Popular education

intro - explain pbl format

Round One

In an English as a Second Language class for immigrant workers, Ramona is sitting in the back of the classroom, talking excitedly in Spanish with the person next to her. Standing at the front of the class, Matt is frustrated and curious.

• What's the problem? (this is not as simple as it may seem, to begin with it depends on whose standpoint you look at it from, for Ramona, the problem may be that there is no good chance to talk with the person next to her...)

Over time, the standard chants and slogans used on picket lines and in demonstrations, protests, and marches, become stale and cliche. The content gets lost and the music becomes sing-song. The chants have no impact. The whole experience becomes disempowering. (This has been true for so long that even complaining about it is stale and cliche!)

So, what's this handbook about?

This handbook is:

• a toolkit for educators and activists
• a case-study of grass-roots worker education in the US workers movement
• [an argument for popular education for union democracy, and
• [an argument for union democracy for worker education
• [a call for allies
• [a starter

A Toolkit
[box]What kinds of activities can I use to help workers learn their rights and develop their ability to organize for democracy and power?[image: we're all here, now what do I do?]

Adapted from "The triangle tool" in Educating for a Change.

Summary:
Using a simple analytic tool, this activity helps people become aware of the different factors -- structure, culture and participation -- that combine to make a union more or less democratic. It also emphasizes the role of the rank-and-file as well as the officers and staff.

Good for:

This handout goes with the Visions of Unionism diagrams. It is not "the answer," but it does reveal my thinking about the diagrams and my biases. It is very schematic, just a starting point for discussion.

When I used this activity, I included this text in a packet of materials. I did not use it in the actual workshop because the workshop was about helping the participants articulate their own visions of unionism, not debating mine (much as I would enjoy that!).

[img_assist|nid=138|title=Visions of Unionism 1|desc=The first image -- what do you see? Who are these people? What do we know about them? What do the arrows and circles mean? Why are some pointing in different directions?|link=none|align=left|width=450|height=348]

[img_assist|nid=139|title=Visions of Unionism 2|desc=The second vision: What do you see here? Who are the various people? What are they all doing? What are their relationships to each other? Have you ever experienced this type of unionism?|link=none|align=left|width=450|height=348]

put my line here, image first

[Put here the AUD handout -- who does what? Use it as a checklist activity that people can do, discuss in pairs and then share in group. Can also use it as an agree/disagree list.]

[WHERE DOES THIS BELONG? MAYBE BETTER TO PLACE IT UNDER ACTION, OR UNDER PREPARING FOR ACTION?]

Checklist of 13 Basic Principles of Democratic Organizing
(adapted by Matt Noyes from The Troublemaker's Handbook, by Dan LaBotz, Labor Notes 1989)