The Pedagogy of Action: Small Axe Fall Big Tree

Description

This is the story of teaching consciousness as a requirement for transformations in social justice. In artful narrative, Nesha Haniff traces her own conscientization as a colonized child in Guyana, exploring the cultural and intellectual forces that shape the creation of the Pedagogy of Action. Drawing from Paulo Freire and Ela Bhatt, participants in POA teach an oral HIV education module to marginalized communities in the USA, South Africa and the Caribbean, as the nexus for dismantling traditional pedagogies of race, gender, service and American hegemony. The many challenges of institutional and cultural obstacles, mainly those that excluded poor and black students from overseas travel, required innovation and persistence. The book features essays written by POA students and South African participants reflecting on their own transformations. These essayists are among the hundreds of participants who, over 15 years, in the practice of radical love, grew the Pedagogy of Action. Series Editor Introduction Book Description Acknowledgments Praise for The Pedagogy of Action Contents List of Figures 1: An Introduction to the Theoretical Foundation of the Pedagogy of Action A Reflexive Turn: A Little Girl in Guyana Hears the Name Marx “Dan Is the Man in the Van” Che Guevara Mao Tse Tung, the Barefoot Doctors I Shade My Skin Pink The Structure of Scientific Revolution Paulo Freire Feminist Theory and Race Barbara Christian John Gwaltney bell hooks The Gender Consciousness Project Blaze a Fire The Organic Intellectual and the Pedagogy of Action SEWA and Ela Bhatt Works Cited Websites Part I: The Pedagogy of Action 2: The Small Activist Writes The History of the Pedagogy of Action South to North The HIV Epidemic and Its Status as a Social Movement The Module First We Begin with a Story HIV Always a Story The Science Lesson The Four Ways of Transmission AIDS FACTS LUCK Teaching in the Field First Teach Backs, U.S. and Abroad The Pedagogy of Empowerment Works Cited Websites 3: Race and Study Abroad Meeting People On Location The Pedagogy of Action in Action Language for an Oral Module Selection of Work Sites Johannesburg/Soweto Durban/KZN Cape Town Zululand Impact Photos Works Cited Websites Part II: In Our Own Words: POA Students Write 4: In Nesha’s Classroom: Lessons from the Pedagogy of Action Introduction by Nesha Haniff In Nesha’s Classroom: Lessons from the Pedagogy of Action Teaching for the Dispossessed Teaching Toward Liberation Teaching to Gozar Conclusion: Teaching with Love Works Cited 5: My Homecoming: Deconstructing My Education in POA Jamaica Home of My Immigrant Parents, June and Dudley Introduction by Nesha Haniff My Homecoming: Deconstructing My Education in POA Jamaica Home of My Immigrant Parents, June and Dudley Works Cited 6: Radical Narrative Traditions: Communal Storytelling as Praxis for Liberation Introduction by Nesha Haniff Radical Narrative Traditions: Communal Storytelling as Praxis for Liberation Radical Narratives, Political Stories Co-intentional Education and Narrative Praxis in the Pedagogy of Action Learning to Hear Groundcover’s Voice South Africa: The Path Toward Praxis Investing in Our Narratives and Our Humanity Works Cited 7: Peer Education Programs: Process as Power Introduction by Nesha Haniff Peer Education Programs: Process as Power Photo Credits Works Cited 8: In the Beginning, Was the Word and the Word Was Black Introduction by Nesha Haniff In the Beginning, Was the Word and the Word Was Black A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand “White is a state of mind.” Racism: An Inconvenient Truth Perfection Is the Enemy of Good Let the Church Say Amen Works Cited 9: Final Dispatch: Epiphanies That Gradually Mold and Shape Us Introduction by Nesha Haniff Final Dispatch: Epiphanies That Gradually Mold and Shape Us Works Cited 10: Shaping the Path of POA in South Africa Introduction by Nesha Haniff Shaping the Path of POA in South Africa Works Cited All Photos © Fazela Haniff 11: How POA Shaped My Work as an Artist Teaching Opera to Children in Diverse Communities Introduction by Nesha Haniff How POA Shaped My Work as an Artist Teaching Opera to Children in Diverse Communities Introduction: A Voice Performance Student Goes to Europe The loveLife and the Importance of Performance in POA Rain Dance and the Tradition of Black Music-Making How Music Brought Trust in Vulindlela Heartland Sings, My Beginnings as a Teacher, and Arts Integrated Residencies OMA and My Introduction to the AIR Program The “Happy” Emotion Lesson What I Think It Means to Truly Teach Conclusion: “The Truth Is Often Frightening” Works Cited 12: A Clearing in the Woods: Translation and Ownership Aspects of the Pedagogy of Action, in a Dance Composer’s Idiomatic Language Introduction by Nesha Haniff A Clearing in the Woods: Translation and Ownership Aspects of the Pedagogy of Action, in a Dance Composer’s Idiomatic Language Can the Dance Teach? The Brown Dance Project Performing HIV Prevention Study Dance Movements The Brown Dance Project Performing HIV Prevention Study Dance Repertory Skills Evaluation Conclusion Works Cited 13: Ke rena baeng, re kgopela go raloka le lena: Of Uninvited Help and Other Audacities Introduction by Nesha Haniff Ke rena baeng, re kgopela go raloka le lena: Of Uninvited Help and Other Audacities Who Calls? Who Responds? Politics of Help Abandonment Neglect Sustainability Works Cited 14: Consciousness as Gift, Burden, or Method? Reflections from India Introduction by Nesha Haniff Consciousness as Gift, Burden, or Method? Reflections from India Getting Schooled It’s Not About HIV At the University In the Mirror Conclusion, for Now P.S. October 2020 Works Cited 15: The Spirit of POA Introduction by Nesha Haniff The Spirit of POA The Divinity of the POA Preparation The Micromanagement/Orchestration of the POA Reflection Ubuntu: Love, Humanity, Humility, Civilization The Place and Its People The Divinity of the POA Works Cited 16: Sithembiso Mntambo Nkosi: Organic Intellectual The Memory I Carry Is the Political Discussion We Had by Sithembiso Mntambo Nkosi Amazondi High School in Nkandla It Helped Us Translate Scientific Terms in Our Native Language that Our Own People Could Understand by Sithembiso Nkosi Questions Works Cited Websites Epilogue Appendix: Names of POA Participants 2000–2015