On Defining and Differentiating
… 3
Part I of the paper reviews the definitional problem to more carefully specify the
conceptual problem. Part II reviews basic ideas of the theory of communicative action including
Habermas’s treatment of action theory and argues the general relevance of the action theoretic.
Part III presents a cross classification of action types by program size and then discusses ways
the classification can be used to differentiate not only among different kinds of participatory
communication, but also different kinds of non-participatory communication. A summary
section reviews pros and cons of this approach to defining participatory communication, and
directions for needed research and theoretical development.
Part I: The Definition Problem
Paulo Freire’s Contribution
Paulo Freire has undoubtedly been the single most important contributor to what might
be called a movement for participation. A Brazilian born educator, Freire is identified with an
approach to teaching that broadens education’s goals from acquisition of information, to personal
transformation and liberation. Freire characterized traditional teaching methods as a “banking”
approach to education. In the banking approach information is deposited in students to be
withdrawn later for practical employment, or test taking. In its place, Freire advocated a
“pedagogy of the oppressed,” that stimulates learners to want to learn, to want to become aware
of what is denied them, and to want to undertake social practices that expand life opportunities
(Freire, 1968). The catchword for this pedagogical approach is “conscientization,” a process of
dialog that aims to expose the social contradictions of unjust power, and to develop a critical
consciousness than can then be directed towards social change (Freire, 1973, pp. 41-58). This
dialog involves not diffusion but rather a mutually transformative exchange of views: “…only
through communication can human life hold meaning. The teacher’s thinking is authenticated
Convention