III EPOCH. ERASMUS+ IPEP JAEN. 'The need and importance of social justice linked to the classrooms’, by Gerardo López Vázquez.

 

It is not easy to write an article, and especially when its content emanates from one's own personal experience, from the impressions one harbors, from the ideas one professes. It is a complex process, because for it to be useful, it requires a large dose of sincerity, and therefore, a temporary abandonment of the necessary prudence that today's society requires of us. Let's think that a school, after all, is a reproduction of the reality in which we live, an idea that is certainly not new, as authors with visions as diverse as Althusser or Bourdieu have shown.

Photo courtesy of Santa Cruz do Bispo prison. Portugal.

‘the need and importance of social justice linked to the classrooms’

We organize our educational system based on past schemes that have given certain results in the past. We usually reproduce that same logic in countless institutions. It is logical, it is about taking advantage of past experiences and maintaining everything that works. The problem lies in one thing: society is not an immutable being, it is subject to the ups and downs of History, to changes, to a process of evolution and involution. That is why educational centers cannot and should not be clones of each other. Reality must be defined by the environment, that is, the needs and specificities of our students.

Rethinking our educational practices for

 adult, prison students and young offenders

Upon my arrival to livelong education I had more or less assumed these principles; however, I was perhaps not so aware of the heterogeneity of situations and the need and importance of social justice linked to the classrooms. Adult education has revealed a new reality to me. The reality of a house cleaner or a waiter who needs a degree for a professional certification. The reality of an unemployed person looking for a new opportunity. The reality of many immigrants who seek training, or simply official recognition of the training they already have, to be able to contribute to this society. The reality of a minor who has made mistakes in the past or that of an adult immersed in a prison reintegration program. The social work that is linked to this type of education is enormous. Paulo Freire said that education does not change the world, but it does change the people who are going to change the world. Perhaps, in our case, we are not training revolutionaries to change the prevailing system. This is not what is important. What really matters is that your reality, your own reality, will have changed.

Credit embedded. 

Improving people's lives and people's basic conditions must be one of our priorities. Let's think that we have a diverse student body, from different backgrounds, with different mother tongues and who, in many cases, do not yet master our vehicular language. Public administrations must be consistent with this reality. Today Spain is a country that receives immigrants, we are one of the doors to Europe and it is necessary that through permanent education we are able to understand what our role should be in this entire process.

'Improving people's lives and people's basic conditions must be one of our priorities'

The IPEPs must, in my opinion, be pioneers in the implementation of the much-needed social inclusion processes. They must be the alma mater of all those who, orphaned by training or simply not knowing the language of Cervantes, have chosen our country to start a better life. Our vehicular language must emerge as the best and most useful of the tools we can offer. Everything else will have to come later.

GERARDO LÓPEZ VÁZQUEZ

GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY DEPARTMENT

 IPEP OF JAÉN