Freire’s cultural circles apply at every grade level to critique school textbooks

Evidence

Cultural circles in the social studies classroom can happen at any grade level from kindergarten all the way to the university level. Following the structure of Freire’s circles, students learn to investigate, thematize, and problematize the social studies textbook. After exploring a topic in the social studies textbook, students are invited to investigate the historical event from other perspectives. By using a variety of texts including newspaper articles, journals, eyewitness accounts, photographs, interviews, and a variety of children’s and young adult literature, students will gain a more complete story of the historical event. — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 616

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the practical method of ‘cultural circles’ as investigate, thematize, and problematize.
• XREF: connects to: Freirean cultural circles resist any fixed curriculum — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed:…, 594; Freire intended cultural circles to vary fluidly by participants’ needs — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed:…, 594; Freirean cultural circles originated as a literacy method for Brazilian peasants — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed:…, 621

Broader Connections

• Freire intended cultural circles to vary fluidly by participants’ needs #expands (0.85) — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 594
• Freirean cultural circles originated as a literacy method for Brazilian peasants #complicates (0.85) — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 621