Thanks for your post, and I agree that critical pedagogy does not make immediate sense in some courses, at least the way they are currently structured. For example, I am thinking of an introductory statistics class, where you learn about the mean, standard deviation, and t-tests, and I also don’t see an obvious way to make that more “critical” without re-developing the entire way statistics is taught. However, (and maybe my experience was unique in this regard) I think that many of my undergraduate courses got at this “raising awareness of critical issues.” The courses I am thinking of tended to be upper-level classes in my major, but I also took several Spanish/Latin American literature classes, which might be skewing the distribution in favor of critical pedagogy in this case. These classes were usually smaller and involved more research papers, projects, and other activities that encourage more critical thinking than, for example, multiple choice exams. Of course, while we would all like small classes, the reality is that large lectures are kind of necessary for these introductory courses that teach “the basics,” which are an essential foundation, like you said, for being able to go on and think critically about those concepts later. So yes, to echo your point, I also don’t think critical pedagogy is automatically the best model in every case.

Thanks for bringing up the point about course content; I definitely agree! It is important to be flexible and able to adapt your course to the needs but also the strengths of your students. If everyone already understands what a concept is, a brief review might still be good, but spending several class periods on the topic is a waste of everyone’s time and could be better spent doing something else. And a questionnaire or pre-test as you mention during the first week of class is a good way to do that.

Hi Carrie, thanks for your reply and sharing your thoughts with me! I think one thing we need to keep in mind before trying to find a solution is (also acknowledged in the Kincheloe article if I’m not taking it wrong) that this relationship between power and the content of the standard curriculum is impossible to eliminate. And this is an important factor to consider and to let our students know when we learn and teach. It’s important to have one’s own point of view and even a firm attitude sometimes, but it’s also important to have an open mind for new/different perspectives: and that’s how knowledge is created and developed. Just some of my thoughts on your questions.

Thanks for your post! This is a very interesting issue you bring up. The example you gave clearly demonstrates how “the truth,” or what is taught as the truth, depends on who is writing the text and the power dynamics. It reminds me of A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn (http://www.thegoyslife.com/Documents/Books/A%20People's%20History%20of%20the%20United%20States-%20Howard%20Zinn.pdf). Basically, Zinn recognizes that much of our history is from a white, male perspective and that there are many more viewpoints to consider. While I realize that this bias exists, I guess I also wonder about a solution to the problem. You mention that this is why we need critical pedagogy, but how does critical pedagogy fix this situation (asking out of curiosity, not trying to badger)? For a history textbook chapter about a certain event, should there be different sections dedicated to these contrasting perspectives (the Great Depression in the eyes of a woman, but also a Chinese immigrant, Irish-American factory worker, etc.)? Even then, how do we then decide that these narratives are the truth (would the interview with the Chinese immigrant be true for all Chinese immigrants during the Great Depression?)? Isn’t writing always an act of power, in that I am promoting my perspective, and what I believe to be the truth, over someone else’s? I definitely agree with you; I guess I just don’t quite know how to get closer to a solution..

Thank you for the post. I totally agree with you that students’ prior knowledge should be respected and may be also taken as a scaffold that you can utilize. Prior knowledge can be also important in directing the course content. You may emphasize new topics to the students and just pass by topics they already know. You can measure and quantify students’ prior knowledge by giving a pre-test during the first week of class.

Thank you for this nostalgic post :) This post reminds me of myself when I was in school back home. All of our classes was based on inert theories and memorization and 100% of the grade was dedicated to midterm and final exams. Nothing practical! I forgot everything I learned in these classes and I was also that miserable child in grade school :)

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Thank you for the syllabus. I really liked you presenting yourself in the beginning of the syllabus as a veteran student. I believe this will create an intimate atmosphere between you and your students. This will make students more dare to exchange ideas and ask questions within class. This will have a positive impact in their engagement within the course content and will allow them to get the maximum from this course.