The story of a Faculty Learning Community that discovered current relevance in Myles Horton and Paulo Freire’s historical reflection in We Make the Road by Walking. An inspiring professional development experience exposing an unexpected template for active learning, course enrichment, and student autonomy within the context of social justice.
Anderson University’s Center for Innovation and Digital Learning sponsors a Faculty Learning Community (FLC) each semester where participants consider emerging trends and best practices in technology and online learning. We Make the Road by Walking, by Myles Horton and Paulo Freire was chosen for the FLC in conjunction with Martin Luther King week. The book documents a week-end reflection between two pioneers of adult education regarding their life-long teaching and learning experiences. Within the pages of this acclaimed testimonial, readers identify the genesis of concepts like facilitation, active learning/listening, universal design, OER, lifelong learning, democratic participation, autonomy, and self-directed learning that are practiced in current teaching and learning pedagogies. Readers are quickly taken in by the author’s authentic descriptions of their personal learning journeys, period social struggles, and the success and failures to bring about meaningful social change through literacy and education. Participants in this FLC came away with a renewed sense of connectedness to their profession, anecdotal reflections that place a human face to the technology we embrace, and a deeper commitment to a democratic-style of education supporting education for all. It is a great story of faculty development, historical relevance, and innovative practice.