Teaching and Social Change: Reflections on a Freirean Approach in a College Classroom

This paper reflects on the implementation of Paulo Freire's problem-posing method with community college students during the 1978/1979 academic year. The year-long course focused on the problem of the negative portrayal of Chicanos in the media, which led to a boycott of two films. I examine Freire's pedagogy and its application in the classroom, critique the process, and describe recent work applying the Freirean methodology in college classrooms. The paper considers the boycott's possible impact on the decline of Chicano gang films during the 1980s and the recent development of more positive films on the Chicano experience.