Poverty, Development Communication & Freire’s Education Framework

4 Different Models of Poverty

poverty as a mindset, poverty as a lack of resources, poverty as a lack of access, poverty as a lack of human rights

Poverty as a mindset

the psychological explanation behind why someone is poor, they are poor because they have not motivated themselves and worked hard

Poverty as a lack of resources

most common model, used in nonprofit world, if we go inject resources such as technology, food, clothes, and medicine, then the community should be able to lift themselves out of poverty

Poverty as lack of access

lack of access to technology and information, if you do not have information and do not know your rights it is hard to fight injustice

Poverty as lack of human rights

structural reasons, for a society not to be poor we have to radically uproot society and rebuild it to be equitable- example would be reparations

Limitations of first three models of poverty

Does not take into account structural reasons why poverty is present

Market as a leveler

The more people get connected to the market, the better their chances of coming more developed and prosperous. Critique is the makeup in the amazon- they become connected to the makeup market but they end up spending the money on the makeup rather than necessities so they are poorer not more prosperous

Background on lerner

Not innocent, trained in psychological warfare, focus is on how to modernize Third World through "free" media systems and content, s focus is the Middle East in the context of the Cold War, He wants to promote Western commercial media systems and free markets

Lerners Mobile Personality

Mass media ushers in a sense of empathy and projection with the "other" and thus creates the mobile, modern personality, they can imagine themselves in places and situations that are different from their immediate context, and has an opinion in public matters

Lerners Four Stages of Media & Modernization

Urbanization, literacy, media exposure, participation in democracy and markets

Criticisms of Lerner

The role of the "outside" western "expert", One-Way Communication, The Deficit Model

The role of the "outside" western "expert"

ignores local and national knowledge and systems

One-Way Communication

Information flows vertically from the urban "expert" down to the

passive "traditional" listener

The Deficit Model

Frames non-Western societies through what they lack (literacy, ambition, consumer drive) rather than what

they have (indigenous knowledge, community resilience and histories, oral and other media traditions).

West and the rest binary

West" defines itself in contrast to the "East" or to the "Rest", Non-western societies can be said to be "close to" or "far away" or "catching up with" the West.

Discourse

language- written, spoken, and images. The language/discourse we use has real effects in practice, the description becomes "true."

Understanding of poverty before bikas

Poverty was viewed as a matter of fate or bad karma, rather than a social or economic failing, Poverty was not synonymous with being "underdeveloped" or "uncivilized".

Understanding of poverty after bikas

Poverty became stigmatized and redefined strictly in economic and material terms. The poor were blamed for their own poverty—they were seen as individuals who actively impeded national development.

Education before bikas

Traditional knowledge and skills accumulated over generations held practical value for everyday survival and agricultural life.

Education after bikas

Education was redefined to prioritize Western science, technology, and English—the official language of bikas. Traditional, practical knowledge held by parents was dismissed as unscientific and useless. Class Divide & Elitism: Elite families sent children to prestigious English-medium missionary schools (e.g., St. Mary's, St. Xavier's). English fluency became a tool of power, allowing elites to dominate the state bureaucracy and monopolize the benefits of development.

Labor before bikas

Manual labor was a standard, universally accepted way of life performed by most people from childhood.

Labor was tied to self-reliance, community cooperation, and local productivity.

Labor after bikas

Manual labor was devalued and seen as an anathema—something done only by an abikasi or an "intellectually underdeveloped" mind.

colonization of the mind

Person who is oppressed internalizes in and starts thinking of themselves as inferior to the person of power

Strategies for participatory communication

People's Needs are the Focus, Horizontal lateral communication, process of dialogue and democratic participation

, Long-term process of sustainable change,

Collective empowerment and decision-making,

With Community Involvement,

Specific in content, language, culture

Consciousness Raising

Non participatory communication strategies

Vertical top-down between participants communication from senders to receivers,

Campaign to mobilize in a short-term without building capacity,

Short-term planning and quick fix solutions,

Individual behavior change,

Donors' musts are the focus,

Access determined by social political and economic factors,

Persuasion for short-term

Paulo Frieires framework

Paulo Freire's educational theory centers on liberation, arguing that education is never neutral: it either functions as an instrument of domination or becomes the "practice of freedom.

Subject-Object Relationship (Banking Model):

In traditional education, the teacher acts as the active Subject (the one who knows, speaks, and thinks), while the student is treated as a passive Object (an empty vessel to be filled with knowledge).

Subject-Subject Relationship (Problem-Posing Education):

Freire replaces the banking model with Problem-Posing Education, where both teacher and student act as active Subjects in the learning process.

The traditional hierarchy is dismantled: the teacher-of-the-students and the students-of-the-teacher cease to exist, giving way to "teacher-student with students-teachers."

Both parties engage together in critical inquiry, analyzing real-world problems and creating knowledge collaboratively.

Dialogic Method

Education for liberation must be grounded in dialogue. It cannot be deposited from one person into another, nor can it be imposed by the teacher.