
          Popular Education in Nicaragua
          By Collier, MartyMarty
               Collier
          Vol. 9, No. 1, 1987, pp. 7-9
          
          "Watching the Nicaraguan popular educators reaffirmed my own
experience that to do popular education, you have to start from
people's own experiences. In SALT this is what we do," said Linda
Martin, a staffer of Southern Appalachian Leadership Training
(SALT). Martin is one of thirteen community workers and educators from
Tennessee who traveled to Nicaragua in January to deepen an
international relationship between adult, popular educators in North
and Latin America.
          What is popular education? Why have leaders from communities in the
United_States traveled to Nicaragua to learn about it?
          In March 1980, less than a year after the Sandinista revolution
overthrew the Samoza dictatorship, the new government fulfilled one of
its promises: to help the majority learn to read and write--something
never attempted under Somoza. In the enthusiastic response, 60,000
young_people and teachers volunteered to leave their hometowns and
participate as "popular teachers" for five months in the National
Literacy Campaign. This massive volunteer effort reduced the country's
illiteracy rate from 50.3 percent to 12.9 percent, and won two
prestigious awards from the United Nations.
          Southerners joined the tour hoping to benefit from the
award-winning approach being used in the continuing adult education
work in Nicaragua Participants came from the Highlander Center, the
Federation of Southern Cooperatives, Mountain Women's Exchange,
Southern Neighborhoods Network, Commission on Religion in Appalachia
and other groups. Their common focus is work among poor_people in the
South. Their educational work--to enable participants to organize
themselves to solve common problems--has objectives similar to those
of Nicaragua's popular education program.
          The visitors were invited by the Nicaraguan Department of Education
(MED) as part of a relationship fostered over several years between
Nicaraguan popular educators and community-based organizations in the
South. Since 1983 there have been several delegations of Latin
American popular educators visiting the United_States, and staff of
the Highlander Center and other alternative educational centers in the
United_States visiting Nicaragua.
          In 1986 many Southerners had the chance to meet Eduardo Baez, from
MED in Nicaragua. His speaking trip 

to the United_States was
coordinated by Highlander and led to participation in January's tour
by some of the same organizations and communities which had received
Eduardo, deepening both the professional and personal
relationships.
          POPULAR EDUCATION is used in the Nicaraguan Literacy Campaign to
teach math, science, and technical subjects to adults after they
become literate. The method emerged from the reality facing Nicaragua
after the Revolution: great shortages of formal schools and teachers,
few technical schools in rural areas and a largely adult population
with tremendous practical and political knowledge. These factors
demanded an education process preparing people to make decisions,
solve massive problems of production and agriculture, and at the same
time respect their experience. These adults could not simply be
lectured to or taught in traditional methods. Therefore a
participatory, problemsolving approach was developed, based on themes
from the people's own history and revolution, which aimed to prepare
the poor majority to participate fully in all aspects of society.
          In Nicaragua's educational method, study and problem solving are
based on the life experiences and needs of participants--not on
abstract concepts. Terry Keleher, a community organizer from eastern
Kentucky, went with several other tour members to a northern region of
the country. The group talked with peasants on a coffee cooperative
who are in popular education classes. One of the peasants went through
six levels of adult education and learned to be an accountant for the
cooperative.
          Keleher said of his trip to Ocotol, "I saw very sophisticated
levels of community organization and democracy in this area. The
stress of these educators was on knowing in order to change
society. Education here is integrated into all facets of life--not
compartmentalized like most of the formal education in the United
States. The idea is not just to teach people basic skills like
reading, writing and arithmetic but to also help them understand their
situation, and give them the power to change it for the
better."
          In contrast to the United_States' "each one, teach one" approach to
literacy education, popular education in Nicaragua is a group
experience. Workers, students, peasants and housewives gather in small
groups for two hours a day to discuss community problems and
solutions. Reading and academic skills are taught through the
examination of these themes.
          The purpose of the lessons is to determine as a group how to solve
the problems at hand and master the skills needed, including learning
how to run the many organizations and businesses of which Nicaraguan
society is composed. Anne Hablis, a staff member of Mountain Women's
Exchange (an educational and economic_development organization in East
Tennessee) attended a gathering of parents, children, and popular
educators in a region southwest of Managua. She said, "I was
impressed by the transformation taking place in people's
thinking. They [people in the adult education programs] had a
commitment to the philosophy of the revolution and what it's trying to
accomplish. They are not just trying to master technical, educational
skills. They had an awareness that through education they could solve
community problems by cooperating with one another--not relying on
somebody from the outside bringing them answers or
information."
          The Nicaraguan educational approach places priority on preparing
people to participate more fully in the processes that affect their
lives. "Literacy and popular education are political, because all
education is political," Father Cardinal, the Catholic priest who
heads--the country's educational system, told the group. "It
either maintains the status quo in the world, or helps build a new,
more just social order. The aim of education in Nicaragua is to
strengthen the orgnanization of people so they can really
exercise their power and so that this revolution will represent their
interests."
          Nicaraguans understand democracy as more than having elections for
public officials. They consider democracy the opportunity to
participate in solving their own problems and creating their own
future. Luis Aleman, head of popular education programs for MED,
explained that many cooperatives have been formed after the
revolution, but farmworkers lack the reading, math and analytical
skills needed to make financial and management decisions. MED has
joined other government departments to develop special pilot
educational projects addressing the learning needs which the
farmworkers have identified as most important in their work. In a
small country where owning land and producing one's food is so
important, these pilot projects are enabling farmworkers to live
better and have more control over their future.
          NICARAGUA HAS BEEN accused by the United_States media and the
counter-revolutionaries ("contras") attacking Nicaragua, of using
popular education to indoctrinate citizens. In response, Nicaraguan
officials say indoctrination is not needed when the agenda is in the
best interests of the majority. Facts, statistics and international
awards bear witness to the reality that in Nicaragua the
Sandinista-led government, duly elected by its citizens in 1984, has
made tremendous strides in initiating a process in the interests of
the vast majority--the very poor. Infant mortality, illiteracy,
preventable diseases, and hunger have all been dramatically reduced in
the last eight years, in contrast to other Central American countries
neighboring Nicaragua.
          Participation, and not indoctrination, is evident in 

many of the
current popular education projects underway in Nicaragua. A
country-wide effort to combat remaining illiteracy is now
underway. Churches, youth groups, members of cooperatives, housewives
and workers make up the overwhelming majority of popular teachers who
work in their own communities and workplaces to teach others with less
experience. Nicaraguan literacy workers say a largely volunteer staff
of many thousands of people, working in the same communities in which
they live or work, would even be ineffective at an indoctrination
campaign. The popular educators maintain that teaching people to read
is itself a liberating act, that once people are literate, no
government, political party, or religion can control what they
read.
          Another example of democracy at work in the educational programs of
the Nicaraguan government is the production of educational
materials. Many localities produce their own educational materials,
orienting them to local needs. Linda Martin, also visiting Ocotol,
reported that she was very interested in how popular educators put
together their own educational materials (at the local level), as
opposed to only using what the national office in Managua
produced. She said, "I saw ways I could work with our program to
help leaders develop their own curriculum materials for leadership
development training."
          PROBLEMS IN THE NEW Nicaragua were not denied by people meeting
with the visiting Southerners. In fact, Nicaraguan education officials
had already raised many of the problems seen by tour
participants. Representatives of the Ministry of Education admitted
mistakes had been made and problems exist.
          A major problem in MED, which the staff pointed out themselves, is
that not all of the department heads and teachers are convinced of the
importance of the popular education method. Many still feel education
is a teacher imparting facts to ignorant people. The popular education
staff must struggle against this kind of thinking, and provide
positive proof that popular education works more effectively than the
traditional approach.
          Teresa Barajas, a Mexican who now has United_States citizenship,
does volunteer work in a low-income, Catholic community of San
Antonio, Texas. She joined the Nicaragua tour to see how literacy
education is done "from the base" because her church is planning a
literacy program. "I found it extremely interesting that in
Nicaragua they teach people about their history, what causes
poverty," she said. "At the same time they teach literacy they
raise consciousness about the whole situation in their lives. They
teach people from their own level of understanding; for example,
peasants from the perspective of land, beans, and agriculture."
          Barajas visited the mountaneous region of Matagalpa, where much of
the country's coffee crop is harvested. She met with popular teachers
and community members involved in adult education classes. She was
impressed with the flexibility the popular educators used to make
education meet their student's needs.
          Barajas discussed several problems she observed. She spoke frankly
to many people on the streets, in restaurants and rural areas where
the group visited. Being an outgoing, friendly person and fluent in
both Spanish and English, she constantly gathered and shared
information with Nicaraguans she met. She said, "I talked to common
people on the street who felt their situation was still very bad. Some
people do not see a lot of changes in their lives. They seemed to not
have had the opportunity to learn why their situation is as it is. It
is true that the ideals of the revolution have not been completely
fulfilled. Undoubtedly the war and poverty they started with explain
much, but not all the problems that still exist. There are still
inefficiency and bureacracy."
          "The war is the main reason for many of the country's major
problems, like shortages of food, lack of personal income, and
difficult living situations. This makes it difficult for people with
problems to get to the top. There is still a big need to educate
people about why problems exist, and who to go to with what
problem."
          It was clear to tour participants that Nicaraguans have the
consciousness, commitment and political channels to direct their own
future, despite whatever difficulties and shortcomings exist. In
addition, participants felt that the revolution is a participatory one
in which the majority of the country's people are involved to a
remarkable degree in improving their country. Since the majority is
quite poor, it has opted for a leadership and national program with
priorities on redirecting political power and resources to the poorest
sectors of society.
          In previous periods in United_States history those advocating
greater power and resources to the poor have been labeled "communist"
when they were promoting basically democratic political reformat Now
in Nicaragua the charge of communism has also been used by the United
States government and the "contras" to support a war in which over a
hundred popular teachers have been killed, along with thousands of
other Nicaraguans.
          Participants saw that community service and education programs in
the South and in Nicaragua are both being attacked by the same
philosophy and political forces.
          Many Nicaraguanas asked tour participants to take a message back:
Tell the people in our communities the truth about Nicaragua, and do
everything we can to stop the war against their country. They also
asked us to continue the exchange created by the trip. They need help
in obtaining valuable materials, such as pencils, raincoats and
lanterns for the teachers who travel to rural areas with no
electricity. They would love to come to the United_States to learn
more about our educational work and talk to people about their
work. They encouraged participants to send others from our country to
visit. The groundwork has been laid for many of these things to
occur. Participants on the tour plan to meet to discuss what they hope
will be an on-going, international exchange. More information about
the trip and future plans can be obtained by writing the Highlander
Center, Route 3, Box 370, New Market, TN 37820.
          
            Marty Collier was a participant on the tour and is
currently living in Nicaragua studying and writing about popular
education. She has been a member of the editorial board of and has
worked in popular education through the Southern Neighborhoods
Network, P.O. Box 121133. Nashville, TN, 37212.
          
        
