Pedagogy of the anxious: rethinking critical pedagogy in the context of neoliberal autonomy and responsibilization

Critical pedagogy, and the work of Paulo Freire in particular, understands the struggle for emancipation as involving the emergence, as historical subjects, of those who have been marginalized. In this regard, this tradition could be said to foreground a politics of the subject as central to its philosophy. However, scholars of critical pedagogy have not adequately attended to the reorganization of subjectivity that neoliberalism itself proposes. In the context of a pervasive anxiety produced by contemporary processes of precarity and fragmentation, neoliberalism asks us to understand ourselves on the basis of principles of individual responsibility, autonomy, and competition. Starting from the Foucauldian notion of governmentality and the Lacanian notions of drive and desire, I describe how this neoliberal recomposition of the subject poses a challenge to key principles in critical pedagogy. Thus, Freire’s account of the paralysis that characterizes the oppressed stands in contrast to the particular autonomy and hypermobility that neoliberalism demands. Likewise, the privileging of the sphere of consciousness in Freire overlooks the structure of libidinal investments within neoliberal circuits of consumption and communication. This interrogation has implications for critical education in the present, which I argue should invite students to betray the compulsions of their anxious autonomy in favor of a collective commitment and enlivened agency.     

On being critical: uniting theory and practice through emancipatory action research

This paper engages with some of the specific issues that challenge critical practice. My argument is related to the Carr and Kemmis debate on ‘staying critical’ and to ideas expressed in my current book, Community Development: A Critical Approach. I refer to critical practice as any practice that has a transformative social justice intention, and which happens in a range of contexts from grassroots community activism to more institutionalised settings, such as hospitals or schools. My own professional base is community development, and this paper is founded on emancipatory action research developed over many years in grassroots practice. It is my view that emancipatory action research, committed to the practice of social justice, with the intention of bringing about social change, is a necessary component of critical practice. In fact, I would go so far as to say that emancipatory action research is the glue that binds critical praxis in a unity of theory and action. However, all too often collective action for change is not followed through to its greatest potential, and practice remains contextualised in the immediate, local and specific without making critical connections with the structural roots of oppression from which inequalities emanate. The result is that we constantly fixate on symptoms, and leave the root causes free to perpetuate oppressions. At the same time, we find ourselves in a globalised world marked by intensifying social divisions. So, it is my intention to raise a few issues which present challenges to get beyond sticking points in critical practice as we face times in which there is an accelerating urgency to ‘become critical’.     

Visual culture and critical pedagogy: from theory to practice

ABSTRACT

This article presents an educational approach that merges ideas of critical pedagogy with those of visual culture. According to this approach – termed visual critical pedagogy – art is an integral part of the textures of society and culture and their manifold and complex visual expressions, including the more controversial and subversive among them. It objects to locking art and visual culture in art departments, and to restricting art history to a formalist analysis of ‘masterpieces’ – which represent primarily the Western art market and its underlying politics. It likewise rejects the conception of art history as the history of artists and art movements – a conservative approach still prevalent in many academic institutions. Integrating critical pedagogy with visual culture provides fertile ground for an educational practice within art classes and beyond them. Visual critical pedagogy is formulated using the concepts exposure, deciphering, representation and visibility, shared by both critical pedagogy and visual culture. These are discussed in the context of educational projects and activities planned and implemented by Jewish and Arab students enrolled in an education-through-art program in an academic college in northern Israel.     

Problematising problematisation: insights from critical pedagogy in a writing lesson in Bangladesh

Problematisation is the means by which critical pedagogy attempts to destabilise power relations related to gender, race, class, identity etc. Studies in critical pedagogy in language teaching explore different ways of problematisation treating problematisation as classroom practice. However, they do not specifically address the teacher’s struggle in employing problematisation and the learners’ experience with it in classroom settings. Hence the complexity of problematisation remains neglected in research in critical pedagogy in classroom contexts. This article explores the notion of problematisation through an analysis of a writing lesson involving undergraduate students in Bangladesh. It analyses both the teacher’s and a student’s encounters with and reflections on problematisation throughout the lesson, and reveals that problematisation embodies complexities, and is empowering when it is self-reflexive.     

公共教育学的革命:由教师教育学向学生教育学转变

公共教育学作为师范生的一门必修课，长期以来对师范生向师性的培养并未起到应有的作用，其原因在于该课是以教师能教些什么为出发点而组织的教学内容，即教师教育学；而不是以学生为本所建构的教学体系即学生教育学。     

Partnerships in pedagogy: refocusing of classroom lenses

Current models of initial teacher training (ITT) in England include substantial elements of school‐based experience developed in collaborative partnerships with local schools involving university tutors working with experienced classroom teachers. Balance in such partnerships has been characterised as trainees focusing on day‐to‐day pragmatics of working in classrooms whilst engaged in school experience, while their higher education institution (HEI) elements provide theoretical bases to underpin school based activities. Within such partnership arrangements, development of pedagogic beliefs and expertise is achieved by a complex network of experiences. Within the context of this paper this element of pedagogic development is shown to be less well supported than other aspects of trainee teachers’ professional preparation. This paper, using cultural historical activity theory (CHAT), focuses on a small‐scale research project in which mentor and trainee dialogue is examined. The paper concludes that CHAT analysis makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of how to resolve some of these issues within teacher training partnerships.     

Defying the dominant discourse: why contesting neoliberalism needs critical pedagogy in economics education

Both the dominant narrative in the economics discipline and the predominant mode of delivery of an economics education in colleges and universities mutually reinforce the authority of neoliberalism. This paper argues that a counterhegemonic pedagogy in addition to a pluralist curriculum equips students with the knowledge they need to exercise their own judgment as future economists, business leaders and policy makers. Beyond opening discussions of alternative theoretical and methodological approaches or separately, diversifying modes of delivery to promote critical thinking, an economics education engaging critical pedagogy can create the space students need to discuss not only the different assumptions about material relations and individual behavior intrinsic to various economic models, but also the assumed social relations in both the models studied and the construction of which knowledge defines economics as a field of study.     

A critical pedagogy of empathy: making a better world achievable

Based on the results of a large-scale study regarding the role of secondary education teachers, we tried to develop an emancipatory teaching programme within the framework of a critical pedagogy of empathy. This teaching strategy is a three-stage process, during which a constant teacher–student interaction, attentive listening and interchange of roles are emphasised, so as to foster empathy. The first stage includes understanding the students’ perspectives and giving value to their experiences. When the channels of communication are open and teachers get into their students’ shoes, material relevant to the students’ experiences is presented at the second stage, while students are encouraged to question the prevailing status quo and to raise their voices in institutional contexts in which they have traditionally been silenced. Finally, during the third stage, students disseminate self-gained knowledge and thoughts with a view to creating a better future and a different society, as part of the broader mission of informed, democratic, critical, empathetic and active citizens.     

Inclusive pedagogy and knowledge in special education: addressing the tension

There has been an increasing focus in policy and practice on adopting inclusive pedagogy as a way of reconceptualising how schools work with children with special educational needs (SEN). The paper considers the split between knowledge and pedagogy inherent in some dominant strains of inclusive pedagogy. Drawing on the ‘knowledge turn’ in curriculum studies, we argue that although an analytical distinction between knowledge and pedagogy may be useful, too strong a delineation between the two fails to best serve the needs of children with special needs. Specific implications for teacher education in relation to SEN in England are considered.     

Decolonial pedagogy and the ethics of the global

An ethical and democratic globality, and the kind of education that would contribute to it, are only possible in the context of a recognition of the relations of power that have shaped history, and in particular the political, cultural, economic, and epistemological processes of domination that have characterized colonialism and Eurocentrism. Imagining an ethics of the global in this context means articulating a decolonial perspective. Starting from recent work in philosophy and cultural studies, this paper describes key principles of such an orientation to globality, and develops a reconceptualization of education in the context of this framework. The article proposes in particular a curriculum against domination, oriented against the epistemic and cultural violence of Eurocentrism that underlies the politics of content and knowledge in education, and a pedagogy of lovingness, committed to building global solidarity based on non-dominative principles of coexistence and kindredness.     

Women,capitalism and education: On the pedagogical implications of postfeminism

Abstract

We examine the emergence of the ‘postfeminist’ sensibility from feminist theory and praxis, and its relation and relevance to education. Analytical frameworks such as postfeminism and intersectionality have given equal weight to recognition-based struggles, such as those based on sexual, racial, class-based, gender-related identities. We follow Nancy Fraser’s argument that these identity-based movements have been co-opted by neoliberal politicians and bureaucratic policy-makers, and become a divide and rule strategy, neglecting the subjugating power of capital. Beginning with third-wave feminism’s emphasis on individual identity, women’s struggles have been become a part of the greater parisitic neoliberal project. We consider the implications of this docile and domesticated feminism for the education of women.     

DisCrit Classroom Ecology: Using praxis to dismantle dysfunctional education ecologies

Using a critical conceptual analysis, we theorize a DisCrit Classroom Ecology to counter current dysfunctional education ecologies. We begin by exploring the lineage of Critical Race Theory, through both its intellectual forerunner Gift Theory and a more recent sibling, DisCrit. Next, we explore the three interrelated constructs of DisCrit Classroom Ecology; Pedagogy, Curriculum, and Solidarity, and the strand that animates them, DisCrit Resistance. Finally, we discuss the deep implications and transformative possibilities of using praxis to (re)organize classrooms through a DisCrit Classroom Ecology.     

Protest as pedagogy: Exploring teaching and learning in Indigenous environmental movements

This article reports on a recent study into the experiences of Indigenous and allied environmental activists with teaching and learning during and as a result of Indigenous environmental movements. This inquiry is grounded in a theoretical framework informed by decolonization and cultural revitalization, social movement learning, and repressive tolerance. Interviews with 10 participants across Canada produced rich insights related to significant life experiences, the tensions encountered by activist educators, the complexity of inter-activist relationships, interaction with police agencies, the plurality of protest, and the revitalization and sharing of Indigenous traditions as the ultimate form of resistance.     

Culturally relevant/sustaining pedagogy in a diverse urban classroom: Challenges of pedagogy for Syrian refugee youths and teachers in Turkey

This study focused on whether and how teachers implemented the principles of culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogies and the challenges teachers faced while trying to implement these principles with Syrian students in Turkey. The study was built on the four components of pedagogies: academic achievement; cultural competencies; sociopolitical consciousness; and the sustainability of culture. Qualitative data were obtained through interviews and field notes with four teachers who had Syrian students in their classes and four Syrian students. Content analysis was used to examine the data. The findings revealed that both teachers and students had low expectations of academic achievement. Teachers conducted the teaching–learning process entirely according to the perspectives of students who were from the mainstream culture. Teachers tried to improve the cultural competencies and enhance their sociopolitical consciousness of the Syrian students; however, the attempts were limited and inadequate. Although teachers were aware of the importance of sustaining the Syrian culture, they did not know how to do so. The teachers did not have sufficient competencies or experiences to make revisions or to carry out an effective instructional process tailored to the needs of Syrian students because of an absence of skills and knowledge of multicultural education.     

繁荣背后的反思:中国的教育学本土化

In the past 20 years, China has seen an influx of foreign pedagogies that emphasize Western concepts such as dualistic opposition and linear development. As educational studies have become localized to China’s environment, there has been a tendency to substitute transplanted ideas for methods based on local research. As such Chinese educational theory has arbitrarily been replaced by Western theory and practice as the standard. Therefore, there is now a need for restructuring methodology with more theoretical wisdom based on the localization of pedagogy in China. __________ Translated from Jiaoyu Lilun Yu Shijian 教育理论与实践 (Theory and Practice of Education), 2007, 27(5): 1–5     

Encountering the Alien: Gadamer and transformation in pedagogy

For Gadamer, understanding moves between two different levels. One is the everyday ontological level in which there is a meeting between the familiar and the alien, between the known and the not‐quite‐expected. But understanding can also be a skill to be developed. This is the way in which we achieve good knowledge. In pedagogical terms, encountering the alien is the basis for self‐formation, or bildung, originating in Hegel. But there is an ambiguity at the heart of bildung. The notion of encountering the alien runs together two different notions: (a) being pulled up short, as elaborated by Deborah Kerdeman; and (b) allowing oneself to be interrogated by the other, as described by Charles Taylor. And each of these has affective psychodynamic parallels in Jungian and Freudian psychology, the first in the notion of deflating hubris, and the second, in the reintegration of projection. The experiences of encountering the alien in these two forms can be extremely intense for university students and they constitute significant self‐transformations.     

Participatory action research as pedagogy: investigating social and ecological justice learning within a teacher education program

A research collective comprised of teacher candidates, graduate students, and faculty set out to investigate the role and impact of social and ecological justice learning in a teacher education program. Amidst the tensions, negotiations, and articulations of the research design, the collective came to recognize the spaces of participatory action research as sites of growth and efficacy toward justice learning. And, each began to perceive themselves as both impacted by educational structures and as agents enacting their own visions of professional practice. These outcomes are discussed in the context of the growing body of participatory action research, emphasizing the dynamic learning precipitated within the intersections of the research collective. The empirical analysis, involving survey and interview data, brought to bear the rarity of events participants (teacher candidates) recognized as invoking meaningful social and ecological justice learning, and goes some way to describe such learning in terms of embodied experience. The paper closes with a selection of testimonials provided by members of the research collective, offering personal accounts of what was gained through participating in the research process.     

Sexuality,schooling, and teacher identity formation: A critical pedagogy for teacher education

Offering an alternative to normative teacher education that excludes meaningful sexuality and gender education from its curriculum, this article presents a critical teacher education multicultural curriculum based in the United States that included an autoethnographic narrative assignment as reflective space for teacher candidates to consider their identities as shaped by lived experiences with gender and sexuality. Using a categorical analysis of a cohort of 38 teacher candidate autoethnographies, discussed are insights revealed about their lived histories. Patterns included gender identification, heteronormativity, patriarchy, sex education, schooling experiences, teacher complicity, and teacher identity effects and sense of agency along with implications for educating future teachers.     

论教育学识的习得与教育学派的创生

对教育学科学习者来说,学习是解构的过程,因此教育学派成为学科成熟的标志;对教育研究者来说,研究是建构的过程,因此教育学识的科学性与实效性才是学科成熟的标志。但教育理论科学性与实效性评价标准的缺位,既为社会大众利用个案对教育理论体系进行证伪提供了机会,也为教育研究个体利用个案对自己的研究成果予以证实提供了机会。走向教育实践,既是确定教育理论研究科学性与实效性评价标准的过程,也是教育研究者在实践问题的解决中,逐渐达成研究共识并进而形成学派的过程,也是通过教育学派间的理论竞争并最终形成教育研究范式的必然选择。     

Blogging as public pedagogy: creating alternative educational futures

In this study, I explore ‘blogging’, the use of a regularly updated website or web page, authored and curated by an individual or small group, written in a conversational style, as a form of public pedagogy. I analyse blogs as pre-figurative spaces where people go to learn with/in a public sphere, through collaboration with interested others. However, my intention is not to conceptualize blogging spaces as such, but rather—having framed them in a particular way—to explore the extent to which they globalise dissent. My argument is that the blogs I explore, understood as public pedagogic spaces, cultivate voices of educational dissent. Positioning itself within the global research imagination, the study draws extensively on data generated by two blogging communities with a combined international readership in excess of 40,000 people; one of the blogs is based in the UK, written by a group of adult educators. The other is based in Canada written by a group of adult literacy practitioners. Whilst both blogs are authored, curated and carried by a named individual, as public pedagogic spaces, they are implicated in the creation of a dialogic self: a self which is developed collaboratively with/in the interests of and through a public that coalesces around them. The pedagogies associated with these spaces are argued as explicit and intentioned. The public that coalesces around them learns how to survive a global neoliberal policy nexus that is unsympathetic towards the ideals they pre-figuratively embody. In so doing, they call into being the creation of alternative educational understandings of themselves and each other in relation to policy, pedagogy and the purposes of education.