Full article (pdf): EGR11 03 SotoPedrosa English

José Luis Soto Soto y Beatriz Pedrosa Vico

Abstract

The pedagogy of commitment comes about through an experience of contact with situations of exclusion that alter the way we feel, think and behave. The shift in hermeneutic place from which we interpret the reality is crucial to shepherd our reflection towards a transformative action. A specific experience may trigger personal and institutional processes that enable us to navigate through the different generations of transformative education.

This pedagogical revolution pivots on experience; although experience is but the launching pad for a reflection that shines the spotlight on the causes of inequality and poverty and which compels us to transform the reality. This article gives an account of a process that has guided us from actions with a first generation DE approach to institutional transformation through a Unit of Committed Action (UAC is the Spanish acronym) in which the university institution, in partnership with other organisations and immigrants, seeks to address a specific social reality by altering the way we comprehend the university’s teaching, research and social endeavours.

Key words

Development Education, transformative education, pedagogy of commitment, immigration, social justice.