Creating critical consciousness through arts-based pedagogies in post-2011 Egypt

Abstract

Egypt’s 2011 revolution is an important political event in the country’s recent history. Although the event united multiple movements with distinct rich histories, which continue to strive until this date, the occasion of the 2011 uprising is often depicted as a completed discontinuous event. In response to this disjointed mode of thinking, the study aimed to identify how Egypt’s revolution shaped the pedagogical approaches in several arts-based adult education organisations that emerged in the postrevolution timeframe, by examining the lived experiences of their educators and participants. The study was designed with a qualitative approach, using critical research methodology and in-depth interviews as methods of inquiry. The results of the research show that Egypt’s revolution served as a learning site, that played role in shaping critical consciousness of the future adult education practitioners of the selected organisations. These critical experiences of learning took part in the selection of pedagogical approaches and shaped them as arts-based and critical. In turn, creative means of learning allowed the participants of the educational activities to form critical and collective consciousness about their daily struggles. By looking into the field of arts-based adult education, the study demonstrates how the revolution is a complex continuous system, that undergoes the process of development through practice in different fields.