From the culture circle to the physical culture circle: a dialogical and embodied framework

Abstract

Purpose: This article presents the theoretical framework of the physical culture circle, grounded in an analysis of the culture circle − a participatory and dialogical popular education approach developed by Paulo Freire.

Methods: The study examines Freirean pedagogy, particularly the culture circle, in dialogue with decolonial studies and physical cultural studies. This interdisciplinary engagement seeks to articulate a theoretical and pedagogical proposal that integrates critical bodily experience into educational practice, highlighting the convergences and divergences among these perspectives.

Results: The physical culture circle is proposed as a pedagogical framework that values collective, critical, and engaged learning, challenging the logics of body colonization and hierarchies of knowledge. By fostering awareness of social markers of difference and encouraging empowerment through embodied practices, this approach contributes to transforming experiences into acts of resistance and emancipation.

Conclusion: By consolidating the physical culture circle as a robust theoretical framework, the study offers educators, researchers, and community practitioners a structure that fosters participatory spaces for dialogue, resistance, and collective knowledge construction. This framework challenges dominant paradigms by centering the moving body as a site of political, cultural, and pedagogical significance, affirming its role in the struggle against social hierarchies and injustices.