Development Of Critical Consciousness Research Articles

Racism and Mental Health: The Moderating Role of Critical Consciousness for Black Adolescents

This study examined experiences of individual, institutional, and cultural racism, along with critical consciousness (i.e., critical reflection, critical agency, critical action), and how they are associated with mental health outcomes for Black adolescents (N = 604; Mage = 15.4; 47.4% female). Consistent with previous research, we found that more experiences of racism were associated with more mental health distress for Black adolescents. We also found that the relationship between racism and mental health varied by critical reflection and critical action, in a three-way interaction effect. The positive association between racism and mental health distress was weaker for the Black adolescents in our sample who reported higher than average critical reflection and lower than average critical action. This evidence suggests that the reflection and action components of critical consciousness, together, can serve as an adaptive coping strategy to guard against the harm racism can cause to mental health. Black adolescents experience less mental health distress when they have a deep understanding of oppression, but do not engage heavily in actions to dismantle those unjust systems. These findings have implications for how youth researchers and practitioners can support critical consciousness development in ways that do not compromise adolescent mental health.

When Workers Want to Say No: A View into Critical Consciousness and Workplace Democracy in Data Work

In this paper, we describe and reflect upon the development of critical consciousness and workplace democracy within an experimental workplace called DataWorks. Through DataWorks, we hire adults from communities historically minoritized in computing education and data careers, and train them in entry-level data skills developed through work on client projects. In this process, workers gain a range of skills. Some of these skills are technical, such as programming for data analysis; some are managerial, such as scoping and bidding projects; others are social, perhaps even political, such as the ability to say "No" to projects. In what follows, we describe a workshop series developed to build the workers' critical literacy and consciousness about their data work, specifically regarding the use of data in machine learning systems. After that, we describe a data project the workers questioned and resisted because they determined the work to be harmful. In that process, they demonstrated and enacted a critical consciousness towards data and machine learning. Reflecting on this enactment of data-focused critical consciousness, we identify themes that characterize a democratic workplace, describe the work of designing for organizational action and institutional relations, and discuss how worker and researcher positionality affects this work. In doing so, we argue for enabling workers to resist and refuse harmful data work and challenge the standard power structures of academic research and data work.

Missed opportunities and implementational spaces for developing critical consciousness: Three case studies in secondary Mandarin Chinese dual language bilingual education

ABSTRACT In response to the call for centering critical consciousness as a foundational goal in dual language bilingual education (DLBE), this article explores secondary Chinese teachers’ instructional practices in Utah Mandarin Chinese DLBE programs and how their instructional practices reflect the missed opportunities and implementational spaces for developing critical consciousness in the backdrop of anti-Asian sentiment. Drawing on theoretical constructs of critical consciousness and using a narrative inquiry approach with ethnographic methods, this study focused on three secondary Chinese DLBE teachers’ reported and observed classroom practices concerning the development of critical consciousness. Findings reveal the different ways in which three Chinese DLBE teachers addressed critical topics in classrooms shaped by their attitudes toward the importance of promoting critical consciousness. Their classroom practices demonstrate the missed opportunities as well as implementational spaces to cultivate critical consciousness within the Mandarin Chinese DLBE curriculum. This study provides examples for DLBE teachers to implement critical pedagogies toward the critical consciousness goal and has implications for teachers, educators, families, and communities to support critical consciousness actions in and out of the classroom.

Development of linguistic critical consciousness of multilingual preservice teachers of color

ABSTRACT To ensure equitable access to education for emergent multilingual learners, teachers should hold certain beliefs (Lucas et al., 2015) about language, including sociolinguistic consciousness, a value for linguistic diversity, and knowledge of the sociopolitical positioning of language (Lucas, 2011). This study examines possible effects of critical language awareness (CLA) (Fairclough, 1992) coursework on the development of critical consciousness related to language, identity, ideologies and culturally sustaining pedagogies multilingual preservice teachers of color. The research question is: What are some effects of the CMLA coursework on multilingual preservice teachers’ perceptions about the following measures: language ideologies, supporting students’ multiple languages outside the classroom, advocating for students’ multiple languages in the classroom, and critical perspectives? ANOVA analyses on pre- and post-survey data from 48 preservice teachers suggest that CLA coursework had a significant impact on three of the four critical consciousness measures, at varying levels of significance. This study shows that critical content delivered through well-designed pedagogical treatments can help improve preservice teachers’ understanding of the language use in their future classrooms, empower them through reflection on their language, identities, and ideologies, and guide them toward more asset-based approaches to teaching and learning.

Navigating double marginalization: narratives of Asian (American) educators teaching and building solidarity

ABSTRACT This study examines Asian (American) teachers’ racialized experiences teaching and building solidarity with predominantly Black and Latinx students. Adopting tenets of Asian Critical Theory, the findings reveal participants’ paradoxical experiences of ‘double marginalization’: On one hand, they are broadly excluded from the Black-White racial paradigm and made invisible as racial outsiders and ‘forever foreigners’; on the other hand, they report feeling marginalized within the communities of Color due to the prevailing ‘model minority’ and ‘honorary White’ tropes. In resisting the ‘double marginalization’, participants strategically utilize their Asian (American) identities and experiences to challenge stereotypes about Asian (American) people and foster relationships with students and parents based on their shared struggles against White supremacy. This study has implications to reject Asian (American) invisibility in education research and practice by reclaiming the legacies of cross-racial solidarity-building among communities of Color and supporting the development of collective critical consciousness against racial division.

Preparing Students for Careers in the Third Sector: Critical Teaching and Learning Practice

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Community and Nonprofit Studies (the “Center”) has helped to expand or create new courses for two degree programs within a School of Human Ecology: the undergraduate Community and Nonprofit Leadership Bachelor of Arts degree program, and the Applied Master of Science in Human Ecology degree program. A post-baccalaureate Capstone Certificate program was then approved and offered, based on the set of courses that the Center has developed. Courses to meet the needs of these programs were developed with a focus on critical pedagogies and an expanded notion of subject matter, relying on community-based learning, praxis applications, and course structures which accommodate a diverse community of learners and contributors. This paper will examine how these course models and some of their key features and approaches advance best practices for applied learning in the field of nonprofit and community studies. Promising pedagogical features and strategies of the courses which the authors recommend for course design in this field include: decentering academic knowledge in favor of practitioner and community wisdom and engagement; emphasizing the value of the learning community as a source of diverse perspective and expertise; and critical consciousness development and practical skills building through reflection, action, and praxis—all taking into account the skills, experiences, and needs of adult learners.

The Impact of Creative Writing Activity on EFL Learners' Non-Core Vocabulary Acquisition

<em>In the context of ELT and EFL classrooms, creative writing has been underutilized in language learning and critical consciousness development (Stillar, 2013). This paper presents a quantitative approach that aims to explore the impact of a creative writing activity in terms of non-core vocabulary acquisition within B2-level EFL classrooms. By conveying a set of in-class and autonomous creative writing activities, the study deepens not only into vocabulary acquisition but also into second language acquisition (SLA) purposes. The investigation aims to discover the extent to which the instruction of creative writing activities fosters EFL learners’ acquisition of non-nuclear vocabulary. Following a quantitative methodology, a non-core vocabulary pre-test and post-test were administered to students. These tests included sections for analyzing students' knowledge of non-core vocabulary and the linguistic repertoire used in vignette descriptions (strip comics). Results from a paired samples t-test suggested that integrating creative writing activities in EFL environments not only enhanced lexical acquisition but also fostered detachment from cultural nuances and the influence of the students' mother tongue. All the scrutinized elements within the students’ linguistic repertoire were improved after the creative writing instruction. Within this analysis, the verbs and adjectives were the elements that were the most improved in terms of specificity and concreteness. Overall, the study sheds light on the potential benefits of integrating creative writing activities in EFL classrooms. The findings hold promising implications for EFL educators seeking innovative strategies to enhance language learning and intercultural competence.</em>

Conversation in Youth Work: A Process for Encounter

Conversation and dialogue are used as a central process within youth work. Whilst much has been written about the micro-skills of conversation, less attention has been paid to the philosophical realm. This paper examines how dialogue in youth work can be deepened when juxtaposed with the philosophies, principles and theories of conversation. Using qualitative and phenomenological methodologies, this study involved 32 youth workers from across Northern Ireland, in focus groups (N = 8) and interviews (N = 24). The findings illustrate how youth workers perceived dialogue in their practice, pointing to the connections with relationship-building, the development of critical consciousness and the equalizing of power.

Critical consciousness development for teachers of multilingual learners: A cultural/linguistic immersion program shaping early teaching careers

This study offers a long-term developmental pathway view of three early career K-12 teachers who participated in a practical TESOL preparation-based language/cultural immersion program abroad. Research continued across 5-years from pre-service through early career years, enabling the researchers to illustrate the curricular and extra-curricular developmental pathways implicated in development of sociopolitical and pedagogical dispositions and skills required to work in a culturally/linguistically sustaining manner alongside multilingual learners. The inquiry identifies the relevance of findings for the broader U.S. teacher education context and beyond with added emphasis on immersion-abroad teacher preparation programs and experiences for teachers of multilingual learners.

The antiracist educator’s journey and the psychology of critical consciousness development: A new roadmap

The cultural zeitgeist has reinvigorated needed conversations about systemic racism and its longstanding impact on education. Educators confronting educational racism encounter social and psychological challenges that stifle their antiracist efforts. Challenging social psychological encounters, which reflect unavoidable but requisite facets of critical consciousness development, are experienced as jarring interactions and trigger reversions toward uncritical race-dysconscious thought and action. Without social supports, educators seeking to transform racist institutions are isolated, left to their own devices, and unprepared for the painful journey of self-liberation. We cover the foundations and structure of the antiracist educator’s journey, a model based implicitly on critical race theory and explicitly on ecosystemic, monomythic, and liberational perspectives. Our model details the social-psychological progression of race consciousness development. We identify 15 interconnected components nested across 4 phases of self-liberation. The quest for antiracist realization parallels the quests of mythical and contemporary “heroes” who achieve systemic change through self-transformation and reward. The reward is an “ecosystemic lens” whose acquisition drives the conversion of racist educational ecosystems into antiracist alternatives. The framework is a roadmap for prospective antiracist educators and is meant to validate their experiences along the journey.

Emily Is an Egg: An Example of a Narrative Analysis Approach to Identifying the Antecedents of Critical Language Teacher Cognition

This article presents a theoretically grounded methodological approach to investigate the interplay between language teacher cognition and critical language teacher identity development. To answer the question as to what social, cultural, historical, and political aspects lead teachers to position themselves as language teachers for social justice, positioning analysis (Bamberg, 1997) is used to identify the antecedents of a critical language teacher’s cognition in discourses vis-a-vis their development of critical consciousness. Positioning analysis can help us better understand critical language teacher cognition, their processes of becoming critical language teachers, and their development of critical language teacher identity and social positionings because it comprises not only the analysis of the content of a narrative, but also the interaction, as well as the social, cultural, political, and economic context in which such a narrative is constructed. To account for the long-term aspects of critical language teacher cognition, the analysis focuses on the narratives from the period before formal teacher training and how teachers position themselves and others within the story world, the storytelling world, and amidst dominant discourses. Followed by its report, I address a key pedagogical implication for the development of critical language teachers.

Charting the longitudinal trajectories and interplay of critical consciousness among youth activists.

Critical consciousness (CC) is associated with beneficial developmental outcomes among youth contending with oppression, yet we know little about how CC develops and how the three dimensions of CC (i.e., critical action, critical motivation, and critical reflection) interrelate over time. Therefore, this study employed second-order latent growth modeling to illuminate the longitudinal interplay between the three dimensions of CC among 518 youth activists (Mage  = 16; girls = 53%; 11% Asian, 20% Black, 39% Latinx, 8% Multiracial, and 6% White). Youth demonstrated significant growth in critical reflection and action over time, but not in critical motivation. Participation in community-based activism was positively associated with CC development. Altogether, these findings illuminate channels for fostering youth CC and increase our understanding of CC's dynamic development.

A Conceptual Framework for Positive Black Female Identity Formation

Educating Black females about critical media literacy is a fundamental responsibility that should be shared by all who are concerned with the ways in which Black females navigate the world, especially because of the media’s pervasiveness. We proposed a conceptual framework for equipping Black females with the necessary critical media literacy (CML) skills to successfully recognize, decode, and deconstruct negative media messaging to develop a positive Black female identity. Utilizing the Critical Literacies Advancement Model (CLAM) as a foundation, we argued that critical theory can help in terms of developing a variety of critical, nontraditional literacies and to advance and promote positive Black female identity. Supported by the CLAM, we built our conceptual framework using Black Feminist Theory, critical media literacy, and critical consciousness, to outline a clear argument for the development of CML skills and critical consciousness to disrupt the perpetual cycle of subjugation of Black female identity.

Associations between hope and trajectories of critical consciousness among U.S. youth of color.

We examined associations between hope as an internal asset that supports positive youth development, and growth trajectories of three critical consciousness components. Using five waves of data collected over the course of high school (N = 618), we modeled growth trajectories of awareness of inequity (critical reflection), a sense of agency about taking sociopolitical action (critical agency), and behaviors targeting systems of oppression (critical action). Hope was highest among those with high trajectories of critical agency and critical action. Clear associations with hope emerged at the last time point for critical reflection, suggesting that sustained growth in critical reflection is associated with hope. When supporting the critical consciousness development of youth of color, concurrent support for hope may be instrumental.

Liberating Social Work Education Through Decoloniality

ABSTRACTWithin Social Work education, there has been a rising call for decoloniality. Among the areas most frequently targeted for transformation are the privileging of Christian Euro-centric sources of knowledge and means of transmission, Christian Euro-centric relational norms and behaviors, Euro-centric standards of excellence and professionalism. The origin of coloniality is steeped in four pillars, White Supremacy, Patriarchy, Capitalism and Christianity, labeled as the Colonial Matrix of Power (CMP). Bolstered by the promises that the principles comprising modernity (development, progress, rationality) are good for all, those managing and controlling the CMP define what are considered legitimate forms of knowledge (epistemology) and status of being (ontology). This paper offers a perspective on how the transformation of social work education is contingent upon the development of critical consciousness, legitimization of indigenous knowledge and cosmologies, critical realism, epistemic disobedience, and the primacy of connection and relationship among all entities. Through re-developing these skills and practices, social work education can take a verdant role in the decoloniality of professional education.

An Educational Philosophy Perspective On Teaching in Contemporary Curriculum Development

Current research supports the significance of critical consciousness development in the educational process. The research on reflective participatory learning and critical consciousness to foster critical consciousness in higher education may be far superior, notwithstanding a few shortcomings. More research is needed to determine the nature of critical consciousness in the higher education curriculum's philosophy of education and the best ways to support these students' vital development of consciousness. The critical consciousness technique was used in this investigation, and critical consciousness as a theoretical paradigm in education philosophy seeks to address multi-systemic oppression. All educational initiatives, including curricular decisions are grounded on philosophy. Critical consciousness encourages educators and students to consider other identities' viewpoints when reading and evaluating texts. It extends the goal of education to a more excellent social environment; this content critique and analysis method humanizes the learning process. Philosophy looks for and makes visible the good that all people should pursue and focus their deliberate education toward. In philosophy, the curriculum is prescriptive since it specifies the broad guidelines, courses, and disciplines that should be completed to earn a particular grade or standard. Like philosophy, the curriculum is normative and has guiding ideas and theories. Philosophy becomes a benchmark by which to evaluate the objectives, curriculum choices, and education delivery methods. Curriculum must be understood that they are constantly faced with making decisions about curricula and that philosophy plays a significant role in the decision-making process.

Exploring the Lived Experiences of Middle Grades Teacher Candidates Engaging in Critical Consciousness to Inform Equity-Oriented and Responsive Teacher Education

To inform equity-oriented and responsive middle grades teacher education, the current article is a qualitative study of the lived experiences of middle grades teacher candidates enacting critical consciousness in their first semester in a two-year equity-oriented middle grades teacher preparation program. Equity-oriented and responsive middle grades teacher education is defined as professional learning for middle grades preservice and inservice teachers that advances their development of critical consciousness, develops their capacity, knowledge, and skills as culturally and developmentally responsive teachers of young adolescents, and attends to their cultural and historical locations, pedagogical needs, interests, and concerns. Using a phenomenological research tradition and theories of critical consciousness and culturally relevant pedagogies, researchers closely examined 20 participants’ narratives and annotated reflections on how they “read the world” as perceived through the lenses of their cultural and historical locations and their descriptions of their experiences with critical incidents of perceived injustice as documented in Justice Journals. Two major themes emerged in participants’ data regarding their lived experiences of engaging in critical consciousness: (1) noticing and commenting on systems of oppression and (2) describing responses and strategies in connection to instances and patterns of injustice. Within the theme of noticing and commenting on systems of oppression, three sub-themes included (a) gender socialization, (b) classism, and (c) racism. Within the theme of describing responses and strategies in connection to instances and patterns of injustice, analysis revealed four sub themes: (a) responding to discomfort, (b) critiquing/distancing, (c) stopping, and (d) feeling blessed. These themes and sub-themes represent teacher candidates’ lived experiences of engaging in critical consciousness, primarily focused on critical awareness, critical reflection, and critical analysis. Implications for developing equity-oriented and responsive middle grades teacher education are provided.

Global citizenship education as a reflexive dialogic pedagogy

This article examines how senior educators (n = 5) located in Japan perceive global citizenship education (GCE) as a reflexive dialogic pedagogy in the university undergraduate course ‘Dialogues on Global Citizenship Education’. Reflexive dialogue is a form of guided and interactive introspection by which educators encourage learners to speak about their needs and values as viewed interactively through the prism of the topics discussed with their peers. It encompasses educators supporting learners by encouraging them to critically examine the assumptions underlying their actions and the impact of those actions (praxis). It fosters students’ ability to examine systems of inequality and the commitment to take action against these systems (critical consciousness). From this perspective, the GCE course presented the educators with an opportunity to engage learners in reflexive dialogue in relation to the most important social issues of our time (e.g. climate change, COVID-19, refugee crisis, immigration, gender inequality, civil rights, racial discrimination). Data were collected by means of questionnaires and responsive interviews with the educators co-teaching the course, then analysed with the use of grounded theory and the constant comparative method. The educators expressed the opinion that the type of reflexive dialogic GCE developed in the course (1) fostered students’ conviction in common values, (2) developed students’ intellectual humility, (3) nurtured students’ appreciation of ‘Otherness’, (4) advanced students’ multiple perspectives and (5) encouraged students’ understanding of the complex dynamics related to immigration. Based on the findings, this article concludes by making a proposal for a reflexive dialogic GCE framework informed by the values and knowledge of Freirean critical pedagogy ingrained in praxis and students’ critical consciousness development to implement principles of GCE in Japanese and international universities.

Translanguaging through the lens of social justice: unpacking educators’ understanding and practices

ABSTRACT This article focuses on translanguaging, which has been posited as a language practice, pedagogical tool, and lens that values individuals’ linguistic resources and deems them valuable. Scholars have postulated that translanguaging is rooted in social justice, as it aims to address social inequities among emergent bilinguals. Yet, do educators address social justice objectives when using translanguaging strategies, or do they merely conceptualize translanguaging as a pedagogical tool in teaching and learning as a means to assimilate and help students succeed within an unjust system rather than changing the system? Using a historical review of the literature and data gathered through an online survey, this study sought to examine: what understanding do educators hold about the connection between translanguaging and social justice? And in what ways, if any, do these understandings align with their teaching practices? The findings from our study show that only a few educators proposed a connection between translanguaging and social justice. Moreover, even those educators who suggested a connection between the two shared little evidence of the enactment of this relationship in their practice. This article discusses these observations in the context of the education of emergent bilingual students and the development of critical awareness among their educators.

Using reflection to demonstrate development of active citizenship and critical consciousness through authentic and locally based projects

ABSTRACT Concepts such as active citizenship and critical consciousness are increasingly relevant to enable students to meet the challenges of tomorrow. Additionally, self-reflection is a powerful tool to observe the development of abstract concepts such as these. This qualitative exploratory study examined the extent to which university students in Colombia enhanced their critical consciousness and a sense of active citizenship through projects focused on cases of violence against social leaders in their region. During the project, 93 students in four academic cohorts wrote a total of 155 reflections related to their experiences. These were analyzed using qualitative content analysis with the AtlasTi software. The results evidenced a shift in students’ critical consciousness including a deeper understanding, a recognition of significance, an acknowledgement of privilege, and an awareness of the connection between local and global issues in relation to the topic of the project. In addition, traits of active citizenship were observed such as a sense of collective responsibility, a desire to contribute, a sense of empowerment, and growth in empathy. This research demonstrates the potential for authentic locally based project topics for developing active citizenship and enhancing critical consciousness as well as reinforcing the potential for reflections to demonstrate such development.