Professional activism is widely recognized as a crucial piece of educational, social and community intervention, fostering political and social changes that expressly affect people in situations of vulnerability (Blenner, Lang & Prelip, 2017; Weiss-Gal, 2016; Zauderer, Ballestas, Cardoza, Hood & Neville, 2008). It can emerge or be enhanced in the workplace, requiring engagement and continuous learning (Ollis, 2008). As such, ‘professional activism’ is a process whereby individuals act in their work context and use their profession to achieve political and social change, particularly when dealing with vulnerability. From a multidisciplinary and multi-professional perspective, it includes all types of political action linked to the profession, the work context and the population involved.

Despite the growing interest in research on work as a place of activism, there is still a vast field to be explored, particularly within educational, social and community intervention with people in situations of vulnerability (Freitas, 2010; Speight & Vera, 2008; Weiss-Gal, 2016). To our knowledge, there is a lack of studies focusing on professional activism and its pedagogical character, especially through a multidisciplinary and multi-professional perspective, characteristic of this professional field. The richness of activists’ learning processes and outcomes reinforces the need for it to gain prominence in contemporary adult education research (Ollis, 2008, 2010).

Our interest is based on the theoretical contributions of critical approaches that view intervention as a potentially liberating pedagogical practice (Freire, 2002; hooks,1994; Martin-Baró, 1986) and advocate a praxis committed to transformative social change, based on thought and reflection as catalysts for action (Freire, 2002; hooks, 1994, Ledwith, 2011, Martin-Baró, 1986; Montero, 2004; Nelson & Evans, 2014).

Inspired by this conception of educational, social and community intervention as ‘the craft of making politics by other means’ (Menezes, 2007, p. 142) and resting on research gaps identified in the European and international literature, this study reflects upon the pedagogy of ‘professional activism’, through the sharing of 12 professionals working in Portugal on issues of vulnerability, addressing the following questions: How do professionals working in educational, social and community intervention with/for people in situations of vulnerability learn to be professional activists? How and why does their conscientization/politicization process take place? What concrete knowledge do they acquire through practice?

Literature calls for a sociocultural interpretation of learning, stating that activism that takes place in social action, in communitarian environments, and in the work context, allows learning that is situated in practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Ollis, 2011), unplanned and tacit, essentially informal, implied and implicit, and driven by a desire to change the world (Foley, 2001; Ollis, 2010). Becoming politicized through activist experience implies expansive learning and transformation, a comprehensive shift that changes and shapes activists’ epistemologies, identities, practices and political philosophies (Curnow et al., 2019). There is also growing debate about the embodied process of activism learning defending that, instead of being understood as a mere cognitive process, it must be holistically analyzed as a mind-body-emotion process (Curnow et al., 2019; Drew, 2015; hooks, 1994; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Ollis, 2008, 2010).

All these visions of learning and the conception of everyday life and the relational processes created in these contexts, as generators of a relevant part of the political learning we do in our lives, compel us to continue research about the pedagogy of activism. Work contexts emerge as ‘educational’ contexts that (informally and non-formally) contribute to the process of personal self-construction and the construction of the world, and thus as privileged places to study the involvement with professional activism, its inherent learning processes and resulting knowledge.

This poster reflects on the pedagogy of professional activism and is based on the findings of a qualitative and exploratory study which promoted reflexivity and sharing about the activist stance of a group of 12 professionals from multidisciplinary and multi-professional areas, working in educational, social and community intervention with people in situations of vulnerability, who are recognized for their political work related to their profession. Participants were 6 women and 6 men, white and between 34 and 75 years of age. They work in Portugal, mostly in urban contexts (Porto and Lisbon), in NGOs, not-for-profit and for-profit independent associations, schools, governmental institutions, universities and health institutions, on issues of inclusive education, poverty and social exclusion, racism and discrimination, gender equality, disability, HIV prevention, drugs and nightlife/harm reduction, right to housing and gentrification, prostitution, asylum and immigration. All participants were purposely selected to reflect diverse disciplinary/professional fields and intervention contexts and to ensure age and gender balance, through a snowball strategy via personal/professional contacts, participants’ and other professionals’ suggestions and media. In order to explore their own knowledge and experience about professional activism, we conducted semi-directive interviews (Amado, 2014; Braun & Clarke, 2013). Inviting all participants to reflect and disclose, the interview was interactive, with questions being introduced freely in terms of order and way of questioning, following a flexible guiding script with main topics of interest for this study: the professional activism learning processes and outcomes, the intersection between work and political activism, motivation and difficulties, concrete political actions, perceived impact and recommendations. The interviewer encouraged the participants to share concrete experiences, to better understand professional activism dynamics and processes – facilitating the disclosure of aspects that are more subjective or difficult to reveal/explain. The interviews, which lasted between 50 minutes and 2 hours and 15 minutes, were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. All transcripts were sent to the participants for review and approval. Aiming to explore and characterize participants’ experiences and perceptions about their professional activism learning, the data was analyzed using thematic analysis, following an inductive analytical approach (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2013).

Regarding professional activism pedagogy, a thematic influence and interdependence stands out between the dimensions ‘How?’ and ‘What?’ of professional activism learning and the themes that compose them – respectively, ‘political socialization’ and ‘work experience’; and ‘critical, social and political consciousness’, ‘sense of (in)justice and empathy’ and ‘know-how to speak out’. Our findings reveal that opportunities to incite political consciousness and reflect about activism as a relevant professional role are mostly triggered by personal and professional relationships throughout life and by concrete work experiences. Without disregarding particular academic inputs, professionals’ core principles and values, historical, social, economic and political knowledge, critical thinking, as well as political and ideological positioning, result from this contact with politicized people and circles throughout their lives and from work experience. The vision of professional activism as a reflexive, engaged and critically conscious praxis, which enables activists to develop, adapt and recreate their practices (Freire, 1975, Ollis, 2012), and of professional activism learning as a mind-body-emotion process (Drew, 2015; hooks, 1994; Lave & Wenger,1991; Ollis, 2008, 2010), essentially informal and situated in practice (Foley, 2001, Lave & Wenger, 1991; Ollis, 2010, 2011), expansive and transformative (Curnow et al., 2019; Kluttz & Walter, 2018), is consistent with the findings of this study, which reveal that, as professionals politicize and learn how to become activists, they also construct this praxis, and even construct themselves as professionals, giving meaning to, and (re)defining, their activist craft and professional role, through a dynamic learning-creative process, bounded to each personal/professional experience, the influence of others involved (professionals, people with whom they work), and the particular geographical, historical, social and political context in and for which it happens.

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