Hi, Patricia! I am glad you started a new forum because these are interesting and complex questions. I don’t have teaching experience but to help others reflect on their privilege position, I would use some of the things we have discussed in class. In our first day Joe explained, Critical Pedagogy involves more than learning a few pedagogical techniques and the knowledge required to teach the curriculum. Critical teachers must understand the political structure of the school and I would add to this their environment. Probably your students don’t have a clue of living in oppression due their privilege but you can guide them to their critical discovery. Maybe by explaining how others aren’t in a privilege position and reflect on how they read the world and definitely not pointing at them as the oppressors, I would do it in a covert way.

I realized that when I discussed with my family and friends about Critical Pedagogy and called them oppressed and in certain situations oppressors instead of making them a favour we just had a negative experience (probably Freire would’ve call this false generosity). I realize that it was the wrong way to approach them, we were not starting from the same point. Next time I will manage it differently, where I can help them to deconstruct who they are with stories as Joe does and probably they will get to the point. Today’s story smacked me, for sure the story is constantly repeated. I think that if you approach it in a covert way some of our students will get the point and for sure it will be an uncomfortable moment as Freire wrote in the Pedagogy of the Oppressed with DIALOGUE people can name the world in a different way.

MA

Patricia,

I have been thinking about your question and seeking a simple concept that does not get lost in the methodologies and curricular materials one has to use in the classroom to accomplish it. These are highly variable. It caused me to look back at my own life and analyze why I have been what Giroux (1992) refers to as a “border crosser,” always seeking better ways.

Giroux (1992) gives some guidance:

In order to understand Freire's work in terms of its historical and political importance, cultural workers have to become border crossers. This means that teachers and other intellectuals have to take leave of the cultural, theoretical, and ideological borders that enclose them within the safety of "those places and spaces we inherit and occupy, which frame our lives in very specific and concrete ways" (Borsa 36). Being a border crosser suggests that one has to reinvent traditions not within the discourse of submission, reverence, and repetition, but "as transformation and critique." That is, "One must construct one's discourse as difference in relation to that tradition and this implies at the same time continuities and discontinuities" (Laclau 12). At the same time, border crossing engages intellectual work not only in its specificity and partiality, but also in terms of the intellectual function itself as part of the discourse of invention and construction, rather than a discourse of recognition whose aim is reduced to revealing and transmitting universal truths. In this case, it is important to highlight intellectual work as being forged in the intersection of contingency and history arising not from the "exclusive hunting grounds of an elite [but] from all points of the social fabric" (Laclau 27).

Of course, I am still white and I am by no means unaffected by that fact, but I have experienced some other ways of being in the world. I have also moderated my negativity toward the white way, so I guess one could say I have a more balanced and less reactionary perspective than I had when I was younger.

While it was a disastrous existential experience that led me to crossing borders, border crossing can be accomplished in other, healthier ways. I think if you can instill in your students, first the fact that there are other ways of being in the world, besides the way they are familiar with (which you may already be doing) – along with the desire to want to learn more and even experience alternative ways of being in the world, that will go a long way toward the change that we need. Then, I think critical pedagogy with its methodologies just falls in place as revelations are identified, and as they are discussed and analyzed.

I also highly recommend the articles by Joe Kincheloe and Shirley Steinberg in the Reading Room under Critical Pedagogy and Philosophy. They have posted excerpts from their books that will help with a shift in teaching philosophy.

I hope this helps.

Peace, Love, and in Solidarity,

Vanessa

Giroux, H. (1992).  Paulo Friere and the Politics of Postconialism.   Retrieved December 11, 2005 from http://jac.gsu.edu/jac/12.1/Articles/2.htm

It seems that one thing we are doing (which leaves a bad taste) is creating a dichotomy of 'haves' and 'have nots' or rather oppressed and oppressors.  I think that this poses a large problem as it can be turned into a them against us situation.  Who is oppressed and who is oppressing?  Is it the children in our elementary schools? or the adolescents in our high schools?  I think not.

Oppression stems directly from history. I view education as a way to develop the future of our world. Although our students may be born into social frameworks, this does not and should not speak entirely of who that person actually is.  I see the goal of critical pedagogy as informing and exponentially multiplying the awareness of our youth of the injustices in the world today.  This does not mean, ' hey you are rich and your parents drive a big SUV and you live in a huge house and so you are an oppressor!"  We need to teach students, all students, that the world is almost like a carnival.  You go and pay your five dollars, you get the three balls and all you have to do is throw one ball into the basket to win the big prize.  Seems simple enough.  But for some reason, for 'some people' the ball just won’t ever stay in the basket.  The game is rigged, the rules are rigged, the world is rigged.

In all, it really doesn’t matter who is sitting in our classrooms in terms of their, financial, social, religious etc... position because critical pedagogy does not only speak to the oppressed, it speaks to the humane.  Although as we become adults we slowly loose touch with humanity, I think or hope to believe that our youth hold it dearly.

DS

I am intrigued by hooks insistence that students with class privilege must also be educated with critical pedagogical strategies.  I whole heartedly agree with this statement, but would love to see some research into the matter.  I wonder what reactions occur from people in power when critical pedagogy occurs in the classroom.  What strategies and methods work best?

I feel like resistance to critical pedagogy is often a result of uncomfortably because power will seep away.  Effective critical pedagogy leads to entrenched power bases being confronted and neutralized.  Power becomes shared, meaning less advantage to one party.  I think a lot of conflict that occurs in the world is a result of power struggles, and efforts to maintain power.

All that being said, I return to my original questions, what are the best ways to introduce and implement critical pedagogy in classrooms filled with students of dominant positions?

Thoughts?

Benji

Hello everyone,

I will attempt to answer Patricia's initial question all the while interpreting and adding to some of the comments that were made. I too, like Patricia, worked in a school wherestudent came from affluent families - in Oakville, Ontario. I do remember the gifts that I would receive at the end of the year, and this is not to toot my own horn, as I truly believe it was to outdo their neighbours, in the sense who would have given me the most expensive gift - whether I deserved it or not, I was given something.

The teacher is the pivoting role in introducing and living critical pedagogy in the classroom. Does anyone need to call it as such or need to be aware that this is the approach being used - a question to ponder! It is through our own lived experiences and histories that we as educators can make sense ourselves of critical pedagogy. Think of your own "cheminement" in regards to this topic. How did you as an individual become aware of the injustices and inequalities of our world? Is it through your personal travels, your discussions with peers, your discussions with scholars? Through your own research? How did you come to grips with it?

We are living an extraordinary experience ourselves in Shirley's and Joe's class. We are all very different in our own special ways, different knowledge, baggage, oppressions, etc. We have come together to learn as a whole. We listen, we discuss, we share, we empathize, we become powerful with these pieces of information. We make of it what we think will empower us and our students. This is critical pedagogy in action. Whether you have students that have been oppressed or belong to a group that has oppressed, critical pedagogy encourages thought and problem solving. I do not believe that they need to have lived oppression to come to an understanding that the world is not just and equal for everyone. Let your own history and passion as teachers transpose itself upon your students. Because you believe in it, let your passion and your radical love speak for itself. We are not indoctinating our students. We are giving them the joy of knowledge. The ability to go beyond the rote and the memorizing. It is developing their skill to research the unknown and to question status quo. The approach taken can be covert, in that knowledge is knowledge. Discussing issues of injustice or inequality does not meant that you are attacking them even though they might be part of the dominant group. Giving them this opportunity to put on different lenses when looking at the world will open their eyes to possibilities for themselves and others.

I will end on this note, one of my students from Oakville was and still is part of the dominant group. Approximately 7 years later after I taught her, I met her at a conference which was organized for teachers. I was so impressed with this beautiful intelligent young lady. She had decided to go throughout the world to fight for child labour laws, something that we as North Americans had to fight  a while back ourselves! It was interesting her outlook on life. It had gone further than her backyard in Oakville. She had become a critical thinker realizing that this was not an easy feat as it was dismantling a history and a way of survival for these people in those countries. She was not discouraged and her objective was to assist these people to become empowered and be treated as human beings. I was so proud of her.

I hope this helps Patricia!

I wonder where she is now in her life!

I too am having some trouble understanding the true meaning of Friere's work, the response to educators approriating the critical pedagogy concept while "maintaining lifestyles far removed from those of people who suffer under oppressive social conditions "(Duncan-Andrade & Morrell, 2008).  I am trying not to take this literally...yet I need help.  Anyone??

I thought I was beginning to get a grasp of the ideology - critical pedagogy and was understanding the messages in the blogs and how they related to the readings.  Yet, I am have trouble with this phrase for some reason.  Does this mean I need to travel as Aviron and Alejandro to truly experience oppressive situations, in order to be able to address critical pedagogy in a classroom setting, yes, I understand CP is not just a concept nor just transferring knowledge, it is much, much greater.  Comments?!

Alexandre Bélisle – McGillUniversity - Montréal

You are absolutely right that all of this still seems to be describing a monolithic identity that evolves, not an identity that can simultaneously house the oppressor and the oppressed. On the other hand, I believe that in this day and age, with globalization, and consumerism, and capitalism, it would be difficult to find someone whose decisions did not oppress another individual in the global web of international trading. I think that the degree to which we recognize the extent of the oppression varies. For instance, how many of us sometimes purchase items at the dollar store without thinking of the workers and their working conditions. What about our consumption of vegetables and fruits grown in countries where the local population is being affected negatively by the use of chemicals... what about petroleum companies who kill citizens of African countries without any outrage whatsoever from the Western world? 

With critical pedagogy, we are invited to expose our students to issues of injustice and exploitation and pursue a better situation by taking action. Issues may be local, national, or international. There are so many of them! The challenge is huge! The greatest mistake we can make as educators is to avoid challenging such issues. We must educate ourselves, and transform our behaviours so that we do not become an accomplice to the oppressor.

With all of the technology that is available to us (such as the internet) it is surprising that there aren't more reaching out being done between the continents. Why isn’t every North American school connected with other schools around the world?  Imagine if classes shared information on the injustices that they see in their own societies. This would create authentic global consciousness of the issues affecting populations around the world and would have long lasting effects on our students’ views of ‘The Machine’.    

Alexandre Bélisle

I think it's pretty clear. As much as this may hurt, you should get the hell out of the private system and back into the public realm.

As far as I'm concerned there is absolutely no justification for being involved in a private school. You're dealing predominantly with the children of the ruling class, you're supporting a system that shouldn't even exist, and you're completely unable to do union activity - work which is the only way the world is going to fundamentally change.