28 Mar 2012

The genesis of the idea of instituting a lecture series in memory of Myles Horton and Paulo Freire can precisely be attributed to their book 'We Make the Road by Walking', a Hindi translation of which was published by the Asian Development Research Institute. Horton and Freire's book essentially argues that the strategy of ‘enabling from below' is possibly the only one that could change the status of a marginalised community. The speaking book is a gripping sociological narration: it not only records the state of the deprived, but also outlines a strategy that the deprived must adopt to alter their status quo. The narration is fully contextualised, in the context of both the USA - a very rich country, and Brazil - a moderately rich one. In terms of country and social background, Horton and Freire were so different, yet their ideas converged on the question of enabling the deprived, rather than writing a script on behalf of the provider. 

  After reading the book, it is not difficult for those involved in the campaign of adult literacy in Bihar to recognise the striking similarity between Bihar and the Appalachian region of USA where Horton had worked, and Brazil, the concern of Freire. ADRI has first published the Hindi translation of their book to ensure a wider readership and then started the Lecture Series in their memory in 1999 to engage in a continuous dialogue on literacy and development. Since then, it has been an awesome and rewarding experience.

 

Topic of the Lecture	Date	Chief Speaker
1st  Myles Horton and Paulo Freire Memorial Lecture on "Knowledge, Citizenship And Development".	4th  Annual Function of Akshar Bihar, March 22 1999	Mr. Rajesh Tandon President,Society for Participatory Research in Asia, New Delhi
2nd  Myles Horton and Paulo Freire Memorial Lecture on "Education and Social Justice".	5th  Annual Function of Akshar Bihar, March 26 2000	Mr. Amarjit Sinha Director (Education), Ministry of HRD, Govt.of India
3rd  Myles Horton and Paulo Freire Memorial Lecture on "Alternative Approaches To Literacy and Development".	6th  Annual Function of Akshar Bihar, Jan 31 2001	Prof. Brian V Street, Professor of Language in Education, School of Education, King's College, London
4th Myles Horton and Paulo Freire Memorial Lecture on "Literacy and Literacies For Development".	7th  Annual Function of Akshar Bihar, Feb 21 2002	Mr. Michael Abiola Omolewa, Permanent Delegate of  Nigeria to UNESCO
5th  Myles Horton and Paulo Freire Memorial Lecture on "Education for Citizenship: Lessons From Paulo Freire and Myles Horton".	8th  Annual Function of Akshar Bihar, Feb 10 2003	Prof. John Gaventa, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK
6th  Myles Horton and Paulo Freire Memorial Lecture on "Learning from the past, Looking to the Future: Literacy for Civil Participation".	9th  Annual Function of Akshar Bihar, Feb 28 2004	Prof. Brenda Bell & Prof. Beth Bingman, Associate Directors, Centre for Literacy Studies, University of Tennessee
7th  Myles Horton and Paulo Freire Memorial Lecture on ''Threats to literacy: Threats from Literacy".	10th  Annual Function of Akshar Bihar, Dec 4 2004	Mr. Sudeep Banerjee, Noted Poet Literateur and Educationist
8th  Myles Horton and Paulo Freire Memorial Lecture on "We Make the Road by Walking: Civic literacy empowerment and place-based development in global context”.	11th  Annual Function of Akshar Bihar, Feb 21 2006	Dr. Betsy Taylor, Visiting Scholar, Dept. of Anthropology,John Hopkins University,USA
9th  Myles Horton and Paulo Freire Memorial Lecture on ''Literacy Roadmap For the future”.	12th  Annual Function of  Akshar Bihar, March 24 2007	Mr. Champak Chatterji, Secretary (School Education and Literacy), Ministry of HRD,Govt. of India
10th  Myles Horton and Paulo Freire Memorial Lecture on "Right to a New Utopia: Education in a World at Risk”.	13th  Annual Function of Akshar Bihar, March 7 2008	Prof. Budd L Hall ,University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
11th  Myles Horton and Paulo Freire Memorial Lecture on "The Creative Turn: Learning, Literacy and Social Change through Arts-based Practice".	14th  Annual Function of Akshar Bihar, Feb 18 2009	Prof. Darlene E Clover, Leadership Studies, Faculty of Education, University of Victoria, Cana
12th Myles Horton and Paulo Freire Memorial Lecture on "Sakshar Bharat:New Initiative for Knowledge Society in India".	15th Annual Function Akshar Bihar, April 7, 2010	Ms.Daggubati Purandeswari, Union Minister of State Human Resource Development, Govt. of India
13th Myles Horton and Paulo Freire Memorial Lecture on "Adult education beyond the realm of basic literacy skills".	16th Annual Function Akshar Bihar, March 29, 2011	Professor R.Govinda,Vice Chancellor,National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA),New Delhi
14th Myles Horton and Paulo Freire Memorial Lecture on "Architecture of Exclusion: Seeking New Tools for constructing an Alternate Education".	17th Annual Function Akshar Bihar, March 28, 2012	Prof. V Vasanthi Devi, Chairperson, IHRE, Madurai