Student: *raises hand
Me: "Yes student?"
Student: "Something
racists, sexist, ablest, homophobic, or otherwise problematic"
Me: "No that is
wrong. You are stupid for thinking that. Moving on"
The
above example is not critical pedagogy. The above example is just critical. My
students would not learn if I only told them they were wrong. As an instructor,
I need to redirect my students in a way they can hear, and then give them solid
evidence as to why their views are problematic. I also need to keep in mind
they most likely grew up with these ideal and they may be confronting these
issues for the first time.
Fassett and Warren also comment critical pedagogy is more
than simply criticism. They comment, "we went after other scholars as
though we were killing snakes… a more finely worded equivalent of 'you know
what's wrong with you?' It's much easier to deconstruct than to build, to
criticize without a hopeful and generous sense of possibility" (p. 35).
Fassett and Warren express the belief that non-constructive critiques result
from not listening.
As instructors, our duty is to listen to our students,
not shut them down. We need to encourage and help our students grow in their
understanding. To create understanding with
not for them. Fassett and Warrant
comment, "if we displace collaboration in favor of 'being right' or
showing other how they are irretrievably wrong, we encourage violence" (p.
36). To only criticize is not critical pedagogy. Critical pedagogy is
reflexive, based in logic and understanding, and it produces hope. We must
first seek to understanding our students and then seek to help them grow.
#reengage
I LOVE that you mentioned that as instructors we must
ReplyDeletelisten to our students, encourage them, and help them, not shut them down. I definitely agree. We may not have the same view as many of our students but that is exactly why we need to be able to keep an open mind with them, learn with them, and encourage them to learn from others as well. It is definitely a hard task but I believe that after learning about various teaching methods, it can be done. I'm sure your students feel encouraged in your class just from the way you handle yourself outside of the classroom. You are a sweet, encouraging, and awesome human being in general and I bet it shows in your teaching style. I know if I were an undergrad, I would definitely like to have Miss Jayme as my TA. You're great. You got this! <3
I really like how you delineate misconceptions regarding Critical Pedagogy, and then discussing how critical pedagogy functionally looks. I think that critical pedagogy is something that we can probably grasp in theory. However, in praxis, it is something that looks a little bit different. For example, if we continually criticize a student, that does not mean that criticism is critical pedagogy. However, I think that some instructors think that is a 'Critical' pedagogy. I think making this distinction is important because it resolves some of the problems that you outline within your post.
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