Critical Pedagogical Approach Research Articles

The Role of Critical Pedagogies in Early Childhood Education to Create Pathways into STEM for Racially Minoritized Communities

This longitudinal study examines the long-term impact of critical pedagogy on the academic and social development of students from a marginalized Mexican American borderland community, with a specific focus on their trajectories in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields. Drawing on in-depth interviews with three students who participated in a critical pedagogical approach during their formative elementary years, this case study explores how power, agency, and curiosity were cultivated in the classroom and how these elements influenced the students’ pursuit of higher education and careers in STEM ten years later. The findings reveal that an equitable distribution of power and the fostering of student agency through critical-based pedagogies empowered students to engage critically with their learning and to challenge systemic barriers. Furthermore, this study highlights the role of early curiosity in sustaining students’ interest in STEM, despite encountering obstacles in higher education environments dominated by market-driven influences. By situating this research within the broader context of critical pedagogy and its emphasis on social justice, the study underscores the transformative potential of education in shaping the futures of minoritized students in STEM disciplines.

Discussing Controversial Topics While Keeping the Class Civil: Critical Pedagogy and Dialogue for Those Who Dare

ABSTRACT This narrative self-study explores how a teacher educator managed to maintain civility while addressing controversial issues in a multicultural education course in Texas, amidst student resistance to a radical democratic curriculum. The educator describes their experience with Gabriel, a student whose resistance bumped against critical pedagogy approaches. Despite the educator’s careful planning and dialogue-centered teaching, an unforeseen moment of discomfort exposed the limitations of the teaching strategies. methods and underscored the need for emotional awareness in the act of teaching. The study’s findings explore critical pedagogical practices through explication of reflection-before-action, reflection-in-action, and reflection-after-action. Reflection-before-action, while valuable, cannot fully prepare educators for unexpected challenges, such as student resistance, that arise during teaching. Continued reflection in and on action is often necessary. Reflection-in-action revealed that a dialogue protocol used to maintain civility was inadequate, as it could not effectively handle dissent. Reflection-after-action, through personal journaling and discussions with critical friends and students, provided insights into managing the educator’s emotions, challenging assumptions, and enhancing listening and reflective skills. The study highlights the importance of embracing uncertainty and emotional complexity in teaching. It argues that effective critical pedagogy requires ongoing reflection and adaptability. Authors advocate for an ethical teaching approach that aligns with Freire’s call for empathy, humility, and daring dialogue, with students to bridge diverse, even contested, perspectives and foster democratic problem-solving experiences in education.

Transition as transformation: developing student identities and academic literacies through university enabling pathways in Australia

In response to the global widening participation movement, most Australian universities now offer enabling programmes as pathways to degrees. These programmes play an important role in supporting students from underrepresented backgrounds to access higher education, supporting individuals to develop a sense of belonging and establish student identities alongside academic skills. However, what these students find most beneficial and supportive in transition to university is poorly understood. To investigate student perspectives on what supports their success at university, research was conducted with undergraduates who entered an Australian university through enabling pathways. Student reflections on individual educational trajectories highlight the transformative role of pathway programmes. Interview analysis provided recommendations for supporting new students, which will be useful for educators and widening participation practitioners. A critical pedagogical approach illuminates how confidence and capability are developed through scaffolded learning and constructive feedback, highlighting the educator’s role in supporting students to build learner identities and academic literacies. Students form a sense of belonging through peer networks and time spent in the university environment. Through scaffolded support, students develop individual management strategies for complex contexts and are empowered to contribute new knowledges, which leads to opportunities for individual and broader societal transformation.

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.

Reflective thinking and self-assessment: A model for the architectural design studio

Developing, experimenting, and sharing critical pedagogical approaches is becoming increasingly important in architectural education, which supposedly superposes theory and practice. In this article, the authors reveal and reflect on an enriching pedagogical approach to the traditional architectural design studio. It is acknowledged that students develop comprehensive examination and internalization abilities by developing reflective thinking and self-evaluation abilities that complement each other. Based on the pioneer educational theory of John Dewey, the researchers' selected instructional interventions. Using the action research method, four additional modes conceptualized towards disciplinary literacy -reading, mapping, discussion, and peer assessment- were injected into the traditional studio process during a semester of architectural design course. The pedagogical approach is built on questioning the two basic creativity-based abilities of learners: reflective thinking and self-assessment. The fundamental questions are: How can a reading-discussion setup designed to nurture disciplinary literacy in the design studio be a factor in developing reflective thinking ability? How can the systematic peer assessment exercise be a factor in the students' self-assessment and reflective thinking skills as a learning outcome? The results argue for the effects on students' intangible skills. The model studio setup exhibited two remarkable findings, showing that (i) the reading-discussion mode is more effective in generating reflective thinking and (ii) the systematic peer review exercise is more effective in gaining self-assessment ability. The aim is to contribute to the theory of education by making the model application in the field of architectural design studio accessible and reflective for other educators.

“This Weird Thing I'm Discovering”

Abstract This article addresses a pervasive but undertheorized literacy practice: ghostwriting. Drawing on a five-year interview study with undergraduate students, I describe the many ghostwriting tasks that participants were asked to perform for their co-op jobs and how they perceived those tasks. Overall, students were bewildered by ghostwriting and found it very different from, and in some ways at odds with, their academic writing. Given the ubiquity of ghostwriting and the likelihood that much of it will be offloaded to artificial intelligence in coming years, I call for and begin to outline a critical pedagogical approach to ghostwriting grounded in critical language awareness.

'Patient' or 'professional'? Negotiating accommodations and identity in fieldwork education.

Despite legislation mandating accommodation policies in postsecondary education, support for students with disabilities is often not implemented within health and human services (HHS) education programs, particularly in fieldwork settings. As part of a Canada-wide study exploring the experiences of disabled students in 10 HHS programs, we examined how HHS students described their experiences accessing accommodations in fieldwork to understand how conceptions of disability relate to students' fieldwork experiences. Using a critical disability studies framework, we explored how HHS fieldwork education understands disability, accommodations and professional competence and what those understandings reveal about the discrepancy between mandated accommodations and what happens in practice. Thirty-five students requiring accommodations in HHS fieldwork education participated in interviews. Through a critical interpretive analysis of interview data, we developed first-person composite narratives to show the richness and complexity of the students' diverse, yet similar, subjective experiences with fieldwork accommodations. Two composite narratives demonstrate how conceptions of disability incommensurate with professional competence expectations influenced student experiences with disclosing disability and obtaining accommodations in fieldwork. Fear of stigma and having one's competence questioned, or having accommodation requests denied for being misaligned with professional expectations, demonstrate how HHS fieldwork education and practice are upheld by ableist systemic structures. The dominant medical model of disability in HHS education creates institutional barriers that require students to constantly (re)construct their 'professional' identity in relation to their 'patient' identity. This patient-professional identity construction relates to HHS professional competency standards and assumptions about what makes a 'good' professional. Suggestions include reworking competency standards and implementing critical pedagogical approaches to teach future and current HHS professionals to question both personal and practice assumptions. With institutional backing, such changes may support diversity within HHS and a culture shift toward more equitable education and health care.

Freedom Learning in University (MBKM): Strengthening Social Studies Curriculum Through Critical Pedagogy

The emergence of society 5.0 era opens opportunities as well as challenges that are increasingly complex for the education world existence and progress with information and communication technology (ICT) support in learning process which is expected to be able to produce students who are adaptive to social changes around them. A lack of relevant curriculum regarding access to learning and technology is also still a challenge for the education world. The education system and social studies curriculum in Indonesia must improve to be able to adapt to science and technology development in this society 5.0 era through a critical pedagogical theory approach. The paper aims to contribute visible ideas on strengthening the social studies curriculum through critical pedagogy in the MBKM context. The research method used is qualitative with a literature review that is relevant to the social studies curriculum through critical pedagogy in the MBKM context. The analysis results show that strengthening the social studies curriculum through critical pedagogy in the MBKM context is by implementing the significant learning models and providing space for developing student competencies.
 Keywords: critical pedagogy, freedom learning, MBKM, social studies curriculum

Researching Language Teacher Identity Towards Critical Pedagogy

The landscape of teacher education has recently experienced a significant transformation, shifting away from conventional constructivist methodologies towards more socio-culturally grounded and critical pedagogical approaches. This shift underscores the growing importance of exploring language teacher identity and underscores the imperative for in-depth research into its construction within teacher education programs. This evolution is vital not only to enable language educators to gain deeper insights into their students' ideologies but also to facilitate their understanding and cultivation of their own professional identities. Within the framework of critical pedagogy, pivotal concepts such as power, identity, and agency empower language instructors with the tools necessary to actively shape their own identities and effectively challenge the language ideologies held by their students. Consequently, it is essential to investigate how socio-cultural and political contexts influence the identities of language educators and how these educators can proactively mold their identities to meet the diverse needs of their students. Throughout this study, critical pedagogy serves as a lens for evaluating teacher education programs, highlighting how their incorporation can enhance the educational landscape. In light of the dynamic nature of education, particularly in evolving contexts, a critical language pedagogy perspective necessitates further research into the identity of language teachers within the field. This aligns with the assertion made by Kubota (2017), emphasizing the imperative of additional research concerning the identity of language teachers within the realm of critical language pedagogy.

Free to Be! Youth Participatory Action Research as a Promotive Context for Black Youth Development

Abstract The U.S. education system often functions as an adverse developmental context for Black students. Discriminatory policies and racist ideologies contribute to a series of cascading inequities in students' learning experiences. For example, years of data indicate an overrepresentation of Black students suspended and/or expelled from school. Moreover, Black Americans’ experiences and contributions to U.S. society are often left out of curricula, compounding the physical exclusion of Black students from classrooms with the exclusion of their experiences. While such contexts inhibit learning and growth at critical developmental stages, the out-of-school time (OST) context can amplify the voices of Black students and support their learning and development in ways that address these exclusionary practices. Specifically, youth participatory action research (YPAR) during OST is an important critical pedagogical approach that provides a safe context for Black students to engage in challenging oppressive policies and practices within schools. The current study engages four Black/African American youth (aged 15–18 years old) in YPAR and positions youth as active learners and experts in their learning and developmental growth. Findings suggest an equitable OST context can contribute to our understanding of Black students' experiences in school and the co-creation of solutions for a more just learning environment.

From hero to humility: Critical approaches to teaching servant leadership.

Despite the growth of servant leadership research, current understandings of how to teach servant leadership are limited. Further, current approaches often reinforce heroic notions of servant leadership that do not adequately prepare learners to engage in leadership within their own lives. Against this backdrop, we integrate critical pedagogical approaches within servant leadership education. To do so, we outline several applications that focus on leader development, leadership development, and community leadership development as well as several critical considerations for educators.

Re-Imagining Peace Education: Using Critical Pedagogy as a Transformative Tool

Abstract Existing studies demonstrate that although peace and conflict studies (PCS) emerged from a deep connection between political activism and research, the field has increasingly moved toward promoting liberal ideals of peace that sustain the status quo. Amidst this trend, many scholars have pushed research and education programs to explore beyond a hegemonic liberal peace, for example by diversifying reading lists and drawing on decolonial frameworks. This paper adds to such efforts: through the case study of a higher education PCS classroom, we use narratives from two course conveners and a student to explore challenges and opportunities of realizing a critical pedagogy approach to peace education. This approach recenters the classroom not necessarily in terms of what students ought to think, but how; critical theory provides a basis for fostering curiosity, using query as a tool of learning, and focusing class structure on students’ needs. Our findings suggest that using critical pedagogy in PCS addresses calls for a greater understanding of peace beyond the absence of violence, fosters active envisioning of peace, and works toward decolonizing and demystifying peace work. Ultimately, we call for PCS classrooms to foster critical thinking and radical imagination for a pedagogy of peace praxis.

‘You think you know, but you have no idea’: on anger, critical pedagogy and the dilemmas of being a teaching artist

ABSTRACT What constitutes ‘teacher identity’ and ‘artist identity’ have received considerable scholarly attention but there has been little exploration of how these identities intersect in the practice of ‘teaching artists’. This article argues that paying close attention to that practice, as well as the artist’s own perspectives and reflections on it, produces important insights into this intersection, including where it becomes both productive and problematic. Drawing on portraiture methodology, it analyses how the Marshallese spoken word artist, Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner, structures and delivers workshops in order to develop the critical consciousness of participants. Drawing on Webb Keane’s discussion of consciousness-raising and ‘ethical feeling’ in the feminist movement of the 1960s, as well as insights derived from Sara Ahmed’s reconceptualisation of the ‘feminisit killjoy’, the central role that the emotion of anger plays in her approach is explored. The article goes on to share some of Jetñil-Kijiner’s own reflections on the workshops, their outcomes, and her complex positionality as a Marshallese artist engaged in de-colonial work within a neo-colonial context. In conclusion, some broader questions about the artist/teacher intersection, the transferability of critical pedagogical approaches, and the challenges of teaching through emotion are raised.

Making allyship visible: evaluation of a faculty development DEI curriculum

ABSTRACT Undergraduate medical learners from historically marginalized groups face significant barriers, which was made concrete at our institution when a student presented her research indicating that Black students felt unsure about which faculty members to approach. To better support our students, we used Kern’s model for curriculum development and a critical pedagogy approach to create a Faculty Allyship Curriculum (FAC). A total of 790 individuals attended 90 workshops across 16 months and 20 individuals have completed the FAC. A majority of participants reported they felt at least moderately confident in their ability to teach learners who are underrepresented in medicine, mentor learners who are different than they are, and teach allyship topics. An informal content analysis of open-ended responses indicated changes in awareness, attitude, insight, and use of language and being more likely to display advocacy. For others considering creating a similar program, partnering with an existing program allows for rapid implementation and reach to a wide audience. We also recommend: beginning with a coalition of willing learners to quickly build community and culture change; ensuring that the curriculum supports ongoing personal commitment and change for the learners; and supporting facilitators in modeling imperfection and upstanding, ‘calling in’ rather than ‘calling out’ learners.

Changing the “Mindset” of Saudi MA Students: From Native-Speakerism to Global Englishes

English is an international language with diverse varieties around the world that are referred to as Global Englishes (GE). Numerous studies demonstrate the importance and effectiveness of integrating GE-informed materials in English Language Teaching (ELT) practices but in the context of the Gulf countries, particularly in Saudi Arabia, such studies are relatively rare. Furthermore, ELT in the Saudi setting is heavily predicated on native-speakerism, with few courses adopting materials informed by GE, which in any case are also limited. This study addresses this gap by exploring the impact of a course delivered on English as a World Language to Saudi postgraduate students using a critical pedagogical approach. The study assesses how such a course can contribute to students’ awareness of their own English as well as GE in general. This qualitative research study investigated the perceptions of Saudi students taking the optional course as part of their Master’s English degree at Jouf University in Saudi Arabia. Data collection methods included semi-structured interviews and reflective journals. The findings revealed positive attitudes towards incorporating GE into English learning and teaching and an improved understanding of linguistic diversity after taking the course. The pedagogical implications of the findings are discussed, and recommendations are given for integrating GE into current ELT practices. The study explores whether incorporating a critical pedagogical approach can not only enhance students’ awareness of English varieties, but also improve their attitudes towards such diverse forms of English as well as their own English variety.

Reading the world: English-language literatures as a tool for fostering critical language awareness

This paper summarises how a critical pedagogical approach was joined with community-based action research to foster a critical language awareness (CLA) perspective in redesigning and implementing the course, Practice in communicating English literature. Held at Eötvös Loránd University’s Faculty of Primary and Pre-School Education (ELTE TÓK) as a part of the English specialisation programme in bilingual education for pre-service primary teachers, the curriculum used for teaching this course originally emphasised literary history, canonical works, chronological order, and literacy, all earmarks of the kind of literature pedagogy most commonly employed in Hungarian classrooms. The questions investigated in this research therefore examine whether students socialised in the literature pedagogy methods listed above would react positively to unfamiliar materials and practices; whether literature could promote language learning in a way that emphasises content over literacy; and whether literature could motivate adult language learners to become autonomous language users who possess their own, English-language identity. The example of the first known, English-language autobiography, The Book of Margery Kempe (1501/1985), will provide a set of practices (including storytelling, creative writing, role play and debate) for promoting critical language awareness among pre-service primary teachers. Redefining the aims and material for Practice in communicating English literature demanded further investigation in affirming its effectiveness while assessing the need to expose students to a broader range of cultural influences. The qualitative methods of document/coursebook analysis, observation, and a questionnaire conducted with students provide further input in determining whether the selected curriculum promotes CLA and Krachu’s definition of world Englishes (1996).

Religious Education and Freedom of Education in Ghana: Challenges and Opportunities

There seems to be apparent silence on the discussion of the influence of religion on human and national development due to the intolerance and divisiveness amongst the various religious groupings in Ghana. Contemporary discourse on the right to education and freedom of education finds it confusing whether harmony exists between the two or if one infringes on the other. Ghanaian educational environments suggest that the existence of academic and religious freedom is not present in the actual educational settings. School syllabi, rules, regulations, and pedagogical approaches pose considerable challenges to the quest for freedom of education and religion. Through documentary analysis and the concepts of freedom of education and the right to education, this research examined the challenges and opportunities of religious education in the Ghanaian educational environment. The research suggested that relevant and critical pedagogical approaches should be used to teach religious education to allow religious tolerance and coexistence amongst the various religious bodies within schools and communities.

The Language of Pushkin, the Language of Putin: Teaching Russian in the United States

Russian language courses and programs in the United States emerged and developed in contexts which were characterized by the conflicting ideologies and politics of the United States and the Soviet Union (and, more recently, the Russian Federation). In addition, such programs have faced a number of other challenges, some of which are related to world language education in the U.S. context more generally, while others are language-specific and concerned only with Russian as a foreign language. This article provides a review of the current status of the teaching and learning of Russian in the United States, and suggests that among the challenges faced by Russian educators are the difficulties associated with learning LCTLs in general (and Russian in particular), political and ideological tensions, the lack of economic returns from the study of Russian, and the general ignorance of Russian society and culture in U.S. society. It is recommended that the recruitment of students can be increased by focusing on heritage language speakers of Russian, while an effort to improve the general knowledge of contemporary Russian society, as well as its history and culture, could also attract non-heritage language students. Ties to local Russian-speaking communities can also promote the study of Russian by U.S. students. Changes to the Russian language curriculum are also required, including the recognition of the diversity in the Russian-speaking world, challenges the concept of the Русский мир, and the inclusion of critical pedagogical approaches.

Addressing controversial issues in religious education by enacting and rehearsing democracy through Forum Theatre: student perspectives

ABSTRACT Both policy and research emphasise the significant role that addressing controversial issues plays in democracy and citizenship education. However, less work has examined what forms of democratic learning are promoted when controversial issues are addressed in specific ways. This article is rooted in action research and, through an analysis of student perspectives, explores the potential for democratic learning when Forum Theatre (FT) is used to address controversial issues in religious education (RE). FT facilitates critical democratic education; hence, it centres on power asymmetries, empowerment and transformation. The findings indicate that this critical pedagogical approach empowers students to become political and moral agents in the search for nonoppressive solutions and that FT promotes education both through and for democracy. However, an explicit goal in FT and critical pedagogy is to critically examine the interconnectedness between micro-oppressions and macro-structures. This was not achieved in the FT exercises in this study: this article discusses the possible reasons for this result, along with recommendations for further reinventions of FT in the context of RE, controversial issues and democratic learning.

Critical Pedagogical Jewish Studies: Whiteness, Racism, and Jewish Ethno/National Fissures

Abstract: Critical pedagogy makes for an enriched approach to Jewish Studies because of shared principles and values also found in Jewish traditions and teachings. The first step of critical pedagogy is to pose the world as a problem. This article agrees with scholarship suggesting that whiteness and racism are fundamental problems of our time. After synthesizing Jewish Studies with a critical pedagogical approach that focuses on the problems of whiteness and racism, the next important step in critical pedagogy is reflection—in this instance, reflection on the relationship between Judaism, whiteness, and racism. This article uses critical whiteness studies as a theoretical framework for reflecting on these relationships. There are two overarching schools of thought in critical whiteness studies—one being that whiteness can be rearticulated to "antiracist white," and the other arguing that whiteness must be abolished. The following article builds upon the latter, making a proposal for one way that Judaism might contribute to liberation movements led by Black, Indigenous and People of Color toward the abolition of whiteness and racism. Finally, the article explores cultural action, the third step of critical pedagogy, at the ideological and material levels. Bringing critical whiteness studies to Jewish Studies reveals one of the many possible ways that Judaism can help to dismantle whiteness and racism.