Transformative Education, Participative Black Theology and the Challenge of Making a Difference

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This article has a lot of potential. However, as it stands it is still not ready for publication. I hope the author does pursue the suggestions below because at the end this will be a very important article. 

To start, the tone of the article is too personal. Take for example, the introduction and the first paragraph of the first section. The author is mostly talking about his personal experience. The first section should outline Freire's theory instead of stating the importance it has for the author. The Importance of Paulo Freire should be directed to the topic, not for the author's personal view and academic history. Please explore both theory and the historical context that his theory emerged. In the section entitled 'Participative Black Theology', it becomes clearer the reason for the personal tone used in the article: the author wishes to convey their own experience as an example of this. This can be done, however, the author must do this in a more academic tone and less like a personal statement. Furthermore, this method needs to be justified, given that it is unconventional. I recommend the author to look at the work of Gadamer and his views on life philosophy and life interpretation. The author can also include some work on critical race theory and the importance of storytelling. These must either be done at the introduction or in a separate section on methodology. 

The second section does not trace the history of black theology in a very consistent way. It grabs pieces here and there. It is important to have a clear timeline and explain the steps well. If the focus is South Africa (which is not totally clear to me if it is) then this should be stated clearly and should also make a general comment about the origins of black theology and its influence beyond South Africa.

My understanding of the purpose of the section 'Performative Action in Action' is that the author is trying to make the link with the work of Freire. However, this is only implict and part of the reason it is unclear is because the author has not really explained what Freire's views are at the beginning of the article. This must be done. And I think the author also has some debt to Augusto Boal's work and this must be acknowledged. So the section on Freire perhaps should be on Freire and Boal and it must focus on their theories rather than the importance it had on the academic development of the author. The same problem applies to the final section, the author's point is not really clear because it lacks a theoretical basis at the beginning of the article and the subsequent link between this theoretical basis and the argument. 

I wish good luck to the author.

The English is good enough. 

Author Response

The concerns of the referee have been addressed. See the attached. 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

According to the abstract, this work is to explore the work of Paulo Freire, yet the section on Freire is short by comparison explicating only your introduction to him, his threat to Brazilian hegemonic powers and a brief description of conscientization. For a paper grounded in his work, more should be said about him, his work with farmers, banking and the potential for transformative education to change not just the oppressed but the oppressor.  The same is true for Black Theology, since again, the abstract indicates that your work is grounded in the nexus of these two epistemological frameworks, I would expect a bit more elaboration of the two and how the intersection lays the groundwork for your participative black theology. As there are a number of ideas and concepts within Black theology, please consider naming specific ideas you address with your framework.

Performative Action sounds similar to one aspect of Religious Educator Anne Wimberly's Storylinking where she asks participants to place themselves in the biblical story, and the Performative Action in Action reminds me of Womanist Biblical Scholar Renita Weems who says that we often relate to the wrong person in the Bible. You may (or may not) consider referencing and/or addressing their scholarship.

If trying to get Blacks to reject white supremacist thinking, please consider refuting statements like black-on-black crime when crime statistics show that people tend to perpetrate crimes within their own demographic

no comments on the English, there are a few typos that I suspect will be corrected by the editor

Author Response

My response to the 2nd peer reviewer have been addressed. Please see attached. 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The article is much better and I am looking forward to see it published. Yet the parts on Freire and Boal still need to be improved. Most of what the author has added is on biographical details and general statements on the methodology of Freire and Boal. The author needs to add some principles and key ideas in the text. You do this a bit on page 8 for Boal and this could be extended and also must be done for Freire earlier. And then the connection needs to be clearer with the rest of the text. 

This is fine. 

Author Response

I have added an additional section outlining how the ideas and principles of Freire and Boal have informed this work. This section augments the biographical and methodological significance of their work that was asked of me by the previous peer review. It should be noted that this previous peer asked me to outline the conceptual and methodological importance of Freire and Boal, and not additional comments on ideas and principles. 

Reviewer 2 Report

Previous concerns addressed except the value-added of the response research. 

There are a few typos and grammatical errors that should be captured in the final editorial review.

Author Response

No additional work was suggested by this peer reviewer. 

Round 3

Reviewer 1 Report

The author has addressed all the problems. I think it is a great paper and should be accepted. 

I think the English is fine.