INTRODUCTION
Pedagogy (/ˈpɛdəɡɒdʒi/ or /ˈpɛdəɡoʊdʒi/)
is the science and art of education. Its aims range from the full development
of the human being to skills acquisition. For example, Paulo Freire referred to
his method of teaching people as "critical pedagogy".
The purpose of this paper is to
introduce the concept of Critical Pedagogy to the classroom teacher - the
person who literally spends his or her life and energies in direct interactions
and relationship with the students in the public schools - and to offer
examples of Critical Pedagogy itself as implemented in the classroom.
CRITICAL
PEDAGOGY
Critical pedagogy is a teaching
approach inspired by Marxist critical theory and other radical philosophies,
which attempts to help students question and challenge posited
"domination," and to undermine the beliefs and practices that are
alleged to dominate. In other words, it is a theory and practice of helping
students achieve "critical consciousness."
Critical pedagogy is a philosophy
of education and social movement that combines education with critical theory.
First described by Paulo Freire, it has since been developed by Henry Giroux
and others as a praxis-oriented (Praxis is the process by which a theory,
lesson, or skill is enacted, practiced, embodied, or realized)
"educational movement, guided by passion and principle, to help students
develop consciousness of freedom, recognize authoritarian tendencies, and
connect knowledge to power and the ability to take constructive action."
Among its leading figures are Michael Apple, bell hooks, Joe L. Kincheloe,
Peter McLaren, Henry Giroux, and Patti Lather.
Critical pedagogy includes
relationships between teaching and learning. Its proponents claim that it is a
continuous process of what they call "unlearning",
"learning", and "relearning", "reflection",
"evaluation", and the impact that these actions have on the students,
in particular students whom they believe have been historically and continue to
be disenfranchised by what they call "traditional schooling".
Ira Shor identifies principal
goals of Critical Pedagogy: “when pedagogy and curricular policy reflect
egalitarian goals, they do what education can do:
I.
Oppose socialization with de-socialization
II.
Choose critical consciousness over commercial
consciousness
III.
Transformation of society over reproduction of
inequality
IV.
Promote democracy by practicing it and by
studying authoritarianism
V.
Challenge student withdrawal through
participatory courses
VI.
Illuminate the myths supporting the elite
hierarchy of society
VII.
Interfere with the scholastic disabling of
students through a critical literacy program
VIII.
Raise awareness about the thought and language
expressed in daily life
IX.
Distribute research skills and censored information
useful for investigating power and policy in society
X.
Invite students to reflect socially on their
conditions, to consider overcoming limits. . . .
Critical pedagogy considers how
education can provide individuals with the tools to better themselves and
strengthen democracy, to create a more egalitarian and just society, and thus
to deploy education in a process of progressive social change. Media literacy involves teaching the skills
that will empower citizens and students to become sensitive to the politics of
representations of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, and other
cultural differences in order to foster critical thinking and enhance
democratization. Critical media literacy
aims to make viewers and readers more critical and discriminating readers and
producers of texts.
Critical media pedagogy provides
students and citizens with the tools to analyze critically how texts are
constructed and in turn construct and position viewers and readers. It provides tools so that individuals can
dissect the instruments of cultural domination; transform themselves from
objects to subjects, from passive to active.
Thus critical media literacy is empowering, enabling students to become
critical producers of meanings and texts, able to resist manipulation and
domination.
CRITICISMS
OF CRITICAL PEDAGOGY
Criticisms:
1. Ignores Virtues of Dominant
Culture - Critical Pedagogy disregards the values implicit within social
structures. For example, in its criticism of American Imperialism, critical
pedagogy ignores the virtues of America. They miss the fact that our foreign
intervention has liberated people and stopped genocide, even if it has also
killed civilians and created totalitarian governments.
2. Critical Pedagogy
Indoctrinates – Because they do not believe that education can be neutral,
there is a subtle temptation to indoctrinate students. Critical theorists point
out that the current system already indoctrinates and that critical theory at
least allows students to develop their own convictions. However, critics of
Critical Pedagogy feel that this undermines the work of parents, churches,
family and other social institutions in instilling values among their children.
3. Limited in Scope – Critical
theory makes sense in language arts and in social sciences. However, it is
difficult to see how it can apply to math or science. Though there is some
validity there, critical pedagogy could be applied in certain circumstances to
math and science. For example, critical pedagogy encourages students to
challenge assumptions, create hypothesis and test it with action.
CONCLUSION
Simply
put, to remain a teacher who relies on schooling is the despair that we all can
fall into. School structures - be they time, bureaucracy, hierarchy, curriculum
- have a way of deskilling the teacher and robbing her/him of the enthusiasm to
proceed with their job creatively. One point I tell prospective and in-service
teachers. To begin the "critical" project is to simultaneously be
reflective on how one is personally schooling themselves and their clientele,
while also attempting to move out of the schooling mentality, both
theoretically and practically. Therein lies the hope for teachers in the
trenches. We can indeed educate our students if we choose when and where it is
appropriate to resist schooling structures. Hope lies in asking and answering
this following question, and then, subsequently, taking action. To what end do
I teach? When I can truly answer that question, the critical pedagogue will realize
that teaching is more than about transmitting the basics of schooling, but
really about the vitality of educating for citizenship, democracy and the hope
that this can be passed on to future generations. Clearly, teachers, there is a
lot of work to be done!
REFERENCE
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