Professor Peter Mayo from the Department of Arts, Open Communities and Adult Education was keynote speaker at the conference, ' Pratiquer, (se)former (aux), (re)penser et questionner les pédagogies émancipatrices – actualités & débat' held at the École Supérieure du Professorat et de l'Éducation (ESPE) de Paris.
The conference drew participants from various countries including Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Israel, Palestine, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, USA, Venezuela, and of course the host country, France.
Among the participants was Paulo Freire's daughter, Cristina Heiniger, who lives with her Basque husband in Geneva. The two other keynote speakers were Professor Antonia Darder from Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles and Caroline Dayer from the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. The Coordinator of the conference was Tal Dor from ESPE.
Professor Mayo's talk, delivered in English, bore the title of 'Understanding Colonialism and Fostering a Decolonizing Emancipatory Education Through Paulo Freire'. This presentation, rather than providing a comprehensive exposition of Paulo Freire’s signature concepts, focused on one aspect of his body of work: colonialism. The emphasis was placed on the ‘oppressor consciousness’ and ‘cultural invasion’ the latter seen in its broadest context to include technological imperialism and teacher proof systems. It also stressed the need to avoid regarding Freire's work as a transferable method. It dealt with colonialism, in terms of direct colonialism and neo-colonialism. The presentation addressed, in this regard, the complex issue of language in postcolonial contexts.
