A study was conducted in a middle to upper class neighborhood in a Minnesota city to determine the practices that the Spanish teacher used to encourage full student participation and to consider whether the Freirian view of education can furnish an adequate framework for understanding this teacher's practices. Of the school's more than 500 students, about 56% were minority, and many were of lower socioeconomic status. All materials used in the Spanish classes, which were attended by all children for 1 hour each week, were prepared by the teacher herself. During the 1990-91 school year, all six second-third grade Spanish classes (176 children) had been observed. The ideas of P. Freire provided a framework and methodology that did not bias the data through preconceptions. The teacher's teaching practices created interdependence, cooperation, and a new classroom culture. Games were the medium she used to socialize the children out of endemic school failure and to make learning dynamic. A generative theme was used as a springboard to social awareness and as a tool to lead students toward mutual respect and tolerance. Participation by elite and non-elite students required tailoring learning opportunities to the students' individual needs. (Contains 22 references.) (SLD)