Development Of Critical Consciousness Research Articles

Relations between racial stress and critical consciousness for black adolescents

Black adolescents may use critical consciousness to cope with stress from experiences of racism. In the current study (n = 594; Mage = 15.4), we used structural equation modeling to examine how stress from individual, institutional, and cultural racism may directly and indirectly relate to critical reflection, critical agency, and critical action for Black adolescents. Analyses indicated that individual and cultural racial stress were positively related to critical reflection and critical agency. Further, all three types of racism were directly related to critical action. Individual and cultural racial stress were also related to critical action indirectly through critical reflection – perceived inequality and critical agency. Altogether, these findings provide empirical evidence for how experiences of racism motivate critical consciousness development for Black adolescents. In efforts to bolster critical consciousness, practitioners may consider providing space and time for Black youth to discuss their own experiences of racism.

Critical consciousness in children and adolescents: A systematic review, critical assessment, and recommendations for future research.

Critical consciousness refers to an individual's awareness of oppressive systemic forces in society, a sense of efficacy to work against oppression, and engagement in individual or collective action against oppression. In the past few decades, interest in critical consciousness as a resource that may promote thriving in marginalized people has grown tremendously. This article critically examines the results of a systematic review of 67 studies of critical consciousness in children and adolescents, published between 1998 and 2019. Across these studies, major themes included the role of socialization experiences, relationships, and context in the development of critical consciousness. In addition, critical consciousness was associated with a number of adaptive developmental outcomes, including career-related, civic, social-emotional, and academic outcomes-especially for marginalized youth. However, our analysis highlights several critical gaps in the literature. We highlight the need for further delineation of the impacts of parent and peer socialization on critical consciousness in specific developmental periods and for studying critical consciousness at multiple levels of the ecological system. We further note the dearth of rigorous experimental or quasi-experimental studies in the area of interventions to promote critical consciousness. In addition, we note that developmental questions-questions about the nature and function of critical consciousness over time-are largely unanswered in the literature, including questions about how critical consciousness manifests and develops during childhood. Leveraging the findings of our systematic review, we outline key next steps for this rapidly growing area of research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Social Justice Pedagogy for Whom? Developing Privileged Students’ Critical Mathematics Consciousness

Increasingly, teachers are using consciousness raising pedagogies such as culturally relevant, responsive, sustaining, and social justice pedagogies. However, little attention has been paid to teachers engaging in this work with students of privileged backgrounds (e.g., white, affluent students) and in mathematics. The present study addresses this gap by examining critical consciousness development with social justice pedagogy focusing on 10 students in one-sixth grade mathematics class in an independent social justice-oriented K-8 school in a large, urban city in the Bay Area, California. Analysis of student interviews, student work, and field note data indicate that eight of the 10 focus students gained critical mathematics consciousness, conceptualized as improving sociopolitical understanding, developing critical civic empathy, and taking action.

Fauna and conservation in the context of formal education: a study of urban and rural students in the semi-arid region of Brazil

BackgroundIn addition to playing a key role in the dynamics of ecosystems, animal diversity, especially that of wild vertebrates, is intimately linked with human evolutionary history, which has resulted in diverse interactions that must be emphasized in formal education processes. We analyzed several methods of approaches used for biological education in order to teach about wild vertebrates and their conservation in urban and rural schools in the semi-arid region of Brazil.MethodsData were obtained via questionnaires applied to 990 students, of which 528 were urban and 462 rural, distributed among the seven grades/years that comprise the last two cycles of basic education in Brazil. The richness and diversity of the animals cited by the students were calculated, being the diversity using an adaptation of the equation for the Shannon-Weaver Index (H′). Data were analyzed using non-parametric descriptive statistics.ResultsMammals and birds had the greatest richness and diversity of animals cited as most-studied in science/biology classes, and also the most indicated as occurring in the studied region. Among mammals, large carnivores with a showy appearance and utilitarian value had the highest citation frequencies, while there was a tendency for limited recognition of faunistic diversity in the other groups mentioned. Almost 70% of the students stated that their schooling processes dealt with the conservation of wild animals; however, about 50% of the students in both urban and rural contexts did not express conceptual understanding about the conservation of nature.ConclusionsThe recognition of animal diversity, especially vertebrates, beyond just mammals and birds, as well as conceptual clarity about the conservation of nature, are fundamental factors for the development of critical awareness of fauna and its conservation, and where the processes of schooling have a preponderant role. Finally, the study contributes to the legitimization of Ethnobiology as an interdisciplinary field of knowledge, especially in its interface with education, in addition to pointing out the importance of optimizing efforts in approaches to biodiversity conservation in formal educational processes.

Can a values-affirmation intervention bolster academic achievement and raise critical consciousness? Results from a small-scale field experiment

This small-scale field experiment tests whether an adapted values-affirmation intervention enhances youths’ academic achievement and mitigates social identity threat while simultaneously raising capacity to promote social change via the development of critical consciousness (CC). CC is the critical analysis of inequitable social conditions, motivation to effect change, and the action taken to change perceived inequities. Participants included 53 ninth and tenth grade students from the Midwestern United States (Mage = 14.97). Results suggested that the intervention may bolster academic performance and raise critical motivation, a subcomponent of CC. Because CC has been thought to be slow to develop, this study provides new insight into how CC can be fostered to support the social mobility and inclusion of youth experiencing marginalization.

Getting Uncomfortable with Difficult Knowledge: A Reflexive Account of a Community-Based Research Project

The article provides a critical reflexive account of a community-based research project from the perspective of four undergraduate students and their professor. The project came out of a partnership with a local nonprofit organization that has long offered social justice-focused camps to high school-aged youth. Student-researchers conducted interviews and focus groups with former participants to better understand the camp’s potential longer-term impacts on their social justice knowledge and actions. Findings underscored the sometimes unsettling nature of social justice education as evidenced in how campers grappled with critical understandings of race, class, and gender. The paper presents student-researchers’ reflections on their own struggles in the development of critical consciousness as sociology majors. Utilizing complementary frameworks that encompass how student-researchers engage “difficult knowledge” (Britzman 1998) in the classroom and “uncomfortable reflexivity” (Pillow 2003) in their research, our account captures the sometimes messy, unfulfilled, and alternative possibilities of social justice education and community-based research.

Critical consciousness development: a systematic review of empirical studies.

Developing an understanding of the social and political basis of marginalization is an important educational task for health education guided by frameworks of social justice. With the intention of developing an evaluative framework for use in further research, the aim of this review article is to present a synthesized framework of critical consciousness development, developed from a systematic search and qualitative synthesis of empirical studies that have examined the processes by which individuals come to critically reflect upon and act on oppressive social relations. A systematic search was conducted examining English-language literature produced between January 1970 and May 2017 within databases of PsycINFO, SCOPUS and ProQuest. A total of 20 articles were selected following a two-stage screening process and an assessment of methodological quality. Thematic analysis of findings from these texts produced a framework of critical consciousness development consisting of six qualitative processes and the relationships between them, including the priming of critical reflection, information creating disequilibrium, introspection, revising frames of reference, developing agency for change and acting against oppression. This synthesized framework of critical consciousness development is presented as a useful tool for assessing learning within critical pedagogies, albeit requiring some modification to suit specific cultural contexts and epistemologies.

Participatory action research as political education

ABSTRACTIn this paper, I discuss participatory action research (PAR) as a way to support social and political engagement and develop civil society. After a short overview of my personal journey to participatory action research, I describe a general structure that I have developed for organizing PAR projects and a short introduction to the state of civil society in Hungary. I then summarize three PAR projects in Budapest between 2011 and 2018. All three revolved around the issue of affordable and adequate housing and were designed as part of the movement for the right to housing in Hungary. The paper concludes with some of the most important implications I drew from this work regarding the development of civil society and critical consciousness.

Journey to Psychology: A Mujerista Testimonio

I use testimonio to examine my journey to psychology. A Latin American first-person narrative, testimonio examines a person’s experience with oppression and resilience. Within this perspective, I explore the impact of discrimination, marginalization, and oppression on my professional development. First, I discuss how place affected my personal and professional identity development. Then, I reflect on how the development of gender, racial, and ethnocultural critical consciousness expanded my psychological vision. Next, I present how I practice mujerista (Latina womanist) leadership, comadre mentorship, and cultural healing. I conclude the testimonio with an examination of my spiritual social justice activism.

Unlearning cisheteronormativity at the intersections of difference: performing queer worldmaking through collaged relational autoethnography

ABSTRACTIn this essay, five authors use collaged relational autoethnography to explore the relational constitution of non-binary gender subjectivity, resulting in a performance of queer worldmaking. The larger force driving this project includes the unlearning of cisheteronormativity at the intersections of difference. Drawing on the analytic power of “transing” communication, we use collaged relational autoethnography to explore non-binary subjectivity and critical consciousness development.

Promoting Race Pedagogy in Higher Education: Creating an Inclusive Community

ABSTRACTThe current study reports outcomes of a professional development model intended to strengthen faculty members’ cultural competence and skills for teaching about diversity and inclusion. Creating Inclusive Communities (CIC) was developed collaboratively by faculty from across social science disciplines based on a theoretical framework emphasizing learning principles, critical consciousness, and White racial identity development. This study examined the outcomes of the model on student cultural competence based on pre-post survey analysis. Findings indicate that students perceived a benefit from course activities related to race pedagogy and showed statistically significant results in two of three courses. These findings indicate that the infusion of an inclusive model, including in courses not directly related to diversity topics, has potential benefits to students. Additionally, the impact is strengthened through a more integrated approach over the course of the semester.

Expanding circles of solidarity: A comparative analysis of Latin American community social justice project narratives

LatinX student enrollments in community colleges in the United States are rapidly growing, yet LatinX student success rates have not matched this growth. There is a need for community college programs that serve LatinX student populations more effectively and incorporate multicultural educational practices. Using Anzaldúa’s Mestiza consciousness theory, this study analyzed community learning testimonios written by Latin American movement leaders and identified common themes applicable to a process of critical consciousness development in critical educational programs. The themes common across the four testimonios were (a) collective motivation for learning; (b) organizational dynamics, practices, and values; (c) critical social consciousness; and (d) transcendent communal awareness of identity.

Listening to the literature: a case for centering writing in critical sociology of sport pedagogy

ABSTRACT This article argues for a pedagogical approach to the sociology of sport and physical education that centers writing. Drawing on student reflections from my first year seminar in academic writing ‘Social Inequality and Sports,’ I demonstrate that students are more inclined to entertain the imperatives of critical pedagogies in the context of sport – the development of critical consciousness and transformative praxis – when they are empowered to take greater ownership over their own learning through intensive writing that is guided by principles of rhetorical listening. Writing assignments – including reading responses, a literature review paper, and a work of original analysis of an empirical site or text of their own choosing – that require students to listen to the academic literature on sport and social inequality challenge them to reevaluate their preconceived notions about sport, facilitating outcomes sought by critical pedagogies. Responses to an automatic writing prompt at the beginning and end of the semester reveal that this approach can yield a dramatic perspectival shift in students who enter the course with typical investments in normative understandings of sporting cultures, prompting them to leave it with a newfound openness to critique.

Early Adolescent Critical Consciousness Development in the Age of Trump

Political elections have been shown to influence youth civic development. The election of Donald Trump is historic and has elevated precarity for people of color and immigrants, yet we know little about how young people with these identities experienced this potentially catalytic event. Using ethnographic methods, we examined youth and adult discussions that occurred during youth participatory action research in four sites of one after-school program between October 2016 and May 2017, to investigate how the development of critical consciousness occurs among early adolescent youth of color in the context of catalyzing political events. We identified emergent patterns in how young people (a) engaged in critical reflection, (b) weighed political efficacy, and (c) considered engagement in critical action in the wake of Trump’s election. The data revealed that young people’s critical consciousness development ranged from basic to advanced levels. This research highlights the ways that politically catalytic events shape critical consciousness development among early adolescents of color.

Mapping the Intersections of Adolescents’ Ethnic-Racial Identity and Critical Consciousness

Ethnic racial identity and critical consciousness frame how youth of color understand themselves in their racialized worlds. Although both may be salient in the lives of youth of color, little work investigates how ethnic racial identity and critical consciousness development overlap to promote positive outcomes during adolescence. This theoretical paper contributes to this effort, providing an overview of research on both phenomena and mapping their potential areas of congruence. This article concludes with suggestions of how the two processes might influence one another to foster positive developmental outcomes among youth of color. This work urges researchers to examine the intersections of ethnic racial identity and critical consciousness processes among youth of color that can lead to a more holistic understanding of how youth of color draw upon these processes to resist and challenge racial marginalization, as well as navigate diverse sociopolitical contexts.

The Development of Critical Consciousness and its Relation to Academic Achievement in Adolescents of Color.

Critical consciousness, the process by which individuals come to understand, analyze, and take action against systems of oppression, is associated with several positive youth outcomes. However, little research has considered how the core components of critical consciousness (critical reflection, political agency, critical action) are associated with academic achievement. The present study explored the extent to which the developing critical consciousness of adolescents of color (N=364) over 4 years of high school predicted academic achievement, as measured by grade point average (GPA) and the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Results demonstrated that adolescents' critical reflection and critical action intercepts predicted SAT scores whereas critical reflection and critical action slopes predicted GPAs. Political agency was not predictive of either academic outcome.

A review of critical pedagogies in health and social care: findings from a ‘best fit’ framework synthesis

ABSTRACT Although recent research has highlighted the importance of understanding the structural social processes through which stigma is produced and maintained, educational approaches to stigma-reduction have not yet engaged with this concept. Recognising that critical pedagogies have been used in other contexts to help learners better understand and challenge structural social processes of marginalisation, we conducted a review of educational interventions that were informed by critical pedagogies and delivered within settings of health and social care. A systematic search was performed on academic and grey literature databases between January 1970 and 17 May 2017 to identify all literature reporting on the learning outcomes of educational interventions informed by frameworks of critical consciousness development. Articles were selected following a two-stage screening process and an assessment of methodological quality. Of the 9,674 articles identified from the systematic search, 33 were found to satisfy the inclusion criteria and were of sufficient quality to be considered within this review. Two major findings emerged from the analysis of interventional studies. Firstly, it was found that learners consistently articulated a sociostructural understanding of oppressive social relations and their position within it, based upon an understanding of their own group identity. Secondly, and despite the sociostructural content of reflection, individual actions tended to focus on the modification of interpersonal interactions. Although educational interventions informed by a critical pedagogy appear to support a structural analysis of social marginalisation or disadvantage, there is limited evidence to suggest how these structural processes might be challenged following this analysis.

Transformative Learning and the Awareness of White Supremacy

This article describes the development of critical consciousness and the different intellectual traditions that have been influential in framing how this concept is understood. Prime amongst these is analytic philosophy, American pragmatism and Frankfurt School critical theory. Two particular critical moves are analyzed in detail; being willing to subject the assumptions that inform your own, and others’ reasoning and actions to regular scrutiny and being open to alternative perspectives and viewpoints. The author examines the critical theory tradition›s emphasis on deconstructing power and ideological control and uses his own experience of clinical depression to illustrate this. He argues that his depression could only be understood once he was ready to think critically about the ways that the dominant ideology of patriarchy had blocked a critical analysis of his mental state.

Embodying justice: Situating college student articulations of social justice in critical consciousness

Many American evangelical college students today enter into college with a new awareness of justice-related issues. However, situating student commitments to justice in a larger discourse on critical-consciousness development is necessary for educators to assist students in their justice development. This article reviews the literature on critical-consciousness development and places it in conversation with Deleuzian affect theory, suggesting that extant theory does not take into account the affective domain of critical-consciousness growth. This article also demonstrates common ways Christian college students might portray themselves as critically aware through distinctly Christian tropes that express their passion for and commitment to justice. These tropes, which commonly include human trafficking, diverse friend groups, and being globally-minded, actually have an adverse impact on social justice. By better understanding these tropes as masquerading critical consciousness and by understanding how students become critically aware through affect theory, educators and mentors can more adequately guide students in their attempts to seek justice.

Inequalities in US Child Protection: The Case of Sex Trafficked Youth

This article demonstrates how structural social work theory and critical consciousness development can be used to help facilitate a transition from a deficit model approach to an inequities perspective in a child welfare system that was working to improve the identification of and services for domestic minor sex trafficked youth (DMST). The response of Connecticut’s child welfare system to the issue of DMST is provided as an example of how a child welfare systems could apply an inequities perspective to a population involved in and at risk for exploitation. Structural social work theory helps illustrate how neo-liberalist social structures in the United States perpetuate and maintain social inequity based on race, gender, age, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status for youth at risk for DMST. Through critical consciousness development, youth can be recognized as victims of intersecting forms of oppression, rather than criminals. These theories can be combined to increase individual awareness of the risks and oppression of youth across the population, and to identify how child welfare services can be leveraged to decrease inequities and improve child well-being.