The popular education network of Australia (PENA) and Twenty-First Century critical education

Drawing on the philosophies and writings of Paulo Freire regarding education as activism, this chapter explores the history and activities of the Popular Education Network of Australia (PENA). The network, founded in 2009, involves educators, academics, and community workers working together on issues relating to critical pedagogy and social change in schools, communities, and adult education contexts. Two symposia have been organised on critical education in Australia. In 2010, Teaching and Learning for Social Justice and Action was the inaugural gathering. In 2012, Freire Reloaded: Learning and Teaching to Change the World featured a diverse range of workshops and Professor Antonia Darder as keynote speaker and observer. Through the perspectives and experiences of six academics involved in PENA, this chapter will explore the group's activities and reflect on the inspiration drawn from the work of Freire, Darder, and others. Creating spaces for discussion of critical pedagogy affords opportunities for academics, educators, teachers, and activists to reflect on their practice and also leads to further spontaneous networking and planning of action. We argue that there is continuing importance, in fact urgency, in producing places and spaces for conscientisation to occur, and for examples of critical education to be shared amongst twenty-first-century educators.