences as a first-generation Mexican child of immigrants, while still respecting their own knowledge as well, because each lived experience is different and requires perspective in the social context of where I am serving and who I speak with. As I learn from our conversations and build on that for when I work with similar communities as a nurse, I am growing in so many ways possible that it embodies the reality of authentic knowledge.
“To be known and reknown” (Friere, 107)
