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UFE Economics Education Program

Our economic programs reach thousands of people in religious congregations, unions, neighborhood groups and business associations. Our programs pick up where the think tanks and speechmakers leave off.

We've got a special knack for transforming dry economic statistics into memorable learning experiences that connect with people's lives and lead to action. To multiply our efforts, UFE also trains and supports a national network of volunteer workshop leaders.

UFE has forged a number of educational partnerships with organizations such as the AFL-CIO, Catholic Campaign for Human Development, Episcopal Network on Economic Justice, Liberty Hill Foundation, Midwest Center for Labor Research, National Interfaith Committee on Worker Justice, Program on Law, Corporations and Democracy, and others.

In addition to charts, mini-presentations, and interactive games, we employ a number of "popular education" techniques and methods in our workshops.

What is "Popular Education?"

Popular education is a non-traditional method of education. Primarily aimed toward adults, it is more democratic and cooperative than traditional classroom-type education methods, which are based on lectures and writings by experts. Popular education is also openly political, and popular educators see the learners as potentially powerful people who can change the social conditions that surround them. With popular education, ordinary people define their own problems and apply the lessons of past political successes and failures to their own situation.

The popular education process begins by thinking and talking with a group of others about the events that have occurred in their own lives. With the guidance of a popular educator, participants identify ways to solve the problems confronting them. In this model, the emphasis shifts from lecture to problem-posing, and the content, previously removed from the learners’ experience, becomes more relevant to the group. More info...