“Critical Pedagogy: An Overview” by Matthew Smith and Peter McLaren at first seemed to be just another informative article. After I got into the article I found myself deeply interested in the point of this form of education building. This article provides readers with the complete depiction of the history of creation and the main principles of the critical pedagogy. The authors telling us that the Paulo Freire’s translation was the starting point of the critical pedagogy growth. According to the authors, the modern state of affairs in the field of knowledge lies in direct opposition.
The entire article is about development and implementation of this revolutionary form of education into the school system. While I was reading the story I was completely immersed in the thoughts of the authors and that confirms their professional competence in this subject. I think that the authors did an excellent job at data collecting and analysis implementation. I would also like to notice the connection between the article body and references.
It confirms that this problem is well-known for the authors and they devote a lot of their time to studying it. The suggestion that “critical pedagogy is thus situated against class exploration, racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of oppression…” is essentially important for the modern society (Smith & McLaren, 2010, p. 333). There is the one good question for me –what is the practical implementation of this method? And I think that the following quote has a huge importance for the author. “In the realm of public education, critical pedagogy calls for teacher and students to abandon a banking education approach and move toward one that is more dialogic and emancipatory” (Smith & McLaren, 2010, p. 334).
I have also noticed the outstanding author’s thought about the critical pedagogy which says that the main goal of it is the social transformation but not the radical education reform. The central driving mechanism of the critical pedagogy is praxis in conditions of the development the indigenous way of knowing. The most revolutionary idea is in creation of the “ideal classroom” where in conditions similar to the model of democratic society students can develop their skills using the trial and error method. This method would be the most promising in the field of literature and history. It does not require remembering the right answer, he does the opposite instead.
It demonstrates the absence of the correct answer and students are motivated to build their own sense. It works in the field of history the same way. The role of the great personality can be considered due to the personal experience and logical assumptions by the student. One should not obey the traditional opinion blindly; everyone has an opportunity to form his own judgment.
What is important, however, is that the critical pedagogy is the way to demonstrate the political and economical present-day realities and teach how to manage with it. One of the main authors’ thoughts is that we are losing our way in the fostered values of individualism. This is most easily demonstrated by the relationship between the teachers and students. According to the author, it can be overcome with the implementation of dialogic education. Generally it can be said that the article is entertaining and informative. Such a stirring problem needs a further detailed study.
Reference
Smith, M., & McLaren, P. (2010). Critical Pedagogy: An Overview. Childhood Education, 86 (5), 332-334.