Critical pedagogy is a form of education that was initially spearheaded by Paulo Freire. This form of education is designed to equip a given group of people to deal with social or economic systems that inhibit their potential. Critical pedagogy is based on the Marxist concept of analyzing and identifying the reality beyond misleading ideology. The truth unveiled by critical pedagogy is perceived to perpetuate cultural, social and economic dominance of one group of people. The origin and several concepts of critical pedagogy date back to the principles of early philosophers such as Karl Marx and Paulo Freire.
Critical pedagogy originated from the neo-Marxist ideologies on critical theory. The critical theory believers had little emphasis on the necessity of media and cultural influence on the continued existence of capitalism. For instance, in a capitalist economy, the role of marketing in the increased rate of consumption and the emergence of companies whose main objective is to satisfy their customers’ needs. There was a need for workers and consumers to know their role and place in the capitalist order. Therefore, these theorists developed a system of education that would foster critical pedagogy beliefs through testing, rhetoric of meritocracy, tracking, vocational training and college preparatory curricula to help in spreading critical pedagogy to inform the weak groups of people about their role in society and the economy.
Critical pedagogy is an attempt by progressive educators to use the media and educational institutions to question power inequalities. They also focus on enlightening the less privileged on false myths of merit and opportunity and how they affect their lives negatively. Such theorists included Henry Giroux, Paulo Freire, Ira Shor and Peter McLaren. In critical pedagogy, critical individuals are those who are empowered to seek emancipation and justice. Critical individuals can recognize injustice at a glance and act towards changing it.
Believers of critical pedagogy recognize that the world is not an equitable and just place. Therefore, they believe it is their role as educators to work with the less fortunate or privileged societies to deter oppression and make the world an equitable and just place for all. One of the tenets of critical pedagogy is the close relationship between issues of the status quo and power in society with language pedagogy. This shows that language is used by the powerful class of the society to reward themselves while excluding the less privileged. The rich also use language to forge assimilation into the society’s dominant.
Critical pedagogy is essential in the society today because it enhances democracy in the education system. It also fosters context dependence, and appreciation of the value in the learners’ cultural heritage. This concept of critical pedagogy radically dismisses the traditional approach where education was teacher-dominated, and the relationship between learners and teachers was transactional in nature. The transactional kind of education is referred to by Freire as the banking system where students get a fixed curriculum. The student is expected to accept the curriculum without any questions. Critical pedagogy encourages students to be critically conscious of themselves and their language. This is achieved through the examination of questions of language, history and culture through the power point of view. To point of view of power is developed through conscientization.
Conscientization and praxis are concepts that were developed by Freire in critical pedagogy. Conscientization is explained as the process of learning to view social, economic and political contradictions. Praxis is the reflection upon and attempt to transform the world. Praxis and conscientization form different phases of liberation; the appreciation of injustices in the world’s social orders, and the steps taken to change the situation positively.
Educators use critical pedagogy to identify the emancipatory aspect of their work and the importance of helping young people by liberating them so as to save their communities from future oppression. Young people, as well as other pedagogy students, are shown several series of images, which seem innocuous if accompanied by commentary on social power and domination issues. For example, students of Mambu in rural Indonesia were shown images of McDonalds, crowded cities, and beauty pageants and beggars. They were taught about capitalism, poverty, discrimination as ways of discussing the images. The students would also analyze different impacts of huge corporations such as McDonalds, which affect the diets of people in rural Indonesia. These studies have helped individuals developed conscientization in order to identify economic contradictions beneath these relations.
Mambu also taught the concept of praxis where students identify different kinds of oppression and injustice and try to act to change the situation. The willingness to act is inspired into them by the need to make the world a better place. Individuals such as those trying to alleviate the impacts of fast foods can encourage the consumption of natural foods. This action helps create disruption in the cultural and economic dominance of fast foods hence; it helps transform the world into a better place than if no action is taken.
People practicing critical pedagogy use different tactics to achieve their objectives. For instance, they try to disturb the traditional order of teacher-student power. This is done by making the class a democratic place and making the curriculum a contextual environment. They employ concepts of negotiation and co-construction to empower students as well as promote a dynamic, productive and dialogical environment. This tactic can be achieved by creating a multilateral environment for students where each member’s contribution is appreciated. The classroom should be made a social place where learners create symbolic ownership. This encourages the diffusion of power through participatory democracy hence; students can challenge the order of power and status in a productive manner.
The diversity of cultural backgrounds in a classroom is also an important concept of critical pedagogy. Traditionally, language education environments view cultural variances as hurdles that must be overcome. However, in pedagogy, they are viewed as valuable resources. Critical pedagogy values the different linguistic and cultural backgrounds of learners. This is because it is believed to help students learn new literacies from one another. It also helps empower the society and strengthen the community’s cultural bonds in situations where some communities are oppressed. Recent research studies reveal that most society members such as the minority language groups benefit from such programs.
In critical pedagogy, most of the content taught is obtained from a specific context. Context is highly regarded in critical pedagogy because most of the content is used to address real life situations. Initially, people like Freire used rural contexts, but educators today use a wide range of contexts, which necessitates individual class programming. Many pedagogy practitioners believe that content must be derived from the student’s life context. Furthermore, the contexts must be related to issues that are important to the student and the society. This concept helps in situations where there are deep inequalities. In such societies, the majority have their way hence there are no equal rights. The concept of equal rights becomes delusory and abstract in such situations. Therefore, critical pedagogy helps different people with different backgrounds learn about equality and rights. Pedagogy helps promote democracy and harmony in diverse communities.
Critical pedagogy has revolutionized the manner in which people with different backgrounds view one another. It has also promoted equality, democracy and upheld human rights in places where the minority groups or the poor were oppressed. Through critical pedagogy, the oppressed and the poor are taught how they can move out of oppression and seek their rightful place in society. The history of critical pedagogy is based on the Marxist theory of enlightening and empowering the weak people in society to fight for their rights in the social or economic strata. The main objective of critical pedagogy was to fight social injustices and save the poor from the capitalist ideologies around the world. People like Freire and Shor wanted to create change in the world that would encourage democracy, equality and justice in the cultural, social and economic livelihood of the people. Critical pedagogy is guided by several concepts that serve to ensure that the basic objectives are achieved. The concepts include; content from contexts, diversity of cultures, disruptive tactics, praxis and conscientization and equality. Therefore, critical pedagogy is a beneficial approach of educating the poor and less fortunate in society because it helps eradicate oppression, social injustice, inequality and enhance democracy and cultural diversity.
References
Malott, C. S. (2011). Critical Pedagogy and Cognition. Munich: Springer.
McLaren, P., & Kincheloe, J. L. (2007). Critical Pedagogy: Where Are We Now? New York: Peter Lang.
