The trajectory of how I became an artist or how the artist in me became an educator is all but straight (as life endeavors are sometimes even convoluted). In my early childhood in Brazil, my grandmother, an artist of many talents, introduced me to the world of music, drama, and the visual arts. I was never able to muster any specific artistic skill, even though I tried, and sometimes I wonder if that was the reason why I became a teacher instead of an "artist." I was seventeen when I took my first big step in the arts direction: I entered the School of Fine Arts at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Up to that point I was not very fond of school, but this one was different, and the classes were actually fun. Drawing, painting, sculpting, and learning about art history were all we did in school. By my second year I had to choose a career path (the equivalent of a major in the U.S. system). Thus, trying to be practical, I opted for Art Education, something in which I could make a living—or so I thought. Five years later I came out of college with some more refined artistic skills, a diploma, and a teaching certificate. However, the reality of teaching arts in the Brazilian public schools was quite bleak, and far from that ideal model we had studied for so long in school. Due to limited school budgets for art supplies, lack of support from other teachers and school administrators, and an emphasis on product over process, teaching arts was synonymous with filling students' time with something entertaining and having something pretty to show parents.

After a few failed attempts at becoming a good school teacher I gave in, and I became a free-lance graphic artist, playwright, and later a teacher trainer. With a little help from my friends—a bunch of displaced artists like myself—I formed a Popular Theater group with the aim of taking the arts to underprivileged children and to the least traveled paths, such as the slums in Rio. For a few years in the early 80s we carried on performing our plays at schools, community centers, churches, and soccer fields. Each performance was followed by discussions with the audience—of both children and adults—usually around issues related to social inequalities, peace, and justice. This was the beginning of my lifelong quest to understand how the arts could serve as a means for fostering dialogue and helping folks revisit the scenes of everyday life through different lenses. The medium that once seemed to be just fun and self-expression was beginning to present itself as a tool for social activism.

One thing led to another, and down the road some of the plays I wrote turned into children's books. As a graphic artist I designed and illustrated a number of different things, including training manuals and presentation materials, which led me to meet interesting people who were doing exciting projects in different parts of the world. My interest in training and development grew stronger, as well as my thirst to explore the world. After traveling and working in a few developing countries, I finally left Brazil for graduate school in the U.S. I received both my Masters and Doctoral degrees from the Center for International Education (CIE) at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, a place well known for its focus on adult nonformal and popular education. Nonformal education programs tend to consider education from the learner's point of view, to emphasize greater participation for learners in the teaching and learning process, and to utilize instructional materials, media, and methods to foster reflections of self and social reality.

At the CIE I had the privilege to re-discover the writings of Paulo Freire, a Brazilian educator, and actually meet the man who had inspired those working in popular education and so much of my own work. As one of the most prominent thinkers in the field of education and social change movements, Freire collaborated with artists in his literacy campaigns in Brazil, and in his development work in Africa and other Latin American countries. The use of what Freire called "codifications" introduced a new perspective on teaching and learning through the use of media—including games, pictures, literature, theater, and folk art—that help learners reflect upon projections of their living situations in order "to read the word and the world," as Freire says, by critically analyzing the new situations presented to them.

In my first year of graduate school, I had the opportunity to work in Somalia, training Somali artists to develop educational materials, and assisting curriculum development personnel to pre-test these materials in the process of launching an educational campaign against female genital cutting—unfortunately still a common practice in many African countries. That experience moved me even further towards applying the arts and media, not only as a means to disseminate ideas and information, but also as a means of constructing knowledge, and learning how people attach meaning to what they see. Thus "visual literacy" and "social marketing" research became the new buzzwords in my academic vocabulary. Since then I have been working as an educational and materials development consultant for various organizations, promoting and gathering ideas through the printed media.

I started as an artist, became a teacher, trainer, then an international consultant, and I continue searching for ways to connect to my roots as an artist. I believe that the arts are powerful instruments in the learning process, especially in development settings, where alternative means of communication can make up for participants' low literacy levels. As educators, we may look at the arts as tools that we use in the meaning-making process of teaching and learning; as artists, we make the tools that educators and learners use to build knowledge.

Flavia Ramos, Ed.D., is a Visiting Professor of International Education at George Washington University, Washington D.C.

Resources for International Education:

Flavia Ramos' dissertation, The FotoDialogo Method: Using Pictures and Storytelling to Promote Dialogue and Self-Discovery among Latinas, can be purchased through dissertation services (about $30), (800) 521-0600, ext. 3042; www.umi.com.

A few books by Paolo Freire translated into English: Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Pedagogy of Hope, Pedagogy of the Heart.

Freire's pedagogy, as adapted for theater by Augusto Boal, is taught in workshops at the Theater of the Oppressed Lab: (212) 242-4201; www.toplab.org.

For New York International Education graduate degree programs, see: New York University School of Education: (212) 998-5498, www.nyu.edu/education/international; and Teacher's College, Columbia University: (212) 678-3947, www.tc.columbia.edu/~academic/intl-transcultural. For a nearby public university that offers I.E., see the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, www.umass.edu/education/degree/degrees.html.

For an interesting variation, browse Canada's University of British Columbia for their specializations in "Feminist Approaches to Social Justice in Education" (launching fall 2001) and "Ts'kel—First Nations [Native American] Graduate Studies in Education." See www.edst.educ.ubc.ca.