Awesome post. When reading the “How does this apply to our specific fields and educational settings?” section I could get a feel for how critical pedagogy could be utilized for both theory and lecture courses, but also project oriented courses. This seemed to pop for me when the metaphorical learning environment is molded into a safe place for a student to express their critical thinking and problem solving abilities and receive feedback. As for the Leonardo DiCaprio meme, “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”.

Susan, this is an excellent point and I believe your questions directly relate to the blog post you wrote for this week. Somehow we need to find a way to encourage these “old school” professors to attend workshops on higher education pedagogy. Ben Kirkland also wrote an excellent blog entitled “Hippy Underwear” that speaks to how we have to change the system from within–maybe we change these old school professors by being the voice for change.

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Thank you for your comment, Dami. Like you and Susan pointed out, just because something has always been done a certain way does not mean it is the best way or the way things should be done. I think it’s great you invite your students to challenge assumptions, especially because the second part of that quote from Connor “it works for us”–many things only work for certain people, not everyone, and especially not necessarily the students.

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Hi Pallavi,
These are great examples that tie into Freire’s work. Since the Dalit are so deeply ingrained in their beliefs, how did your organization approach their issues and uplift their communities? Since they seem reluctant to change their views, how can you challenge them to think differently? I’m interested in work with community enrichment.

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These are really good questions. Are faculty B & C trying to copyright the grading rubric for themselves? Usually, I perceive copyrights as a monetary thing; if you pay, then you can use it. However, since I am pro-open access, I’m in support of giving credit to those who made the homework assignments instead of adding copyrights to prevent others from using them.

Hi Davon,

These are some great points that you bring up. Do you think some of these strategies could be implemented in a large university like VT? I think faculty are reluctant to change their teaching style because of backlash from the department or school. For example, the professor that I TA for this semester takes many risks in her class – her lectures are live streamed on Zoom (students don’t have to go to class but must participate online), she lets her students submit their reflections of scientific articles through art or music (someone sang about mercury poisoning for their assignment), and all of her exams are online (unique in our department). She receives backlash from the department because her teaching methods are nonconventional. I look up to her because she takes these risks. I wonder if there has been any department, at any university who have successfully implemented some of these changes.

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Like Dami, I also think that Connor raises a good point with “this is how we have always done it and it works for us.” Challenging students to think outside the box is one thing, but how can we get other people to think differently? Specifically, the dairy farmers that Connor mentioned or “old school” professors or teachers who don’t want to change their ways of teaching?

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I agree with Angelica’s thought of how “within critical pedagogy, students should recognize authoritarian tendencies and be able to challenge the theory behind what they are learning. I was always wary of criticizing authority, especially in the classroom since I always thought the professor was always right or “the theory or science must be correct.” I remember my senior seminar project where I had to present and critique three research studies. It was really difficult for me to find flaws in their studies because of my perception where the scientist is always right. To me, they always conduct “near perfect” studies. Well, turns out the lead researcher for one of the studies was caught a year later with data falsification.

Creative post! I like how each of you had a different approach to incorporating critical pedagogy in the classroom. What if students are reluctant to share examples from their lives? How can you foster an environment where marginalized students in the class feel comfortable talking about their experiences?

Hey Tim- While I can’t answer how all the humanities may approach problem posing, I can share with you one approach through the medium of theatre is via Augutso Boal’s “Theatre of the Oppressed” which was heavily influenced by Freire.
I’ve experienced his work with underrepresented communities in which a facilitator to help volunteers create dramas around problems that affect their lives. At the performance, audience members are free not only to comment on the action, but also to step up on stage and play roles of their choice. In doing so, they discover new ways of resolving the dilemmas that the play presents. In follow-up exercises, community members learn how to translate these insights into social action.