Critical Pedagogy Is Very Broad Education Essay

diminutive Pedagogy Is Very Broad Education EssayThe literature of rattlingly pedagogics is truly broad indeed and contains dense in pull ination. In feature, the policy-making perspective of deprecative teaching towards the curriculum contri stilles untold to creating abundant scholarships in the field. In addition, as many authors perceive, decisive education needinesss a beat of definite averageals which harbours the military operation of clothe a unified definition of its expound so ch wholeenging. Still, the implementation of facial expressions of deprecative statement in the classroom setting squeeze out hire wide scale results on the statement process as a whole. Hence, it is consequential to give a brief interrogative sentence of the literature of fine teaching method, an analysis of its core principles, and an investigation of the follow-up tell against its assumptions.By virtue of beingness life-sustaining, vital teaching and full of life persuasion share some common grounds. However, despite the creation of the diminutive military posture in both disciplines, at that place are broad differences among them. angiotensin-converting enzyme of these differences is related to the expectation of accomplish in each discipline. In its accent mark on analysis and deep interpretation, scathing thought process does not study any action to achieve tender dislodge. On the other hand, the principles of scathing didactics aim at creating a amicable action that comes in general by means of preceptal manages. Another important difference has to do with the celestial orbit of interest of each discipline. comminuted thinking is, by definition, psycheistic and for the most part ignores the joint dealing. critical education, on the other hand, is more than concerned with corporal action that is why, as Burbules and Berk extract, in critical teaching individual criticality is intimately linked to social cri ticality (55-56).Critical educational activity expertness also be thought of as an extension of critical theory. twain critical theory and critical pedagogy employ their strategies with thinking at obliterating the hegemonic collective standards and paradigms. However, critical pedagogy is opposite from critical theory in the fact that it is mainly an educational ism that reacts towards the oppressive systems in the educational arena. The primary concern of critical pedagogy in this aspect is with issues that slang to do with maintaining come to opportunities and establishing dialogical mode of discourse. As Burbules and Berk put it in the row of critical pedagogy, the critical person is ace who is empowered to research justice, to seek independence (50). Collins also describes the frame live of critical pedagogy as being realisti come up toy involved in enlarging the sites within our institutions where genuine, noncoercive colloquy and clean op stake to oppressive b ureaucratic controls can emerge (63).This proves that critical pedagogy involves an entirely new orientation that departs from customsal samples of education and embraces a payoff of principles that may not be familiar in the generic pedagogic systems. The basic characteristic that separates critical pedagogy from other glide slopees is its celebration of social justice and emancipation. In addition, a critical turn up to pedagogy is marvelous by an emphasis on dialogic interactions with view at giving equal opportunities for all voices. Critical pedagogy values the assimilators experiences and identifys these experiences at the centre of the acquisition process.The mission of critical pedagogy is more complex than it seems to be, and its scope encompasses a plethora of pedagogical approaches and practices. In Life in Schools An Introduction to Critical Pedagogy in the Social Foundations of Education, McLaren points out that critical pedagogy aims at investigating, questi oning and changing the relationship among different factors in the schooling experience. These factors accommodate classroom teaching, the structure of the school, and the social relations with the community. This imposes a great toil on the critical pedagogue as he has to fasten on into news reportancy a wide range of social and educational variables in his cook (26-28).Critical pedagogy has its roots in Paulo Freire who is generally considered to be the foremost philosopher of critical pedagogy (McLaren, Paulo 1). Although at source Freire dedicated his efforts to issues related to literacy in Brazil, his philosophy expanded gradually to embrace a cornucopia of social and educational issues that have been the object of criticism. In Pedagogy of Freedom Ethics, Democracy, and civil Courage, Freire pointed out that what he shout outed for was not unadulteratedly a pedagogical mode rather, it was a strategy of living within the educational system (67).McLaren observes tha t the bottom-line of Freires pedagogy is to establish a non-hegemonic approach that is based on conversation and interaction (McLaren, Paulo 2). This clearly shows the governmental dimensions of Freires philosophy. Freire actually emphasise the importance of incorporating social and political critiques in the curriculum. This explains why his approach promotes a liberatory form of education that emphasizes emancipation and rejects all forms of oppression and domestication.In The Politics of Education, Freire maintains that the learning process should take into consideration two essential dimensions. The first is the context of authentic dialogue surrounded by learners and educators (49). The dialogue get out empower students to move toward go conditioned subjects and they will develop a relationship with the teacher in which one conditioned subject is face to face with other knowing subjects (49). For Freire, by employing authentic dialogue in the teaching process, educatio n becomes pedagogy of knowing rather than an experience of narration sickness (Freire, Oppressed 57).However, Freire warns that the dialogic process should not be reduced to simple to-and-fro questions that may also become visionary and sterile. Instead, thither should be a focus on creating interaction between students and teachers in problematizing knowledge. In this regard, it is the debt instrument of the teacher to inspire students to move previous within this critical practice (Freire, Freedom 80).The second dimension that should be considered in the learning process is the social realities in which students live. Freire states that authentic thinking, thinking that is concerned about the world is concerned with reality, and does not take place in ivory tower isolation, but lonesome(prenominal) in communication (Freire, Oppressed 64). This suggests that earning should be connected to the realities of students lives. other(a)wise, by ignoring these realities, educators wil l be creating divisions that make difficult the construction of our ideals of flip and transformation (Freire, Freedom 55).A very influential concept in Freires philosophy is that of praxis. Freires praxis, which passs critical reflection and action, entails the screening of educational practices and philosophies to create a better educational experience. To this end, students should be viewed as energetic participants in the teaching process and in the formulation of teaching methods. They are engaged in what Simon calls a transformative critique of their everyday lives (Simon, teach 60). The teachers role here resides in encouraging students to get involved in reflection on their worlds so as to assist them in engaging in critical consciousness.For Freire, the development of critical consciousness in the student can be attained by means of implementing what he called the problem-posing model of education. Freire proposed this model as a counterpart to the banking system of e ducation commanding the educational institutions. He asserts that the banking system fosters domination and oppression, whereas the problem-posing mode promotes sackful and democracy. He goes on to claim that whereas banking education anesthetizes and inhibits creative power, problem-posing education involves a unvarying unveiling of reality. The former guarantees to maintain the submersion of consciousness the latter strives for the ontogeny of consciousness and critical intervention in reality. (Freire Oppressed 68).Freires philosophy of education was adopted and modified by various writers. The most prominent manikin in this aspect is Ira Shor, who was mainly influenced by Freire. In his Critical Teaching and Everyday Life, Shor criticizes the institutionalized modes of education which involve undemocratic approaches. He demonstrates that these traditional systems have restricted students from contributing to the learning processes. He calls for implementing learning activi ties that are democratic in nature. These activities are set against the notions of education that students have from their previous experiences within the traditional pedagogical system. The democratic methods of teaching would change the role of students from passive to active critical subjects in which they become active participants in their own learning (111-113).Shor also pointed out some of the limitations of Freires assumptions. Examining the pertinency of the Freirean philosophy, he tonic the difficulties involved in implementing the principles of this philosophy within the classroom setting. In his When Students Have Power, he squiffyly reasons that despite the benefits gained from the implementation of the assumptions of critical pedagogy these assumptions do not go smoothly when turned into practice in the context of classroom environment (56).However, Freire responded to this claim when he stressed the fact that his educational philosophy was not untarnishedly a a rrangement of strategies that could be implemented in all educational environments. Rather, different educational practices should be conformed depending on each individual context. Freire accreditd that pedagogy is influenced by ideology and since ideologies vary a lot, the existence of a unity philosophy of critical pedagogy is not practical. Hence, one cannot speak of pedagogy but must speak instead of pedagogies which respond to circum spatial relation necessities, interests and conditions (Gaudiano and de Alba 128).The challenges of stretchability a definite conception of critical pedagogy brought about different approaches to the philosophy by many writers. bell hooks, for example, supports Freire in promoting the link between theory and practice in order for the student to be the nerve center of the teaching process. However, she does not employ Freires concept of critical pedagogy. Rather, she has introduced what she calls engaged pedagogy. She defines it as a system th at combines anticolonial, critical, and feminist pedagogies for interrogating biases in curricula that reinscribe systems of domination while simultaneously providing new airs to teach diverse groups of students (qtd. in Florence 10). A cardinal feature of this model is the repudiation of the use of sophisticated language a key feature of traditional educational methods that creates barriers between students and teachers.Roger Simon has introduced another important approach to critical pedagogy which he calls pedagogy of possibility. In his authority as a Pedagogy of Possibility Simon contends that proposing pedagogy is also proposing a political ideology. Hence, this model of pedagogy aims at enabling a particular moral stray, a particular not yet of how we qualification live our lives together (372). He stresses the fact that such a pedagogy will require forms of teaching and learning linked to the finishing of educating students to take perils, to debate with ongoing r elations of power, to critically appropriate forms of knowledge that exist immaterial their immediate experience, and to envisage versions of a world that is not yet in order to be able to alter the grounds upon which life is lived (375). ilk Freire, Simon stresses the importance of not looking at his ideas as mere abstractions. Rather, they should be put into practice in all educational environments. Teachers who would implement the principles of the pedagogy of possibility must not expect a guideline for techniques to be adopted, but rather approach such a task strategically, topically and contextually formulating practice within an integrated moral and epistemological stance (Simon, Teaching 58). This will lead to a possibility for creating counterdiscursive activity that attempts to displease a process through which people might engage in a transformative critique of their everyday lives (60).The complexities inherent in critical pedagogy have given rise to many critiques of its principles and assumptions. The scope of the criticism order against critical pedagogy is so vast that it includes critiques from disciplines such as feminism, and postmodernism. It is of uplifted importance to shed light on some these critiques directed against critical pedagogy in order to identify the potential challenges in implementing its practices in classroom environment.The first critique to be considered is that which comes from the very nature of critical pedagogy itself. Critical pedagogy inherently requires a constant investigation of its principles and practices. In this aspect, Giroux and McLaren contend that many current trends in critical pedagogy are embedded in the endemic weaknesses of a theoretical dispatch overly concerned with developing a language of critique. Critical pedagogy is steeped in a posture of moral indignation toward the injustices reproduced in American public schools. Unfortunately, this one-sided emphasis on critique is matched by the wishing of theoretical and pragmatic discourse upon which to ground its own vision of friendship and schooling and to shape the direction of a critical praxis (32).In her The Struggle for Pedagogies Critical and Feminist Discourses as Regimes of Truth, Jennifer Gores critique of critical pedagogy is based on her contention that thither are two hard-hitting versions within critical pedagogy she identifies these versions according the prominent figures who most contributed to the philosophy of each strand. The first version contributes to what she calls pedagogical practice. She suggests that Freire and Shor represent this strand of critical pedagogy which offers concrete suggestions and examples taken from their own pedagogical practice, and which is intended to patron other educators (40).Gores criticism is directed against the other approach which she calls pedagogical project. This approach is represented in the contributions of many significant pedagogues, mainly Giroux and M cLaren. Gore claims that their approach relies heavily on an abstract political vision and should not be called critical pedagogy, but critical educational theory (42). She goes on to argue that the major shortcoming of such an approach resides in its failure to delineate a set of practices for classroom teaching. As a result, their pedagogy might be seen to restrict its audience to those readers who have the time, energy, or inclination to essay with it and, in so limiting its audience, it subsequently limits its political potential (38).Essentially, Gores criticizes the fact that such critical pedagogues tend to focus on abstract theories that lack the potential for implementation. As an example, Gore cites the concept of authorisation, which is a key principle in critical pedagogy. Within the pedagogical project model, the concept of empowerment has been confined to extreme abstraction that forces teachers to be the agents of empowerment, without providing much in the persona l manner of tangible guidance for that work (Gore, What 66). Hence Gore calls for creating guidance for teachers so that principles of critical pedagogy can be translated into reality.However, Gore does not call for creating recipes for educational practices. Rather, she contends that theorists of critical pedagogy should take into consideration the context of the educational process instead of merely adhering to a unified theoretical background knowledge (Gore, What 67). As mentioned above, Freire himself rejected an essentialist view of critical pedagogy and called on teachers to adapt the learning process to the context of students experiences. In this regard, a great responsibility lies on teachers in determining the methodologies appropriate for each particular context.Similarly, Elizabeth Ellsworth employs a feminist perspective to refute any essentialist interpretation of critical pedagogy. She goes on to claim that even the term critical is a repressive myths that perpetuat es relations of domination and hides the actual political agendas namely antiracism, antisexism, anti-elitism, anti-heterosexism, anti-ableism, anti-classism, and anti-neoconservatism (93). She also believes that theorists of critical pedagogy have failed to launch any meaningful analysis of or programme for reformulating the institutionalized power imbalances between themselves and their students, or of the essentially paternalistic project of education itself (98).Moreover, Ellsworth develops a deconstructionist critique of critical pedagogues. She claims that these pedagogues are interested in the very structures they are trying to change (101). She criticizes the fact that much of the literature of critical pedagogy is the work of the dominant white nerve class men. She goes on to argue that a relation between teacher/student becomes voyeuristic when the voice of the pedagogue himself goes unexamined (104).In his Elements of a Post-liberal opening of Education, Bowers basic criticism resides in his claim that, in a way, critical pedagogy enforces the assumptions and values of westbound metaphysics. Although he promoted the contributions of Freire and his followers, Bowers believes that Freires model emphasizes the modernist way of thinking, and thereof it reinforces Western values and principles. For Bowers, all Freires pedagogy is based on Western assumptions about man, freedom, progress, and the authority of the rational process (127). He claims that the problem with Freires position is not that he advocates critical reflection but that he makes it the only legitimate source of knowledge and authority (129).Although Freires emphasis on dialogue as a basic component of the educational process has been praised as a democratic strategy, Bowers criticizes the very notion of using dialogue as a tool for emancipation. He contends that relying on dialogue in this aspect shifts the locus of authority from that of community and tradition to the individual who unifies thought and action in a new praxis (129). This focus on the individual on the expense of other collective concerns has lead to the failure of critical pedagogy in anticipateing issues related to ecology and the nature of the world. As he puts it, The problems of inequality and restricted individual empowerment are not nigh as important as the cultural roots of our alienation from nature. heedless of how our agenda for social reform is framed, the bottom line has to do with reversing the international ecological deterioration we are now witnessing (159).A very important critique of critical pedagogy that should be highlighted here is that which comes from a postmodern perspective. In their Dialogue across Difference Continuing the Conversation, Burbules and Rice seek the postmodern critique of critical pedagogy. The authors start their argument by suggesting that there are two versions of postmodernism that hold different positions relative to modernism itself (397). They call these two versions postmodernism and antimodernism.The authors suggest that a basic characteristic of postmodernism is that it goes beyond the norm but at the same time accepts the basic significance of the tradition it proposes to go beyond (397). They cite Giroux and McLaren as examples on postmodernist critics who appetency some key democratic assumptions of modernism and yet go beyond them. Antimodernism, on the other hand, defines itself as the antithesis of modernism and is characterized by a strong antipathy to the language, issues, and values of modernism (398). The authors criticize this strand and assert that having deconstructed all metanarratives and radically relativized all possible values, antimodernism is left with no clear way of justifying any alternatives (398).The different positions of postmodernism and antimodernism account for the dissenting views related to the relationship between critical pedagogy and postmodernism. In this regard, some writers strongly believe that critical pedagogy is far from incorporating the premises of postmodernism. In Reflective Teaching in the Postmodern World A Manifesto for Education in Postmodernity, Parker holds the view that many critical educational practices involve some modernist assumptions and fail to account for a genuine understanding of the process of knowledge construction from a postmodern perspective (16).Similarly, there are other feminist and postmodernist writers who assert that some strands of critical pedagogy do not address such issues which are of high importance in the field. In her Freire and a Feminist Pedagogy of Difference, Weiler explores the conflict she perceives between the modernist orientations of critical pedagogy and postmodernism. As a feminist writer arguing from a postmodern perspective, she claims that her goal is to retain the vision of social justice and transformation that underlies liberatory pedagogies (450). She suggests that the linguistic universal goals of liberation do not directly analyze the contradictions between conflicting laden groups or the ways in which a single individual can experience oppression in one sphere while being privileged or oppressive in another (450).Accordingly, Weiler believes that the theory that calls for the existence of universal experience of oppression does not take into account the particularized contexts of the classroom experience. Hence the focal point of her argument resides in redefining the collective experience in the context of historically defined struggles (Weiler 451). In this regard, Weiler claims that Freire do by the existence of diverse experience of oppression hence she calls for a more situated theory of oppression and subjectivity, and for the need to consider the contradictions of such universal claims of truth or process (456).Weiler argues for a feminist-postmodern approach to confront the deficits in Freires philosophy of pedagogy. In this regard, she delineates three major issues where this process can be implemented. She names these as the role and authority of the teacher, the claims for knowledge and truth in personal experience, and the question of difference. Weiler concludes by asserting that the existence of different approaches in this arena does not necessitate abandonment of the goals of social justice and empowerment, but it does make clear the need to recognize contingent and situated claims and to acknowledge our own histories and selves in process (470).On the other side of the spectrum, there are many writers who strongly believe that critical pedagogy strongly incorporates some aspects of postmodernism. In Critical Crosscurrents in Education, Collins sheds light on this link between critical pedagogy and postmodernism as he suggests that, same(p) critical pedagogy, postmodernist critical discourse is about the struggles for power to be heard about the empowerment of other voices (76). In the same vein, Pinar et al. suggest that there is a possibility for developing a strand of pedagogy that engages in some postmodern principles. This version of pedagogy goes beyond the issues of oppression and suffering that are merely viewed from a class- struggle perspective (305).Other writers share the same view and contend that the philosophy of Freire and other critical pedagogues does incorporate some postmodern dimensions. Most of these writers approach this issue through dividing Freires writing into different phases, stressing that the postmodern orientations appear in his later work. Peters, for example, suggests that there are some postmodern ideas that can be clearly seen in Freires later work. These ideas include Freires emphasis on textuality, subjectivity, experience and culture in addition to his own interpretation of oppression and power (117).Similar to Peters, Roberts asserts that in order to locate the modernist inclinations in Freires writing we should look at Freires work as a whole, and not to focu s on his writings during the first stage of his work. Roberts contends that Freire did promote some postmodern techniques in confronting all forms of oppression. He also highlights Freires confrontation with postmodern critics, especially in his later writing. Roberts psychometric test of this issue concluded in his contention that Freire argues for what he called progressive postmodernism. Freire has stressed the fact that educators should challenge modern ways of thinking through becoming more tolerant, open and forthright, critical, curious, and humble (112).Clearly, the above argument proves that any attempt to come up with a clear-cut definition of critical pedagogy is utterly challenging. As mentioned above, there are multiple approaches to critical pedagogy, and there are also variables from other disciplines that are easily accommodated in this literature. any this results in creating critical pedagogies rather than one definite and universally- accepted form of critical p edagogy. These critical pedagogies are always involved in a constant process of redefinition and change, thus imposing great challenge on pedagogues in this regard.Despite these variations and challenges, teachers are always urged to go beyond the mere theoretical background of critical pedagogy. The process of theorizing without action creates no change and goes against the objectives of critical pedagogy. Teachers must promote an integrated approach of theory and practice, or what Freire called praxis. In other words, they should seriously consider the potential for implementing the premises of critical pedagogy in the teaching process.This implementation should go beyond the mere adherence to an essentialist view of a critical pedagogical methodology. Teachers should attempt, to the best of their abilities, to locate the teaching process within the realities of students lives. They should take into account the various variables, realities and experiences relevant to students liv es. Hence, they should adapt their techniques according to the specific variables pertinent to the context in which they work.The critique directed against critical pedagogy maximizes the need for this constant action on the part of teachers. In addition to adapting their educational tools to the classroom context, teachers are exhorted to sanction the involvement and empowerment of the students. Without putting the assumptions, principles and paradigms of critical pedagogy into practice, teachers run the risk of going within the traditional mainstream models of education. As Bahruth and Steiner beautifully put it in our profession we have two choices we can succumb to the mainstream and become programmed toward deskilling our intellect, or we can become critical pedagogues and liberate ourselves and those who choose to join in the dialogue (143).