Bakhtin and Freire: Dialogue, dialectic and boundary learning

• Published in: Educational philosophy and theory Vol. 43; no. 9; pp. 924 - 942
• Main Author: RULE, PETER
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Taylor & Francis Group 01.11.2011; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Wiley-Blackwell; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Access to Education; Bakhtin; Bakhtin (MM); Bakhtin, Mikhail; boundary; Dialectic; Dialectic (Concept); Dialectics; Dialogue; Dialogue (Educational theory); Disadvantaged; Early Childhood Education; Education; Educational philosophy; Educational practices; Educational theories; Educational theory; Freire; Freire (P); Freire, Paulo; Freire, Paulo (1921-1997); Higher Education; Interpersonal communication; Leaders; Learning; Nontraditional students; Pedagogy; Philosophers; Philosophy; Rhetoric; Social disadvantage; Theory Practice Relationship; 1895-1975; 1921-1997; South Africa
• ISSN: 0013-1857; 1469-5812; 1469-5812
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-5812.2009.00606.x

Dialogue is a seminal concept within the work of the Brazilian adult education theorist, Paulo Freire, and the Russian literary critic and philosopher, Mikhail Bakhtin. While there are commonalities in their understanding of dialogue, they differ in their treatment of dialectic. This paper addresses commonalities and dissonances within a Bakhtin-Freire dialogue on the notions of dialogue and dialectic. It then teases out some of the implications for education theory and practice in relation to two South African contexts of learning that facilitate the access to education of disadvantaged groups, one in higher education and the other in early childhood education.