Moving Forward Together in Aboriginal Women's Health: - Theses ...

Moving Forward TogetherJanet KellyThe second form of education, Dialogical Education involved both the teacherand student sharing their knowledge in equal partnership. The teacher becamestudent and the student became teacher, enabling both teacher and student to beliberated by new knowledge (Freire 1972). This form of teaching is moreclosely aligned to that found in comprehensive primary health care, Ganmasharing of knowledge, and power sharing decolonisation strategies wherehealth professionals and community development workers value and supportcommunity members knowledge and action. Freire began literacy processeswith peasants by first asking them which words were significant in their lives,and what such words meant to them. In a health care setting, healthprofessionals can similarly invite community members to discuss theirunderstanding and priorities regarding health, health care and well being, aswell as sharing their own. From this mutual understanding, responsive andcollaborative action can be taken.American psychologists and academic feminists Belenky, Clinchy, Goldbergerand Tarule (1973) extended Freire’s work by exploring how it relatedspecifically for women from a range of backgrounds. They continued to usethe term ‘Banking Education’ to describe old ways of learning whereknowledge is bestowed upon students by a teacher, with all preparation workdone before hand, and information delivered as a fait accompli. However, theyused women centred terminology to describe liberating and empowering waysof learning that women preferred. They described Midwife teachers as thosewho supported the emergence of the student’s own thinking, contributing asneeded, always recognising and promoting the student’s own thoughts. Theythen described connected teachers as those who nurtured student’s thoughts tomaturity, with understanding that uncertainty was part of the process. Theywelcomed diversity of opinion and open discussion, and refrained from‘inflicting’ their opinions on their students, rather acting as short -term partnersand facilitators of knowledge gain (Belenky et al. 1973). A connected teacherhad the ability to present herself as a space where subjectivity and objectivitymerge. For a brief period, the teacher and student could meet on commonground, and truly ‘be’ with the other. Connected teachers were believers in thatthey trusted the student’s thinking and encouraged them to expand on it.96