We need to talk about the “brouhaha-effect”: a dialogue with Paulo Freire over the role of extension in times of attack to public education

Abstract

Amidst a context of attacks to public education in our country, the present article intends to reflect upon the role of extensionist actions regarding the hierarchic or dialogic postures of knowledges, by means of a dialogue with Paulo Freire’s “Extension or Communication?” book. Taking the image of the “brouhaha” created to address the Brazilian public education institutions in 2019 as the analytical standpoint, we intend to discuss the importance of the act of communication to/with society regarding its productions and doings within the University, Institute and Brazilian public school walls. Hence, making reference to Paulo Freire’s ideas of Extension, we will also problematize his being constructed as education’s enemy by those who uphold conservative discourses in the name of a so-called pedagogic neutrality that, in fact, pays tribute to privatist economic interests.