"Liberating education consists in acts of cognition, not transferals of information"
Paulo Freire -1968
Critical pedagogy; Progressive movement towards change; drawing from (Freire, 2005) and (Frantz, 1968). As a black man and a migrant from the Caribbean, I consider myself to be a part of more than one marginalized group. Therefore, as an educator, focusing on these issues will help to bring about awareness and prevent minority like myself from encountering unpleasant experiences. These issues have become a part of my consciousness because of my personal experience after living here in Canada for the last 15 years. Secondly, my experiences growing up in Jamaica have allowed me to understand that classism is wrong, a system that was created by colonialism, which allows a superstructure to be maintained in most colonized countries.
My Philosophy
With over fifteen years of my professional life working and studying in the field of agriculture, science, and education. I have been provided many opportunities to gain significant experience in adult education, both formal and informal. During that time, my focus was given to farmers, specifically small-scale farmers. I believe in hard work, fairness, and equality, and that resolutions are sought through tact and diplomacy. My last three years working as an educator have increased my desire to continue practicing in the field of education. This is very important because I personally believe that education is a main source of life transformation. I can testify to such a transformation process because my life and that of my immediate family is a perfect example of such a process. I believe that there is a correlation between the adult education level of a country and its economic success. I have reiterated that adult education is the catalyst for total life transformation and economic growth in humans. I will continue to practice using such an approach. I believe in a democratic approach, and as such, I will encourage my students using the Freire Philosophical view. Freire believes in a democratic learning approach; he believes that people can learn from each other because of their different experiences. Therefore, I believe, as Freire, that the teacher must become the student and the student become the teacher to provide the most opportunity for the learner, and I am prepared to continue to practice as such.
In the past, I worked as an adult educator, and some of my duties included teaching mathematics and Science, evaluating exams and work to understand culture, and making recommendations for higher education. Additionally, I worked as a research technician with Dalhousie University from 2019 to 2023, to develop new varieties of plants for farmers and to mitigate problems in agriculture in the maritime provinces in Canada. I am currently working with the Mushuau Innu First Nation as their Land and Resource Manager. Again, my role is tied to community development, land use, and the learning and needs of the community. As I challenged the problems in society on one hand and the principle of adult education on the other. I am prepared to approach the situation as Freire would, and continue to learn as much as I can from the people that I work with, including their culture, since Freire believed that culture is most relevant when learning about human. As I continue on my own self-development in the field of science and education, content and pratices as become very relevant, since this became a major part of my learning. I believe that content and practices must be done in a way that the greatest number of learners have access to as much information as possible. I am prepared to continue advising on informal practices, which will include art, watching videos and other activities that will allow for the demonstration of processes and present the value of relationship building, cultural pedagogy, and allow for strong constructive feedback.