Critical Pedagogy

Introduction

            With social and political movements on the rise worldwide, people lack understanding of how to face these issues or make a change in the government or policies that affect them personally. This is partly due to the fact that the skills needed to make the change one wishes to see in the world are not taught in schools as they instead teach students to memorize and regurgitate facts or lectures without students’ opinions or understanding of the topic. Classrooms are inadvertently teaching oppression and suppression of one’s thoughts and feelings by showing them that no one cares about their views. This has caused students not to express their creativity or enhance their critical thinking skills for centuries. When educators take the time to understand what critical pedagogy is, the discourse of its utopian language, the divergence of skills with social and political issues, a teacher’s role and how they can reconcile as co-learners with students, as well as be cognizant of their own biases will they create connections with their students and turn them into successful adults.

Critical Pedagogy

The philosophy of critical pedagogy, shaped by history, is a collaborative process in which educators and students are co-learners supporting students’ creativity and critical thinking skills. It emancipates them from oppression through knowledge of power structures and social movements. According to Kincheloe, critical pedagogy is the process by which individuals face complex determinations about justice, democracy, and competing ethical claims. At the same time, institutional professionals are not neutral on these matters as previous ideologies shaped them (2008).  Critical pedagogy omits the political support of the dominant culture by not standing for social and educational mechanisms that hurt marginalized students (Kincheloe, 2008). Educators who use critical pedagogical practices are more successful in connecting with students and their views so that they can truly learn the materials being taught. Critical pedagogy provides democratic classrooms where teachers and students interact as co-learners, fostering a sense of equality and mutual respect by collectively exploring real-world problems to create personal relevance (Baer, 2016).

Discourse of Utopian Language

Terms such as liberating, empowerment, and democratic are utilized throughout critical pedagogy regarding education. Utopian language is used in critical pedagogy to propel humans to a better future while denouncing the oppressive structure by announcing the humanizing structure (Freire, 2014). However, using terms like empowerment implies that teachers are dominant and students are passive, which neglects the historical, structural, social, and cultural structures that affect social change; inadvertently, teachers reinforce dominant power structures (Baer, 2016). These terms often cause educators to feel foolish for questioning or critiquing critical pedagogy, although Freire intended to heighten critical consciousness (Baer, 2016).

Divergence of Skills with Social and Political Issues

Most schools are focused on teaching facts to be memorized and regurgitated, often overlooking the development of practical skills that students can use in the real world. However, including social and political issues in the classroom helps students develop skills they can carry throughout life. Students learn to navigate their ideas and feelings on government and the policies that affect them, how to practice discourse, the ability to decipher real and fake news, and how to build strong relationships and use their voices (Ferlazzo, 2021). This will build empowered, confident individuals who understand the importance of constructive conflict that can change the world rather than be controlled, tamed, or socially regulated (Kincheloe, 2008). Ferlazzo says that when we keep politics out of the classroom, we are not preparing students for civic life and, therefore, creating the notion that no one cares about citizens' opinions (2021).

Teacher’s Role

Educators play a crucial role in implementing critical pedagogy, providing students with the necessary tools to become successful adults. They have dialectical authority, being responsible for students’ health, safety, and learning while facilitating the environment for inquiries and giving students freedom for self-direction (Kincheloe, 2008). Baer delves into how educators need to understand that Freire’s work was written during a Brazilian feudal system and that our understanding of teachers’ authority is more complex as they should play a leadership role in a democratic dialogic classroom by valuing students’ agency and voice (2016). Educators must not make students feel alienated when they have beliefs different from theirs because it is about students sharing their own personal and social experiences that construct the students’ identities. However, instructors should also provide ground rules to ensure a respectful interaction, allowing students to open up (Baer, 2016).

Reconciliation as Co-learners

Teachers are also learners, researchers, and knowledge workers (Kincheloe, 2008). "Education must begin with the solution of the teacher-student contradiction by reconciling the poles of the contradiction so that both are simultaneously teachers and students." (Freire, 2014). Reconciliation can be found through utilizing the generative or transformative pedagogy models, which allow students to engage actively. According to Wink, this underscores educators' crucial role in fostering students to actively engage in the learning process and extend their knowledge beyond the classroom and into the community (2013). This can happen when teachers leave the curriculum more open so that the students can choose how they want to learn and interpret teaching. This eliminates the transmission model, which states that teachers are all-knowing and are the owners of truth, and they are pouring that knowledge and truth into empty vessels, the students (Wink, 2013).

Cognizant of Biases

It is imperative that educators be cognizant of their own biases so as not to alienate students whose perspectives differ from their own, as everyone has unique situations that have shaped their identities; teachers should be aware that their unique situation that has created their biases will not be the same for their students. Freire states that educators fail by using their personal views of reality rather than considering the students’ opinions for which their programs are created (2014). Rather, a teacher should encourage students to express viewpoints different than their own to support constructive conflict in the classroom and express that there are no right or wrong answers when it comes to opinions, but there are right ways to handle those differences among one another. For centuries, educators have used the transmission model as new teachers step into their positions as educators; they believe that they should teach the way they were taught, with a lack of understanding of the complexities of how students learn (Kincheloe, 2008). As teachers develop this understanding, they will build stronger connections with the students and become more confident while recognizing that they inadvertently reinforce ideologies that do not serve students.

Conclusion

            Critical pedagogical practices place students and teachers as co-learners so that there is mutual respect and understanding that one is not dominating or oppressing the other. Although Freire had good intentions by using utopian language in an attempt to propel people to a better future, in today's society, the utopian terms can be seen as there is a dominating force creating someone to empower someone else, which was not Freire's intention as he wanted people to rise from oppression (2014). When critical pedagogy is adequately used, there should be a divergence of skills with social and political issues, which can enhance students' critical thinking skills to elevate them not just to be complacent in the world but rather change it. As teachers navigate their role as co-learners, they also need to respond to inquiries and facilitate respect among students to maintain constructive conflict and interactions where students can argue both sides of a debate no matter what they believe in. As such, teachers should also be cognizant of their own biases not to alienate students who do not have the same opinions as them. If more teachers were to practice critical pedagogy, society would have better critical thinkers who are knowledgeable on how to make changes appropriately to the government and policies that affect them.

References

Baer, A. (2016, December 7). Critical pedagogy, critical conversations: Expanding dialogue about critical library instruction through the lens of composition and rhetoric. In the Library with a Lead Pipe. Retrieved July 28, 2024. From: https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2016/critical-conversations/

Ferlazzo, L. (2021, March 5). Politics belongs in the classroom (Opinion). Education Week. Retrieved July 27, 2024. From: https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-politics-belongs-in-the-classroom/2020/10 

Freire, P. (2014). Pedagogy of the Oppressed: 30th Anniversary Edition. New York: Continuum.

Greenwood, B. (2020, February 5). What is pedagogy? An introduction to learning theories. Retrieved July 27, 2024. From:  https://blog.teamsatchel.com/what-is-pedagogy-a-guide-to-learning-theories 

Kincheloe, J. L. (2008). Critical pedagogy primer (Vol. 1). Peter Lang.

Wink, J. (2013, December 18). Critical Pedagogy 3rd Ed - History helps. JoanWink.com. Retrieved July 27, 2024. From: https://www.joanwink.com/critical-pedagogy-3rd-edition/critical-pedagogy-3rd-edition-history-helps/