Circles of culture: Literacy as a pro- cess for social inclusion

Abstract

Historically, illiteracy has been a reality for Brazilians. This paper describes an adult literacy program currently in practice in Northeastern Brazil from a critical theory framework. The program described is based on Freireʼs circles of culture and its conception is that literacy is a process for social inclusion. Along with the description provided by the author, resulting from participant observation and review of literature, this paper includes the perspective of a student currently in the program. Further, from a critical standpoint, the author acknowledges many positive things already implemented and challenges for the future of this promising literacy program.

Keywords

• Illiteracy, critical theory, circles of culture, social inclusion