Paulo Friere's dialogue method in a grade six classroom

Abstract

This thesis on Paulo Freire's dialogue is an account of a liberatory pedagogy in process. This method uses the strategy of a problem-posing "code" to develop discussion, and was investigated with 27 grade 6 students from a largely white, middle-class, rural setting in the Atlantic Provinces. Stories, a skit and movies were codes used in this project. There were 14 males and 13 females involved in a 1 1/2 hours dialogue on one code a week for 13 weeks. Dialogues included a study on gender, race and class relations. Six students were chosen for in-depth study of their participation in the dialogues, through the case study method. Also included is an analysis of the learning of the total class body as well as a report of my own learning from participation in the dialogues. The findings show that this pedagogy is an exceptionally valuable educational experience. It integrates the affective, social and cognitive learning experiences for students and teacher, reinforcing the concept of students as teachers and teacher as co-learner in a study that examines power relations in the classroom as well as the society of which it is a part.