Just as correspondence involves the exchange of ideas between people, dialogue, according to Freire, is an important part of learning. To Freire, asking and answering questions is the way we learn. Correspondence involves this similar exchange; however, sometimes correspondence constitutes writing a letter to someone with no expectation of a response. This does not contradict Freire, though. Seneca says “men learn while they teach,” and Freire would agree that asking questions, even if unanswered, still makes an individual express their thinking and therefore learn. So whether correspondence is one-sided or mutual, it still plays a role in an individual confronting their thinking and educating themselves.
Freire and Correspondence
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I could see how this type of thinking is very beneficial in terms of the curious student, or someone in an educational setting. I wonder how this mindset would work in a more practical setting. Like what if we had found someone who never knew how to tie their shoes and asked them to teach someone else how to do it? Could it be accomplished? I’d like to think it can be, and it would be done in a way considered unusual to the norm.