Critical Pedagogy Research Articles

Embedding Sustainability in Engineering Education World Café: Reflections for Future Practice

We present the reflective learning account from organising a World Café to share engineering educators’ practices in embedding sustainability education, addressing the question: is the World Café a good practical solution to share sustainability education practice in our post pandemic world? Conversations have the power to create change, in line with approaches such as Critical Pedagogy (Giroux, 2020). Our perspective as diverse engineering educators informed the workshop and our reflections and this is mirrored in our analyses. The World Café is a process which has been extensively used to encourage open communication and problem solving (Brown, Isaacs and World Café Community, 2005) and which we thought relevant to enhancing sustainability education practices. A commitment to education for sustainable development (ESD) is increasingly expected (UNESCO, 2023; AdvanceHE and QAA, 2021) and engineering educators are rising to the challenge. Learning from one another, educators shared their actions, plans and dreams around the three pillars of sustainability. Using a Word Café to discuss challenges around sustainability education proved successful. We recommend that engineering educators and conference organisers consider this approach in creating a sense of urgency around sustainability that instigates collaboration and acts as a catalyst for action. The approach can be taken further by using it as a data collection tool, co-creating knowledge from our practice.

Humour Integrated Language Learning (HILL)

There has been a notable surge in the studies on humour in the language classroom in the past two or even three decades. This burgeoning literature seems to have already entered the threshold of a field of study. In this article, humour-integrated language learning (HILL) is put forth as an umbrella term for diverse attempts to employ pedagogical humour in language education. HILL principally refers to a diverse suite of methods, tools and techniques where humour serves as a means (and/or an end) in language learning. It is envisaged that this paper can a) open a window on (L2) pedagogical humour in its diverse manifestations, b) underscore the potentiality latent in L2 humour to inform and influence language learning, c) present a more insightful, coherent picture of the attempts to use humour in language learning, and d) outline further developments and future directions in humour-informed research and practice within language education. This article also aims to broaden the borders of HILL by making connections between pedagogical (L2) humour and other relevant notions and approaches such as playful learning, creative pedagogy, critical pedagogy, technology-enhanced language learning (TELL), etc.

Anti-Kurdish Racism in Germany: Decolonial Perspectives on the German Education System

Abstract Educational institutions are places of identity formation and reformation, contributing differently to existing identity politics. In the author's biographical narrative interviews with people who position themselves as Kurds, conducted as part of her PhD project, “Experiences of Racism among Kurds in Germany—Functions and Effects of (Not) Speaking About Anti-Kurdish Racism,” the author frequently encounters instances of devaluation of Kurdish identities due to racialization and everyday invisibilization. The professional demands on educational institutions, on the other hand, require them to give resonance and validity to the multitude of identities and diversity of experiences in society and to make these visible. A critical pedagogy of decolonization involves overcoming colonized perspectives and acquiring alternative forms of knowledge. The author adopts a decolonial perspective to acknowledge and problematize the mechanisms of invisibilization and identity erasure, and thus not only shifts the content of hegemonic orders of knowledge but also enables the recognition of different modes of articulation. This article asks, what characterizes anti-Kurdish racism, and how does it impact Kurdish individuals within the German educational system? Through interview excerpts, the author addresses how these questions can be structurally addressed through biographical clues in Germany.

Unlearning Communication for Social Change—A Pedagogical Proposition

We have in recent years seen growing calls for pedagogies for social change amongst communication and development scholars, identifying resistances, critiques, and emerging practices in the field. This review article addresses this ‘pedagogical turn’, suggesting that it is in these pedagogies we can see the pathways to unlearn and relearn communication for social change. Offering a decolonial analytical lens, this article asks two questions: What characterizes these critical pedagogies? And how can the various pedagogies contribute to unlearning and relearning the field of communication and social change? This article is structured in five parts, first offering a review of key critiques articulated within the field of communication and social development in the past two decades, arguing that, in practice, what we are seeing is the organic development of a pluriverse of knowledges, values, and visions of society. Secondly, it proposes the decolonial term of ‘unlearning’ as a pedagogical pathway and epistemological ambition for the production and recognition of a pluriverse of knowledges, thereby challenging dominant perceptions of society and social change. Thirdly, it introduces a model of analysis which structures ways whereby we can think about monocultures and ecologies in relation to a range of dimensions of the pluriverse. Fourthly, it reviews key critical pedagogies, discussing how they address epistemic injustice both in broader societal contexts as well as in the university space. This article concludes by discussing how the process of unlearning through critical pedagogies has implications for the configuration and definition of the field of communication and social change, suggesting three areas for further research: ways of seeing (positionality), new subject positions (relationality), and new design processes (transition).

Defining greener, healthier and more sustainable toys: A case study of L.O.L. Surprise!

This study aims at reflecting on the potential risks of plastic toys for children's health and the environment, from an interdisciplinary approach. At the same time, it aims at contributing with a definition of greener, healthier and more sustainable toys that offer opportunities and alternatives to promote educational, humane, ecological, safer, and healthier play, designed to be benign or free from material or immaterial risks. This is achieved by adopting the main characteristics of Sustainable Chemistry and Critical Education and through the case study of the “L.O.L. Surprise! doll and its plastic world”. The study critically examines the L.O.L. Surprise! doll, encapsulated in layers of plastic and heavily marketed, and shows how its design and promotion are in stark contrast to the principles of greener, healthier and more sustainable toys.

Praxis and True Dialogue: A Freirean Approach to Equity-Minded Data Work

Assessment professionals are often at the helm of leading discussions around data-use and data-driven decisions for higher education stakeholders. However, the problem is that assessment practitioners must be cognizant of how to engage stakeholders with equity-minded and socially just informed assessment practices. The purpose of this article is to provide a literature review of approaches to equity-minded data use and positing that assessment professionals should engage in Freirean critical pedagogy approaches to data use practices. The article opens with a discussion of the intersection of diversity, equity, and inclusion work with assessment practitioners. Next, an introduction to the Freirean concept of engaging in praxis and how assessment leaders may unknowingly participate in what Freire calls banking education where educators act as a conduit to merely deposit information into students. The article concludes with recommendations for how assessment leaders can engage stakeholders in Freire’s concept of true dialogue.

The beautiful risk of participatory education: An empirical example of teaching strong sustainability

The grand challenges of our times are seriously interlinked: ecological crises cannot be tackled separately from social problems. In the strong sustainability approach, a good life for all must be achieved within ecological boundaries. To respect the planetary boundaries, it is required to provide critiques for the current economic, social and political order and suggest concrete actions that may lead to strong sustainability transformation. Business schools must address these challenges and provide solutions through educational content and innovative teaching methods. In this article, we argue that participatory education is the appropriate tool to teach strong sustainability in business schools. Building on Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy and Gert Biesta’s participatory education theories, we developed a theoretical framework to understand how these theories can strengthen strong sustainability education. Using the analytical framework, we explore the risks of participatory education in our Degrowth course and bring empirical examples of its impacts on students by analysing the reflection articles of 37 students. According to our findings, this particular type of education creates both positive emotions, like enjoyment and enthusiasm, and negative ones, like anxiety and helplessness.

Preparing Artists to Save the World: Community-Engaged Arts Practice as Critical Pedagogy

ABSTRACT The sustained marginalisation of creative arts in higher education in Australia risks the delivery of superficial learning experiences that are disconnected from the relationality of place, people, and histories. The metrics used to assess a university’s capacity to produce “job-ready graduates” does not adequately capture the success of students in the creative arts, leading to under resourcing in these disciplines and, ironically, limiting the capacity of these disciplines to train students adequately for their industry. In this paper, we examine the place of community-engaged creative practice and cultural policy learning in universities to ask how tertiary educators can support students to develop industry skills while also embodying a critically engaged pedagogy in order to work and create in the industry in ways that prioritise relationality, context and an ethic of care. Community-engaged arts practice can be understood as that which privileges collaborative processes, values people over institutions, is contextually grounded, and understands creative excellence as intricately entangled in social and relational outcomes. We argue that community-engaged arts practice is a form of critical pedagogy and, potentially, vice versa. We share two case studies of creative arts learning experiences in our university as examples of the powerful crossover between community-engaged arts practice and critical pedagogies in our endeavour to train effective, and impactful creative arts workers in sustainable and ethical practice via a critically engaged creative practice pedagogy.

The in-class experience of social work students based on their religious affiliation

ABSTRACT This quantitative study ascertained the association between the religious affiliation of social work students and their experience in social work classrooms. Students (n = 507) representing 30 accredited public social work programs across the United States responded to a survey. Primary independent variables included respondents’ religious affiliation and religious commitment. The survey contained Likert scale items assessing classroom experiences related to intersections with religion, which were combined into a composite score for each respondent to create the dependent variable, classroom experience (α = 0.853). ANOVA was used to test the relationship between the independent variables and classroom experience, finding that Christian students (F(2, 195) = 11.0, p < .001) and students highly committed to their faith (F(4, 55.3) = 4.05, p = .006) were more likely to report negative experiences related to religion in the classroom. Predictive variables on classroom experience were identified using Hierarchical Linear Regression. A student’s perception that their instructors and peers viewed their religious beliefs as incompatible with social work was the strongest predictor of negative experiences intersecting with religion in the classroom. The values of social work and the principles of critical pedagogy can provide a framework for social work instructors to create classroom environments that engage all students, including those with diverse religious beliefs and affiliations.

Negotiating local linguistic and epistemic realities through critical language pedagogy (CLP) in Pakistan

ABSTRACT With critical pedagogy (CP), teachers and students are empowered to disrupt the dominant ideological structures that tend to dehumanise people and impose oppressive historical consciousness upon them as historical subjects. Inspired by CP, over the last three decades critical language pedagogies have been conceptualised to promote social justice and counter privileged ideologies. This study examined university teachers’ pedagogical engagement with students’ local multilingual resources and epistemologies in the Remedial English classes at Pakistani universities. The study made use of theoretical insights such as coloniality, raciolinguistic perspectives and critical scholarship on multilingualism. Findings suggest that some teachers maintained the linguistic and epistemic hierarchy that favoured English, American/British accent, Anglo-western literature and culture, while other created multilingual and epistemic spaces where students’ local languages, nativized English varieties, culture and values could find a place. Furthermore, the Remedial English course perpetuated a gap between word and world by ignoring students’ contemporary concerns, such as discursive (values, culture) as well as material (unemployment, corruption, human rights, environmental degradation, etc.) factors. Some teachers’ use of bottom-up agency to counter foreign literature and a monoglossic model of instruction suggests how some teachers with a critical pedagogical attitude can empower their students to reclaim their historical and social roots.

From our ivory towers: Enacting our collective daily resistance through ungrading in a feminist co-mentoring group

Grading has been central to schooling of all levels. Aligned with many critical educators, we argue that conventional grading systems in higher education contexts perpetuate a transactional relationship between student and professor and student and university. In this collaborative self-study, we, three pre-­tenured teacher educators at the same midsize, midwestern university, formed a feminist co-mentoring group and explored ungrading in our own teacher preparation classrooms. Through narrative inquiry, our data uncovered themes of (1) traditional grading practices limit; (2) renewed resolve in ungrading despite obstacles; (3) ungrading as an act of resistance.

Content and Sentiment Analysis of Autobiographical Narratives of Experienced and Well-Evaluated Teachers in Spain

Analysing the content and feelings of teachers’ autobiographical narratives provides relevant information about teaching processes, challenges in professional development, performance, and identity. In this work, we analysed the narratives of five well-evaluated Spanish teachers with more than 10 years of experience. We used Iramuteq, RStudio, and TextRazor to describe the main themes, analyse the emotions, and check whether evidence-based teaching practices were mentioned. The results showed that emotional aspects were central, with positive feelings dominating. In the content analysis, themes such as mental health, inclusion, immigration, war, empathy, critical pedagogy, and autonomous and emancipatory education stand out. The analyses are relevant for teacher educators, policy makers, researchers, and teachers in training or in active service.

EXPLORING CRITICAL PEDAGOGY PRINCIPLES IN EFL CLASSROOMS: BELIEFS AND PRACTICES OF INDONESIAN TEACHERS

The incorporation of critical pedagogy (CP) principles in the teaching of English as a foreign language (TEFL) in Indonesia has been promoted since the last two decades. However, research on how Indonesian EFL teachers view the CP principles are rarely conducted. This case study aims to discover the perceptions of 30 Indonesian EFL teachers teaching in different levels of education and having various educational backgrounds and diverse degree of familiarity regarding the four CP principles. The data for this study were collected by distributing questionnaires and conducting interviews. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive analysis and by transcribing, tabulating, coding, categorizing, interpreting, comparing, and concluding. It is evident from the participants’ viewpoints, among the four principles, dialogue and problem-posing are the two most desirable as well as applicable ones. Additionally, in practicing the four principles, the participants claimed that they performed twelve categories of classroom activities. Considering the findings of this study, more training and research on critical EFL pedagogy are recommended.

From group mentoring to collective liberation: The imperative to decolonize nursing academia

Four Black early-career faculty members, one Black doctoral student, a Black senior faculty member, (herein referred to as scholars), previously engaged in cross-cultural mentoring with a White senior researcher to bolster their scholarship. In the years following the 2020 racial reckoning, the scholars were motivated to reconvene by the realization that traditional scholarship activities of academia ignore historical educational oppression and fail to account for the contemporary effects of racism and discrimination rooted in American colonialism. Collaborative autoethnography, a decolonizing qualitative approach to research, was used to explicate our journeys in academia. The tenets of Freire’s critical pedagogy (conscientização, scholarship, praxis) framed our collective experiences. We describe resisting academic structures of power, discrimination, and disadvantage through reformation, crafting a vision statement and utilizing positions of influence. To decolonize nursing academia, we invite the scholarly community to pursue liberation and contest structures that center Whiteness and marginalize collectivism and collaboration.

Learning to identify fake news and digital misinformation: lessons for educators

ABSTRACT This UK-based study examines how people learned to identify digital misinformation. This included what experiences enabled this development, and the skills that were acquired in the process. This is a small-scale qualitative study of participants who self-reported as being confident in spotting digital misinformation and the data was analysed using a thematic network model. The three main themes identified were: “Formal Learning”, “Informal Learning”, and “Sense of Self”. Participants reported that their formal educational experiences at primary and secondary school were largely unhelpful in their development of digital media literacy. Although a university education was identified as enabling the acquisition of some useful skills such as cross-referencing and critical thinking, participants acquired most of their abilities to identify digital misinformation from what is best characterised as their informal learning experiences, most notable of which was the establishment of a strong sense of self-awareness. This was pivotal to the monitoring of emotional triggers which are often the crux of digital misinformation. This paper also highlights the importance of critical pedagogy which promotes an awareness of wider power structures underpinning what is now being widely referred to as “surveillance capitalism”. In conclusion, it is suggested that formal education could learn much from these informal educational processes which have been identified as being helpful in building criticality, which is in turn integral to producing more digital media-literate citizens, and a population more resilient to digital misinformation.

Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy contributions to emancipatory design

In the quest to overcome the oppression caused by the capitalist modern/colonial world system, we propose the approach still under construction of emancipatory design, based on Paulo Freires’s critical pedagogy. If hegemonic design reinforces oppressive relations through antidialogical practices and cultural invasion, emancipatory design seeks to fight against them through dialog and cultural synthesis of different voices. Throughout the text, invasion and cultural synthesis are defined and examples are analyzed from the author’s experience with design in partnership with social movements in southern Brazil.

Critical language pedagogues in Japan: enhancing student receptivity

Abstract This paper reports on part of a larger study of critical language pedagogy (CLP) in university EFL classes in Japan. Through in-depth semi-structured interviews, we examined the philosophies, approaches, pedagogic choices, and adaptations of nineteen self-identifying critical pedagogues. Here, we focus on the theme of student receptivity to the use of critical practices. We report that the majority of teachers thought that CLP was viable in their situations and we show the strategies that they have used to make it work. We particularly focus on the ways in which teachers have created classroom environments conducive to communication about challenging issues. The results may inform and guide teachers in their own explorations of CLP as they make decisions relevant to their own educational contexts.

Evaluation of feedback as an assessment for learning strategy in accounting education

Feedback is essential for the development and progress of learners in subjects like accounting. Teachers provide the necessary information about completed work and an opportunity for learners to improve. However, the literature indicates that teachers often struggle to provide effective feedback due to a lack of knowledge in feedback practices that facilitate learning. This study utilised critical pedagogy as a theoretical framework to create a meaningful, just, and conducive learning environment that can change and improve the educational conditions of accounting teachers. Furthermore, the study employed a qualitative research approach with Participatory Action Research (PAR) as the research design, allowing participants to take action to create a transformed teaching and learning environment that provides effective feedback. The study included five participants, selected using purposeful sampling, and data was generated from focus group meetings and workshops. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse the qualitative data. The findings indicated that accounting teachers used procedural and evaluative feedback methods to provide feedback, which was found to be ineffective, discouraging, and unclear to learners. However, as PAR was used as a research design, the subsequent findings after the workshop revealed that accounting teachers found descriptive feedback to be an effective method to improve learning. Learners found it to be specific and provide guidance and support.

Rethinking Subjectification: On the Limits of Biesta's Educational Theory

AbstractIn this article, Andrew Thompson explores the tension between Gert Biesta's concept of educational purpose and education's historical function. For Biesta, the purpose of education consists of three overlapping spheres: qualification, socialization, and subjectification. While scholars have devoted a great deal of attention to Biesta's notion of subjectification, there is not enough consideration of his treatment of socialization and its limits on human freedom. Here, Thompson examines the historical role of socialization as it relates to the cultivation of self‐reflecting and self‐governing citizens through a process Ian Hunter describes as pastoral pedagogy. Both Biesta and Hunter critique essentialist notions of subjectivity, noting that critical pedagogy in both liberal and Marxian iterations has relied upon a metaphysics informed by Kantian moral definition in which the subject must freely exercise rational autonomy toward self‐realization. While Biesta suggests redefining the subject, Hunter dismisses any attempt at redefinition as irrelevant since the school's historical process of moral development is inevitably linked to the antiquated liberal ideal. In Hunter's view, all attempts to escape the school's moral teleology inexorably employ a pedagogy that is based on the moral ideal its critics wish to eliminate. This article illustrates the agonism inherent in Biesta's concept of educational purpose and explores the role of the theorist as the expression of a particular moral self that informs the ideal persona of the teacher.

Critical Pedagogy and Student Learning Outcomes: A Systematic Literature Review

Critical Pedagogy and Student Learning Outcomes: A Systematic Literature Review