Building Hopes: Engaged Educators Change the World  

In this podcast series, on critical and transformative pedagogy, titled Building Hopes: Engaged Educators Change the World, Teresa Cappiali interviews the most innovative educators, human rights advocates, and community leaders around the world using critical and transformative pedagogy in their work. Together with the guests, Teresa explores how the approach is used to empower individuals and communities. She engages with the guests on critical questions regarding how they use this pedagogy in their work, and what they think is its added value in promoting human rights and social justice.

Episodes

Episode 1. Empowering Through Creative Arts-Making

Guest: André de Quadros

André de Quadros is Professor of music at Boston University and human rights activist. In the interview, we ask him about his work with prisoners (both women and men) in the USA, and with groups promoting peace-building in the Israeli- Palestinians conflict.

In this episode, he explains how his approach called Empowering Song allows to open up new paths to empower individuals and communities seeking change.

“It is not the place of the theatre to show the correct path, but only to offer the means by which all possible paths may be examined!” Augusto Boal, Theatre of the Oppressed

I think what I do is I try to go in and to create a space for dialog, space for mindfulness. You know, I as a leader, I see my responsibility is not going to be the salvation attitude. You know, teaching is working in a particular kind of way, creating a space for people to create their own stories, tell their own stories and make their own music, write their own songs, so create their own poetry and all that, you know, all kinds of things. – André de Quadros

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References

  • de Quadros, A., Kelman D., White, J., Sonn C., and Baker, A. (eds.) (2021). Poking the WASP Nest: Young People, Applied Theatre, and Education about Race. Brill.
  • Vu, K. T., and de Quadros, A. (eds.) (2020) My Body was Left on the Street. Music Education and Displacement. Brill.
  • de Quadros, A. and Amrein, A. (eds.) (2022) Empowering Song. A Sustaining and Revitalizing Pedagogy. Routledge.

Episode 2. Growing Roses in Concrete in Wounded and Vulnerable Communities

Guest: Jeffrey Duncan-Andrade

Jeffrey Duncan-Andrade is Professor of Latina/o Studies and Race and Resistance Studies, San Francisco State University, USA, and the co-founder of the  School Lab Roses in Concrete, based in Eastern Oakland, California, USA.

Duncan-Andrade’s pedagogical approach is called Community Responsive Pedagogy. It is known for producing uncommon levels of social and academic success for students in schools serving poor and working-class children and youth. In  this interview, we ask him about the key ingredients of his pedagogical approach.

Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete? Proving nature’s law is wrong it learned to walk without having feet. Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams, it learned to breathe fresh air. Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else ever cared. – Tupac, The Rose That Grew From Concrete

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 References

  • Duncan-Andrade, Jeffrey M., Ernest Morrell 2017 The Art of Critical Pedagogy: Possibilities for Moving from Theory to Practice in Urban Schools.

Episode 3. Human Rights Education and Transformative Pedagogy in Higher Education

Guest: Felisa Tibbitts

Felisa Tibbitts is Chair in Human Rights Education, Utrecht University and UNESCO Chair of Human Rights in Higher Education. She has more than 30 years of experience in the field of human rights education. In 1996, she co-founded the Human Rights Education Associates (HREA), a global human rights education center based in the USA with human rights training programs around the world.  In this episode, we ask her about her personal experience and why and how she applies critical and transformative pedagogy when teaching human rights and peace education at Teachers College, Colombia University, USA, to students coming from all over the world.

“Human rights education promotes values, beliefs and attitudes that encourage all individuals to uphold their own rights and those of others. … Human rights education constitutes an essential contribution to the long-term prevention of human rights abuses and represents an important investment in the endeavour to achieve a just society in which all human rights of all persons are valued and respected”  OHCHR

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References

  • Tibbitts, F. (2005) “Human Rights Education and Transformative Learning.” Special issue of Intercultural Education, 16(2), 107-113.

Episode 4. Community-Based Advocacy, and Intersectionality for Reconciliation in Colombia

Guest: Monica Cabarcas

Monica Cabarcas is an Advisor for The Commission for Clarification of the Truth, Coexistence and Non-Repetition (CEV) and has more than 12 years of experience working with civil society organizations. In the interview, we ask her about how critical and transformative pedagogy is integrated in the advocacy strategies and community-based projects used by the Commission of Truth and Reconciliation to promote a culture of peace after 60 years of armed conflict in Colombia.

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The Podcast Series is created and hosted by

Teresa Cappiali

Teresa is a Senior Researcher at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute for Human Rights (RWI) in Sweden. She is also the founder of the start-up NOIWE- NO INNOVATION WITHOUT EDUCATION, a company offering training and toolkits to public and private organisations via the use of educational models based on principles of critical and transformative pedagogy.

Francesca Cerri, co-producer 

Francesca is a multimedia storyteller who works with community engagement to challenge mainstream narratives. She uses a diversity of approaches and platforms (planning practice, research, artistic projects, and teaching) to highlight the knowledge of underrepresented groups and validate their experience.

 


More about the podcast

Song Rights. Album: De André – In Concert. (P) Nuvole Production Srl, 1999 – 74321974432, CD, Recorded in 1997/98 in Genoa, Carlo Felice theatre; in Milan, Smerando theater; in Rome, Brancaccio theater.

Musicians: 

Cristiano De André: strings, vocals
Mark Harris: musical direction-keyboards
Mario Arcari: woodwinds
Michele Ascolese: strings
Ellade Bandini: drums
Stefano Cerri: bass guitar
Giorgio Cordini: strings
Rosario Jermano: percussion

Chorus
Luvi De André: voice
Laura De Luca: voice – flute
Danila Satragno: voice – accordion – keyboards

Mixage
Paolo Iafelice performed at the studios: Officine Meccaniche
mastered at Nautilus in Milan by Antonio Baglio
Celeste Frigo technician
Giordano De Tommasi assistant

Author and editorial credit

Prinçesa
(Freely adapted from the novel-interview of the same name by Maurizio Jannelli and Fernanda Farias | Ediz. Sensibili Alle Foglie – Rome)
F. De André | I. Fossati | F. De André | I. Fossati | M. Jannelli
Il Volatore Ed. Musicali S.rl. | Nuvole Ed. Musicali S.a.s. | Universal Music Publishing Ricordi S.r.l.

Album: De André – In concerto, (P) Nuvole Production Srl, 1999 – 74321974432, CD, Recorded in 1997/98 in Genova, Carlo Felice Theatre; in Milan, Smerando Theatre; in Rome, Brancaccio Theatre


Find the episodes here for Building Hopes: Engaged Educators Change the World.

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