Liberatory Practice: Applying the Framework

This document provides practical guidance on applying liberatory pedagogy in The Multiverse School.

How This Changes Our Language

OLD LANGUAGE (Hierarchy, Pathology, Control, Judgment)

❌ “Managing difficult students”
❌ “Intervening in mental illness”
❌ “Teacher authority”
❌ “Behavior problems”
❌ “Compliance with rules”
❌ “This student is manipulative” (evaluation/diagnosis)
❌ “You’re being disrespectful” (moral judgment)

NEW LANGUAGE (Liberation, Healing, Relationality, Observation)

✅ “Navigating community challenges together”
✅ “Supporting someone’s healing journey”
✅ “Relational accountability”
✅ “Behavior that disrupts collective learning”
✅ “Co-created agreements and consensual boundaries”
✅ “When I notice [behavior], I feel concerned because our community needs [safety/trust/accessibility]” (NVC observation)
✅ “The impact I’m observing is…” (describing impact, not judging character)

Core Principles Reframed

1. We Are Co-Learners, Not Managers

Freire: “Whoever teaches learns in the act of teaching, and whoever learns teaches in the act of learning.”

This means:

2. Boundaries Are Consensual, Not Authoritarian

Goldman: Voluntary cooperation over coercion.

This means:

3. We Honor Different Ways of Being

Indigenous wisdom: Not everything needs a diagnosis.

This means:

4. Love Is Central to Learning

bell hooks: “Love as the practice of freedom.”

This means:

5. Liberation Is Collective

Freire: “No one liberates themselves alone.”

This means:

Applying This Framework

When Someone Is Struggling

DON’T: “This student has BPD and needs to be managed.”

DO: “This person is in pain and their coping strategies are harming community. What healing and accountability does everyone need?”

When Setting Boundaries

DON’T: “You’re violating the rules. You’ll be punished.”

DO: “Our co-created agreement says X. You’re doing Y, which harms community. Can you participate in this agreement? If not, we need a different path.”

When Teaching

DON’T: Banking model—deposit knowledge into passive recipients.

DO: Problem-posing—”What do you notice? What questions emerge? What shall we investigate together?”

When Responding to Crisis

DON’T: “I must intervene and fix this.”

DO: “I bear witness to your pain. Here are resources. I’m here alongside you, not to rescue you.”

Questions for Reflection

When facing a difficult situation, ask:

  1. Observation (NVC): What am I actually observing, without judgment or evaluation?
  2. Needs (NVC): What needs are not being met—for this person, for me, for the community?
  3. Power: Who holds power here? How can we make it more horizontal?
  4. Pathology: Are we pathologizing what oppression creates?
  5. Relationality: How does this affect all our relations?
  6. Liberation: Does this move us toward freedom or control?
  7. Love: Are we daring to love deeply (which includes boundaries)?
  8. Collective: How do we balance individual needs with collective wellbeing?

Honoring the Tensions

We acknowledge real tensions in applying liberatory pedagogy:

Tension 1: Love AND Boundaries

Tension 2: Horizontal Relationships AND Power Differences

Tension 3: Honoring Different Ways of Being AND Preventing Harm

Tension 4: Mutual Aid AND Not Everyone Can Give Equally

In Practice

This framework means:

In the handbook, we:

In our community, we:

This Is Living Practice

This framework is not dogma. It’s a living practice we refine together through:

Guiding principle: Education is the practice of freedom. Love is political praxis. We liberate ourselves together, or not at all. Dare to love deeply—which means daring to be accountable, to set boundaries, to honor different ways of being, and to build toward collective liberation.

See also: