Feminine Pedagogy and Critical Theory
Pedagogy of the Oppressed
"We are living in a period of profound challenges to traditional Western epistemology and political theory" that are in evidence in every aspect of modern life, and that are especially profound in the field of education (Weiler, 2003). The single most profound aspect of these epistemological, social, and political changes is based in the ironic history of postmodernist movements: An oppressed group may not understand the roots of their disenfranchised position, nor be able to conceptualize ways to address what appears to be a normative condition. Tacit agreement exists among powerful or influential contingents that their worldview is to be dominant. Although certainly not universal, there is an enduring social undercurrent that tolerates oppression when it benefits one class of people over another, particularly when the social majority identifies with or strives to become a member of the powerful group. Indeed, these tensions are evident in the socio-economic divisions that have come to characterize contemporary partisan politics in the U.S.A.
Feminists are challenging the institutions and theories that uphold and defend the status quo, and they are also examining "the critical or liberatory pedagogies that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s" (Weiler, 2003, p. 12). Weiler asserts that feminist interests are aligned with "the vision of social justice and transformation that underlies liberatory pedagogy" (2003, p. 12). However, feminists are bound to a trajectory that has and will continue to engage in "a shattering of Western metanarratives" (Weiler, 2003, p. 12). The feminist pursuit of social and political equality, social justice for all oppressed groups, and continuous validation of feminist knowledge are at once bound by and transforming critical and liberatory pedagogies (Brady, 2003).
Critical theory is based on the idea that oppression or disenfranchisement of a group or an individual occurs through externally imposed or internally imposed factors (Freire, 2000; Giroux, 1983). The social justice pedagogy or critical pedagogy of Paulo Freire, the Brazilian educator and theorist, was the platform from which critical theory found its voice (Freire, 1970). In Freire's own words,
In the case of Pedagogy of the Oppressed, I started to write it exactly at the beginning of 1968 -- at the start of the second or third year of my exile. What happened? When I left Brazil and went into exile, I passed my time firstly learning to live with a borrowed reality, which was the reality of exile. Secondly, I struggled with my original context, which was the context of Brazil, and which I saw myself forced to abandon. From afar, I began to take stock of Brazil, and therefore to take stock of and analyze my earlier practice, discovering in it new things that the context of borrowed reality was making me discover. So there was a moment, naturally, when I began to arrive at a more radical understanding of my work. (Torres & Freire, 2003, p. 100)
Critical pedagogy aims to address social problems and balance social inequities that are grounded in the abuse of power (Freire, 1970). Freirean critical pedagogy is a means by which marginalized population can be empowered to act against coercion and oppression (Freire, 1970). In as much as identify formation is tied to perceptions about one's place in society, it is also connected to the ability to be self-interrogatory.
Ira Shor, a critical pedagogue, offers this definition of critical pedagogy.
"Habits of thought, reading, writing, and speaking which go beneath surface meaning, first impressions, dominant myths, official pronouncements, traditional cliches, received wisdom, and mere opinions, to understand the deep meaning, root causes, social context, ideology, and personal consequences of any action, event, object, process, organization, experience, text, subject matter, policy, mass media, or discourse" (Shor, 1992, p. 129).
Undergirding critical pedagogy is the idea of unlearning, which is one step in the process that reveals the impact mediation has on what information is available, known, interpreted and disseminated (Freire, 2000). From this, it is apparent that the division between the conventional wisdom of a shared culture and activist criticism is deep and vast. Enculturation does not include an evaluative process of unlearning, nor does it even suggest that it might be needed.
Drawing from the work of Freire (1970), Giroux (2003), and Osborne (1991), critical theory proponents consider institutional culture as a form of pedagogy. Critical pedagogy, then, examines the relationships between students and teachers and between learning and teaching. Critical theorists working in educational institutions seek to nurture cultural perspective and cultural criticism in students and the general population, thereby enabling them to resist the sociopolitical and economic functions of the popular...
Pedagogy -- Langston Hughes and Frederick Douglass Critical Pedagogy in Literature There are two phenomena -- discrete even in their close relation -- called structural violence and cultural violence that I have recently learned to call by their socio-political monikers. A discussion about structural and cultural violence is relevant to the topic of the paper since both exemplify the foundation upon which racial prejudice and justification for social class rests. To
Pedagogy of the Oppressed: Questions to Ask In the opening of the book, Freire urges the oppressed to liberate both themselves and the oppressor. How do you think this can be done? Freire says that it must be done by generosity -- not false charity. What does he mean by this? On page 48, Freire states that the central problem is that the oppressed must become authentic beings who participate "in developing
Education can reinforce hegemony or be used to facilitate political resistance and catalyze social justice. Students and faculty at the University of Hawaii have empowered themselves through education, through changes to curriculum and also to the norms of public discourse. In “Native Student Organizing,” Trask also describes how political structures in education have a direct bearing on community empowerment. Left alone, university politics can too easily reflect the dominant, colonialist,
This deadens the educational experience and the whole idea of learning, and indeed, and Freire notes, it dehumanizes the process, too. Society and culture play an important position in these roles students and teachers play. In our society, as Freire notes, teachers are supposed to know everything, while students know nothing. In addition, teachers are looked up to as role models by many students (and parents), and they are expected
lessons observed varied depending on the school. In high school, the aims were to learn about the history of art, whereas in younger grades such as elementary and early middle school years, the aim was explorative creativity and self-expression. Common Core Standards addressed: The National Core Art Standards (2015) were addressed including "generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work," "organize and develop artistic ideas and work," and "refine and complete
Freire's Pedagogy Of The Oppressed And The Philosophy Of Education Freire (2000) emphasizes the importance of love, charity, reflection (critical thinking), humility and dialogue -- which effects the "indivisible solidarity" -- important for the oppressed to become the liberators of themselves (p. 90). If I were to apply Freire's ideas about philosophy of education, including his ideas about "dialogue," "critical thinking," and the "indivisible solidarity," my classroom would look radically different
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