Posing a learner’s suggestion back as a problem generates new themes.

Evidence

One of the group members may say, for example: “I’d like to talk abut nationalism.” “Very well,” says the educator, noting down the suggestion, and adds: “What does nationalism mean? Why is a discussion about nationalism of any interest to us?” My experience shows that when a suggestion is posed as a problem to the group, new themes appear. If, in an area where (for example) thirty culture circles meet on the same night, all the “co-ordinators” (educators) proceed in this fashion, the central team will have a rich variety of thematic material for study. — Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 364

Categorization

• CANDY: The miniature worked example — learner says ‘nationalism,’ educator replies ‘what does that mean?’ — is a vivid little scene that captures the whole method.