The political and pedagogical thinking of Juan César García: Piaget-Gramsci-Freire and professional health education in América Latina

Abstract

This article aims to demonstrate the political and pedagogical thinking of Juan César García from a contemporary perspective. First, I discuss the theory of the “mode of medical production” proposed by García, inspired by Marxism. Second, I systematize elements that delineate a theory of education based on historical materialism, with a strong influence from Gramscian thought as formulated by García, in contrast to what he calls “idealist pedagogy”. Third, I highlight political and pedagogical elements in his work that need better contextualization to assess his real contribution to professional health education. Finally, I present arguments to highlight Juan César García’s contribution to the understanding of the permanence-transformation dialectic in education-work relations, focusing on the role of institutions tasked with training critical and creative subjects engaged in the historic struggle for health equity and quality of care.