We Make The Road By Walking Chapter 1 Summary

Chapter 1 of We Make the Road by Walking provides an excellent introduction to the conversational collaboration (and negotiation) between Myles Horton and Paulo Freire. In this chapter, Freire explains that the purpose of a spoken book is “to have a good conversation but in the sort of style that makes it easier to read the words” (Horton & Freire, 1990, p. 4). What an interesting way to bring more than a century of collective experience to bear under one roof! Having used this method in the past – and in light of his wife’s recent passing – Freire found it essential to attempt to pursue such an endeavor with Horton while there was still time to do so. As icons in their field, Freire believed that it was important to capture both his and Horton’s ideas about education through the spontaneity of conversation. The conversation of the first chapter did not directly address educational issues, but it set the stage for what would come later between these two giants. A main theme in the chapter was the negotiation between Horton and Freire regarding how they would go about presenting their thoughts and ideas; this
For example, Horton explained that even though he and Freire had met before in other venues, other people usually asked them questions whereas this book provided the opportunity for each man to pose questions to the other directly and for the first time (Horton & Freire, 1990, p. 4). Another thing that resonated with me was how Freire described as yet one more purpose for Horton and him finally coming together: “the younger generations need to grab information while we’re around” (Horton & Freire, 1990, p. 6). This immediately gave me the sense that these men understood something of their own mortality, and they were acutely aware of the importance to pass on their knowledge so that future generations may both understand and hopefully build upon what these men had