Also known as the "people's education," Popular Education philosophy and methodologies underlie, animate and inspire our work at ORCHWA. Popular/people's education is an approach to education and organizing that has been used successfully around the world for literacy instruction, community development, and health promotion. It is based on the ideas that;

1) The knowledge gained through life experience is just as important (and sometimes more important) than the knowledge gained through formal education, and

2) People -- especially people who are most impacted by inequities--are the experts about their/our own experience.

While Popular Education is closely associated with the Brazilian educator  Paulo Freire, there are forms of popular education methodologies and approaches used all over the world.  Popular Educators seek to begin with what people already know and do, then create situations where people can learn from one another, and then use that existing knowledge to create a more just and equitable society.