Training for community transformation: Popular education methodologies for women's leadership for social transformation

The goal of popular education, as articulated by Paulo Freire and others, is the transformation of communities and societies. There is in need to supplement existing literature with assessment of the outcomes of the practice of popular education in the US, especially under women's leadership. This qualitative research study assesses the outcomes of popular education practice through documentation of the post-training experiences and perceptions of 11 women participants in a popular education training program in the US: Learning---what they learned, Transfer---how the used what they learned and Impact---the effect of their practice on their organizations and communities.;The study found that (1) participants learned theory and skills in order to help people help themselves and experienced significant personal transformation at the same time; (2) participants were able to use TFCT methodologies within their own context to deal with issues of identity and organizational culture and (3) contextual impacts in US contexts are constrained by the diversities of organizational mandate and culture, receptiveness of learners and constraints within the methodology as learned to deal with diversities.;The study concluded that issues of personal transformation, power and positionality within an organization have a critical effect on ability to practice popular education effectively. It also concluded that the diversity and complexity of US contexts pose major challenges for women's leadership using Freire inspired theory and methodologies in the work of community transformation in the US.