What are the Take Part Learning Principles?

Take Part learning is based on the work of Paolo Freire and his view of education as a process of transformation and change. In his most famous work, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1972), Freire introduced the following concepts:

• Dialogue is a process of conversational encounter and exploration with others that facilitates critical analysis of the world
• Praxis is the process of reflection and political action - "naming the world through the word"
• Conscientization is the process of 'learning to perceive social, political and economic contraditions and to take action against the oppressive elements of reality' (Freire, 1998).

In practice, these key concepts are realised in a process using experience and problem-posing: rather than the tutor/facilitator delivering education to the learners, they all bring their experience together in the process of critically exploring reality and so re-creating knowledge.

As a result, the key principles of Take Part learning are that it is:

• Learner centred - encouraging people to reflect on their own past and their futures, and to share knowledge and experience.
• Experiential - valuing and building on people's prior experiences and knowledge.
• Active and reflective - enabling learners to learn by doing, and then to reflect on what has been achieved
• Community-based - anchoring learning in a community context, focusing on wider community issues, working in inclusive ways and encouraging participation in community structures and networks

For more information see the Take Part Learning Framework.