“It's More About Sharing the Weight”

This chapter discusses the benefits found by using an Activist Approach to structure the learning environment and curriculum in community weightshare classes in Brazil. Implementing the Activist Approach in this context and working with the four critical elements supported participants’ engagement and learning as well as provided flexibility to structure the class environment and curriculum. Doing this, however, required extending beyond merely replicating past pedagogical experiences through listening and responding to the people present to facilitate relationship building and thereby learning. In order to meet the needs of participants in this community context, holding loosely to elements of ways that “we know it works” gave space to develop structural variations in order to gain the benefits that ultimately emerged.