Learning in Mulukukú: A Journey of Transformation

Abstract

This essay reflects on the lessons we learned from co-teaching a course five years ago titled Domestic Violence in a Post-Conflict Society: The Case of Nicaragua. We were invited to expose our students to a Sandinista-style, radical women’s organization, the Maria Luiza Ortiz cooperative, in Mululuku, a deeply rural area of Nicaragua that faced looming problems of domestic violence in the absence of law and legal institutions. We seized on the opportunity to adopt this project, because we believed it would be transformative for our students, for ourselves, and maybe even for our law school, while potentially providing useful contributions to the Cooperative. This essay offers us an opportunity to reflect on our own journey as teachers through this experience and to share what we have learned about the ethics, the benefits and costs, and the effectiveness of our attempts at transformative teaching.

Keywords: Transformative Teaching, Transformative Learning, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Teaching for Social Change, Social Justice Teaching