Critical Pedagogy In Uncertain Times

This book brings together the most important figures in the evolution of Critical Pedagogy to provide comprehensive analyses of issues related to the struggle against the forces of neoliberalism and the imperial-induced privatization, not just in education, but in all of social life through the radical democratizing forces of critical pedagogy.

This edited volume, now in its second edition, brings together the some of the most important figures in the evolution of Critical Pedagogy and a number of up-and-coming scholars. Together they provide comprehensive analyses related to the struggles against the triangulation of Neoliberalism, Conservatism, and Nationalism, not just in education but in all of social life, through the democratizing forces of critical pedagogy. Its re-release coincides with the 50th anniversary of the publication of Paulo Freire’s landmark publication, Pedagogy of the Oppressed. The second edition has been updated with a majority of new chapters to address the current political shifts that have hastened erosion of the public sphere and public education today. These critical pedagogues show how neoliberal attacks can be collectively resisted, challenged, and eradicated especially by those of us teaching in schools and universities.

Our educational system is in turmoil. Many would argue that it has been assaulted and oversimplified by the right. There is growing concern that we are becoming a liberal nation-state with an increasingly anti-liberal population and an electorate that is disinterested in politics. In this globalized world, the power of capital is so great that opposition to it is often discouraged and disheartened, leaving many citizens few political precepts by which to consider their institutions. This contemporary failure of vision has opened the way for the unimpeded return of the philosophy of the free market. As a result, social and educational policies are debated almost solely in terms of how they fit with the needs of the market. Social and ethical understandings are replaced by a failed economic theory that requires a radical constraint of our political and economic choices. Compassion for the poor, the market lets us know, is wrong-headed because any interference with the labor market will always result in unfortunate economic and social consequences. Moral issues are eclipsed by market needs. In Critical Pedagogy: Where Are We Now? the contributors discuss how the field of critical pedagogy should respond to such dire conditions in a way that is theoretically savvy and visionary, while concurrently contributing to the struggle to improve the lives of those most hurt by them. Critical Pedagogy is essential reading for every classroom teacher and pre-service teacher. It is also a valuable tool for use in undergraduate and graduate-level classrooms.

This accessible text provides a clear overview of the contemporary themes and challenges within critical pedagogy, and suggests a path towards a more conscientious world for all through education. Boronski encourages us to imagine radical alternatives to current approaches, not merely for ideological reasons, but due to increasing necessity for environmental and sociological perspectives. With case studies, discussion tasks and exemplars from global history woven throughout, each chapter considers a prominent societal and educational issue, tackling some difficult and unsettling areas. Embedded in this exploration is an understanding and application of key concepts, such as justice, equality, rights and power, and how these relate to a range of topics in UK schooling. These include the role of teachers in an age of hyper surveillance and performance monitoring, alternative approaches to education, and the growing fear of the ‘other’. Essential reading for Education Studies students at undergraduate and Master’s level, this comprehensive text will also be of interest to students of Social Policy, Sociology and Politics programmes.

This book simultaneously provides multiple analyses of critical pedagogy in the twenty-first century while showcasing the scholarship of this new generation of critical scholar-educators. Needless to say, the writers herein represent just a small subset of a much larger movement for critical transformation and a more humane, less Eurocentric, less paternalistic, less homophobic, less patriarchical, less exploitative, and less violent world. This volume highlights the finding that rigorous critical pedagogical approaches to education, while still marginalized in many contexts, are being used in increasingly more classrooms for the benefit of student learning, contributing, however indirectly, to the larger struggle against the barbarism of industrial, neoliberal, militarized destructiveness. The challenge for critical pedagogy in the twenty-first century, from this point of view, includes contributing to the manifestation of a truly global critical pedagogy that is epistemologically democratic and against human suffering and capitalist exploitation. These rigorous, democratic, critical standards for measuring the value of our scholarship, including this volume of essays, should be the same that we use to critique and transform the larger society in which we live and work.

Written by leading scholars and activists from Canada, Germany, Malta, Norway, Turkey and the USA, this book offers international perspectives on critical pedagogy during the Covid-19 pandemic. It examines the social and political impact of the pandemic on education, and explores how the creation of digital communities has become indispensable in maintaining connectivity and building networks. Including contributions from Michael W. Apple, Antonia Darder, Henry A. Giroux, Peter Mayo, Peter McLaren, Wayne Ross and Ira Shor, this volume examines critical issues, controversies of education, and social and political problems that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. The chapters call for constructive critical consciousness and a commitment to social justice, addressing current issues, including Black Lives Matter, racism, poverty, social and gender inequality, women's rights and teachers' isolation during the pandemic. In part I, the authors address these issues through the lenses of neoliberalism, neo-conservatism, rightist ideology and capitalism. Parts II and III of the volume offer inclusive perspectives, personal accounts and regional outlooks on these issues, and assess their influence on society and education during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A Light in Dark Times: Maxine Greene and the Unfinished Conversation features a list of extraordinary contributors who have been deeply influenced by Professor Greene's progressive philosophies. While Maxine Greene in the focus for this collection, each chapter is an encounter with her ideas by an educator concerned with his or her own works and projects. In essence, each featured author takes off from Maxine Greene and then moves forward. Just as Maxine Greene herself has, this unique and fascinating collection of essays will influence a wide range of worlds: arts and aesthetics, literature and literacy studies, cultural studies, school change and improvement, the teaching of literacy, teacher education, peace and social justice, women's studies, and civil rights.

Presenting cutting-edge research from around the world, this book demonstrates how critical pedagogy is shaped by social-political contexts and ideological constructions of knowledge and power. The edited collection brings together a global author team using critical pedagogy to synthesise political and theoretical ambitions with the complex realities of classroom practice. The book addresses two key questions: what does critical pedagogy look like in educative work with young people around the globe? And how can critical praxis enacted in schools and classrooms push the core tenets of critical pedagogy so that they are more responsive to the complex power relations of the real world? Bringing together chapters that create a nuanced understanding of some of the challenges involved in the intersection of ideologies, systems and institutions, the authors offer a set of resources which respond to claims that critical pedagogy is often little more than emancipatory rhetoric with limited practical application. Spanning almost two decades of pedagogical thinking, practice, outreach, community development and activism, this robust volume will be of great interest to researchers and postgraduate students investigating critical education, curriculum, creative thinking and pedagogies.