A literacy student from the northeast was discussing, in her culture circle, a codification representing a man who created a clay vase with his own hands. The discussion involved the “reading” of a series of codifications, which in fact are representations of concrete reality, which is culture.
The concept of culture had already been apprehended by the group through the effort of comprehension, which characterizes the reading of the world or the word. The woman’s memories of her previous experience and her sensory understanding of the process by which the man worked the clay to create the vase told her that the making of the vase was the sort of work with which he made a living. Just as the vase was only an object, it was the product of his work, which, once sold, made his and his family’s lives viable.
Now, going beyond the sensory experience, the woman took a fundamental step: She reached the ability to generalize, which characterizes “school experience.” Creating a vase through transformative work over clay was no longer only a means of survival but was also a means of creating culture, of creating culture, of creating art. For this reason, by revisiting her previous reading of the world, of the day-to-day activities in the world, that northeastern literacy student, proud and secure, said, “I create culture. I do this.”
I have also had the opportunity to witness a similar experience from the point of view of the intelligence of people’s behavior. I have referred to this fact before in my writing, but there is no harm in bringing it up again.
I found myself on the island of Sao Tome, in the Guinea Gulf off the western coast of Africa. I was with local educators, taking part in the first development program for literacy teachers.