Teaching in America: Critical Pedagogy

In your experience in education, describe a situation where you have seen aspects of critical pedagogy employed.

I am truly interested in the ideas of Peter McLaren on critical pedagogy and have often experienced aspects of critical pedagogy being employed at my university in the UK. The lecturers encourage the use of pedagogical techniques and student voice within the classroom by discussing concepts such as how schools reproduce class relationships whilst also serving as a site where these class relationships can be contested (for example).

By introducing conceptual tools such as Hegemony and Ideology, students are encouraged to critically analyse the reasonings and influences behind policies, reforms and schooling systems within the UK to identify how barriers to learning are placed within the system. Through a study of the discourses within education, students were encouraged to identify social constructions and critically analyse the effect such outcomes may have on minority or disadvantaged cultures. The effects of cultural capital and the hidden curriculum were assessed, as well as critiquing policies such as the Every Child Matters agenda. By doing so, I would argue that the University has created a learning environment which encourages the use of critical pedagogy within an open and safe place. Students are able to express their thoughts, opinions and ask questions without the fear of being wrong or causing offence.

In my opinion critical pedagogy, with the use of such techniques, allows students to view policies, research and practices within the education system with ‘a fresh pair of eyes’ and I am grateful for the opportunities and skills I have been provided with in order to do so.