a gentle tone? Would those gestures (and how they made you feel) fit with the definition of immediacy as feeling a sense of psychological closeness to another person?How can you affirm immediacy in your own teaching practice? Which approaches to verbal and non-verbal communication might help to reassure learners that you are open to and genuinely interested in supporting and guiding them toward success? How could you communicate this if you were teaching in an online learning milieu?
PraxisAdult educator and philosopher Paulo Friere (1970) added to our understanding of humanizing pedagogies with his view of learners as co-creators of knowledge rather than recipients of information. Friere viewed education as a mutual process of critical consciousness in which educators and learners share a radical philosophy that actively challenges oppression, injustice, inequity, and societal conditions in the world around them. He defined this process of reflecting critically, and then acting to transform existing structures, as praxis.In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Friere (1970) argued against traditional banking approaches in which learners are perceived as empty accounts that need to be filled by educators. Banking approaches are characterized by educators who tell students what to do, what to learn, and what to think, and they seldom provide opportunities for learners to offer input, suggestions, or feedback about their education (Salazar, 2013).In contrast, Friere (1970) called for educators to consider learners' unique abilities, backgrounds, languages, and interests rather than treating all learners the same. Known for his work to empower oppressed adults in impoverished communities through literacy education, Friere asserted that hierarchies of power exist between educators and learners. He advocated for democratic relationships, critical examination of existing and accepted assumptions, and collaborative problem-posing dialogue in educational activities.Praxis, with its emphasis on critical reflection followed by challenge and action, extends the notion of humanizing pedagogies beyond approaches that are friendly, relatable, and rich in demonstrations of immediacy. In health professions education, required disciplinary knowledge, technical skills, and