Critical Pedagogy

Teaching forSocial Critique

Out with the Old…

• Traditional teaching methods view the student as a container into which knowledge is deposited by the teacher (Paulo Freire via Ann George)

• Passive students writing for “correctness”– Technocratic, mimetic, romantic

• No focus on the actual writing process (Henry Giroux)

…In with the New

• Engaging in critical thought• Education for democratic citizenship• Problem-posing way of teaching in which

students actively find solutions• Emphasis on student discourse in the

classroom

The Definition

• Critical pedagogy is a form of education advocating critiquing the hegemonic forces that shape society

• Recognizing and resisting “machine culture” (Ira Shore via George)– Questioning power structures– Striving for democracy

• Identifying social inequalities/issues• Asking why they exist• Proposing and acting on solutions

Empowering Students

• For students to take the first step toward social critiquing, they must first feel they have the power to do so– Reassessing authority dispersion in the classroom– Valuing student experience as a type of authority– Quite the paradox: How does one teach

questioning authority from an authoritative position?

Mutual Exchange of Knowledge

• Using both teacher experience and student experience as a means of dialogic education

• “Emancipatory authority” (Giroux via Patricia Bizzell)– Using authority to guide students towards empowerment and

social change• “I never pretend not to have authority. My "authority of

experience" (hooks, 1994) emerges from my knowledge and experience (albeit limited, biased, and temporary) as a human being whose rights and identity must be legitimately recognized. Needless to say, the authority of experience of my co-learners must be acknowledged as well.” (Juan-Miguel Fernández-Balboa)

“I Have the Power!”- He Man

• Once teachers share their authority, and establish a democratic classroom, the student can speak with authority from his/her unique experience

• The same social subjectivities that are constructed for students (by society) because of their gender, race, socioeconomic status, etc. provides them with valuable experience to draw from when critically analyzing these very same things

Critical Thought

• Analyzing social practices and ideologies– Always within larger social contexts

• “…to see not only the rhetoric of the college essay but the rhetoric of the institution of schooling, of the work place, and of the media. We must take as our province the production and reception of semiotic codes broadly conceived, providing students with the heuristics to penetrate these codes and their ideological designs [which create inequality]… [students] always bringing with them strictures on the existent, the good, the possible, and regimes of power” (James Berlin)

Inequality in Language

• Finding semiotic codes in language• Inequalities are created through language,

either with positive or negative connotations, which subjects different groups of people to certain social placement.– Racial slurs– Labels: “jock” or “nerd”– Representative images: the academic’s “ivory

tower”

Hmm

The Classroom Archetype

• Equality of students• Socio-political texts• Students engaging in the material realize that

all experience happens within social contexts, and so must involve the production of discourse and interpretation (Berlin)

Where Does Composition Fit In?

• “As Freire (1974) claims, students who see knowledge as problematic perform a “reflection" which translates into a critical "reading“ of reality. This marks the first step in developing a pedagogy which generates the "will to write and create” (Giroux)

• Writing allows students to systematically engage their thoughts and experience in their own language (Randy Stoecker)

• Composition courses already incorporate techniques used in critique/critical thinking– Instead of critiquing a text, why not an ideology?

• Rhetorical appeals• Scene, situation, genre

Writing for Meaning

• No one writes in a vaccuum– Societal influence is ever-present

• Writing without incorporating the “cultural capital” affecting us is meaningless (Giroux)

• Through the use of language, and writing from experience, empowered students reveal their own language and culture

This All Sounds Awfully Utopian

• The skeptics– Critics like Maxine Hairston disagree with the theory. – Too abstract/ideal– Complexity of issues (e.g. racial discrimination)

detracts from purpose: writing should be the main focus

– Ulterior political agendas• Abusing power to teach leftist views• Couldn’t fascism be shoved down students’ throats?

(Hairston via George)

Yes, Issues Exist

• George states that some practitioners do have a political agenda in mind, but this comes with the territory of social critique—everything is political

• Students sometimes resist this method, making it ineffective

• Not fully engaging in the actual change-making process

Critique of the Critiquing Theory

• Teachers of critical pedagogy need to be flexible—adapting to changes and addressing obstacles in the theory– Essential to be aware of the authority paradox– Requires constant cognition in approach to

discussion– Abstraction

Defending the Pedagogy

• Political agenda: we live in a democracy, so isn’t instilling the democratic ideals of equality and social justice in our inherent values?

• Teachers can only persuade students of their political views as much as the students already warrant those same values

• There will always be variables because of different classroom dynamics—keeps teachers honest in their efforts for social equality and change (Bizzell)

Peel Here, Apply to Course

• Applying the theory• Emphasizing student empowerment• A project that helps student identify their own

power/authority from past experiences, recognize any injustices resulting from dominant societal ideologies, analyze why the ideologies exist (causes/propagation), and propose a possible solution to assuage the issue

Teacher’s Role

• Giving students their choice of topic and presentation style– Voting as a class after discussing possible options– Individual preferences

• Facilitating discussions by playing a minimal role in them

• Emphasizing student authority through their experiences—careful to guide their choices, not critique, to preserve power distribution

Finding Their Authority

• Reflection for power• When do you most feel you are being heard?• Why in this situation and not all the time?• Describe an experience that has made you an authority

on something? What do you know all about and why?• Describe a situation where you used your previous

experience to address a different topic? How did your past experience relate to the new topic/experience?

Identify Inequality

• Social marginalization– Describe a situation where you had something

important to say, but felt you could not– Why do you think you were not heard? What

stopped you?– How did the balance of power in the situation or

conversation contribute to your silence?– How might have your values, beliefs, or individual

characteristics played a part in this silencing?

The Social Construct

• “Naming” the socially propagated stigma• Why is it occurring?• Why is it unfair?• Who is creating the inequality?• What are the beliefs behind it?

What can be Done?

• Use writing to frame and analyze social context, and then propose a solution to stop or change the socially unfair ideology– Choose an avenue that would most likely align

with the values of the hegemony (awareness campaign, demonstration, protest, re-teaching)

• Put into effect (?)– Depends on class

Reflection on Process

• Analyzing steps taken• Evaluating rhetorical choices• (If solution was applied) Evaluate effectiveness

—what went right? Wrong?• (If not) What would you have to do to

prepare? What obstacles might have come up?

Summary

• Critical pedagogy– Empowering students: finding their authority to

question hegemony– Vying for democracy and equality among human

beings– Teaching critical thinking in order to critique

authority/dominant ideologies – Creating social change by fighting inequaliy

Works Cited• Berlin, James A. "Poststructuralism, Cultural Studies, and the Composition Classroom:

Postmodern Theory in Practice." Rhetoric Review, Vol. 11, No. 1 (Autumn, 1992): 16- 33. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. JSTOR. 22 Oct. 2012.

• Bizzell, Patricia. "Power, Authority, and Critical Pedagogy." Journal of Basic Writing 10.2 (1991): 54-70. WAC Clearinghouse. 22 Oct. 2012.

• Fernández-Balboa, Juan-Miguel. "The Practice Of Critical Pedagogy: Critical Self-Reflection As Praxis." Teaching Education 9.2 (1998): 47-53. OmniFile Full Text Select (H.W.

Wilson). Web. 22 Oct. 2012.• George, Ann. "Critical Pedagogy: Dreaming of Democracy." A Guide to Composition

Pedagogies. Gary Tate, Amy Rupiper, Kurt Schick. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. 92-112. Print.

• Giroux, Henry. "Beyond the Ethics of Flag Waving: Schooling and Citizenship for a Critical Democracy." The Clearing House, Vol. 64, No. 5 (May - Jun., 1991): 305-308. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. JSTOR. 22 Oct. 2012.

• Giroux, Henry. "Writing and Critical Thinking in the Social Studies." Curriculum Inquiry, Vol. 8, No. 4 (Winter, 1978): 291-310. Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Ontario

Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto. JSTOR. 22. Oct. 2012.• Stoecker, Randy, Mary Schmidbauer, Joan Mullin and Michelle Young. "Integrating Writing

and the Teaching Assistant to Enhance Critical Pedagogy." Teaching Sociology , Vol. 21, No. 4 (Oct., 1993): 332-340. American Sociological Association. JSTOR. 24 Oct. 2012.