Synthesizing Gramsci and Freire: possibilities for a theory of radical adult education

Peter Mayo. (1994). Int'l journal of lifelong education, 13(2), 125-48.

Mayo proposed a foundation of a radical theory of adult education grounded in the concepts and practices of Gramsci and Freire. Here he suggested:

1) "[R]adical adult education initiatives should be rooted in a commitment to confronting oppression" (p. 140) and it should aim at emancipation from oppression.
2) Radical adult education should recognize the importance of cultural activity as a site of struggle by problematizing the taken-for-granted reality and exposing the underlying ideologies.
3) Radical adult education should be seen in the context of social movement against different forms of oppression across gender, class, race, and ethnicity.
4) The aspect of culture is important to radical adult education. Mayo argued that for Freire, "the dominant language be taught by radical adult educators in a problematizing manner, whereas Gramsci thought "subordinated people should learn the dominant language in order to survive in the power struggle" (p. 143) [This interpretation is not so convincing.] Anyhow, Mayo argued that radical adult educators should critically incorporate the dominant culture in order to empower the learners.

As a limitation of their perspectives, Mayo pointed out (1) the failure to take account of the complexity of the nature of oppression. In particular, Freire has been criticized by feminist scholars for his lack of sustained analysis of race, gender and sexuality. In particular, Weiler (1991, Freire and a feminist pedagogy of difference. Harvard Educational Review, Vol. 61, No. 4,
pp. 449-474.) criticized the simplicity of the dichotomy between oppressor and oppressed overlooked the multiplicity of subjectivities involved in learning. Thus, Mayo suggested, radical adult education should include feminist and anti-racist education.

Lastly Mayo pointed out global capitalism, in which business climate takes over democracy (Ross and Trachte's (1990), cited 144). According to him, it can devastate adult education by limiting public funds to social programs. Given that situation, he argued that the locus of power should be given to international forces beyond the dynamic of national-popular and called for international alliance.

As Coben rightly pointed out, Mayo does not clearly state the purpose of the education in this essay. He talked about emancipation from oppression, but doesn't talk about whether the oppression originate and which end we go at the end... Here, emancipation is no more than a romanticized idealistic myth.