Key Terms and Concepts Related to Critical Pedagogy
and Educational Theory and Practice
banking concept of education

Positions students as empty vessels to be filled by the teacher. According to Paulo Freire in Pedagogy of the Oppressed, education is traditionally framed as "an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor" (Pedagogy of the Oppressed 58). In this framework, the teacher lectures, and the students "receive, memorize, and repeat" (58). Freire explains that banking education is generally characterized by the following oppressive attitudes and practices:

  • the teacher teaches and the students are taught;
  • the teacher knows everything and the students know nothing;
  • the teacher thinks and the students are thought about;
  • the teacher talks and the students listen-meekly;
  • the teacher disciplines and the students are disciplined;
  • the teacher chooses and enforces his choice, and the students comply;
  • the teacher acts and the students have the illusion of acting through the action of the teacher;
  • the teacher chooses the program content, and the students (who are not consulted) adapt to it;
  • the teacher confuses the authority of knowledge with his own professional authority, which he sets in opposition to the freedom of the students;
  • the teacher is the Subject of the learning process, while the pupils are mere objects (59).
conscientization

Learning to perceive social, political, and economic contradictions--developing a critical awareness--so that individuals can take action against the oppressive elements of reality (Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed 19, translator's note).

constructivism

A philosophy that views learning as an active process in which learners construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world through action and reflection. Constructivists argue that individuals generate rules and mental models as the result of their experiences with both other human subjects and their environments and in turn use these rules and models to make sense of new experiences.

Three important concepts emerge from this definition:

  1. Knowledge is socially constructed. It is not something that exists outside of language and the social subjects who use it. Learning--obtaining knowledge and making meaning--is thus a social process rather than the work of the isolated individual mind; it cannot be divorced from learners' social context.
  2. Learning is an active process. Students learn by doing rather than by passively absorbing information.
  3. Knowledge is constructed from experience. Students bring prior knowledge into a learning situation, which in turn forms the basis for their construction of new knowledge. Upon encountering something new, learners must first reconcile it in some way with their previous ideas and experiences. This may mean changing what they believe, expanding their understanding, or disregarding the new information as irrelevant.

In this framework then, learning is not a process of transmission of information from teacher to student, a model which positions the student as a passive receptacle, but an active process of construction on the part of the learner that involves making meaning out of a multiplicity stimuli.

In practice, educators use active techniques (experiments, real-world examples, problem solving activities, dialogues) to introduce students to information and issues and then encourage students to reflect on and talk about what they did and how their understanding is changing. The teacher makes sure she understands the students' preexisting conceptions and guides activities to address and build on them. Constructivism also often utilizes collaboration and peer criticism as a way of facilitating students' abilities to reach a new level of understanding.

Relationship to Critical Pedagogy
Many of the characteristic tenets of critical pedagogy are consistent with a constructivist approach to education. Long before Paulo Freire (1921-1997) wrote Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970), which contains his famous critique of the "banking concept of education" (education that revolves around the actions of teachers who "deposit" knowledge into their passive students), John Dewey (1859-1952), generally considered the founder of "progressive" education and constructivist educational theory in the United States, rejected teaching practices that positioned students as passive receptacles, such as the rote learning of isolated facts, advocating instead for a pedagogical approach that involved students' active engagement with each other and with the world. Like Freire, who embraced both "problem posing" and dialogic educational practices, Dewey emphasized the importance of active social learning environments, rather than one-sided lectures, and argued that learning involves the active construction of knowledge through engagement with ideas in meaningful contexts, rather than the passive absorption of isolated bits of information. And just as Freire maintained that education must engage with the language and experiences of learners, drawing upon their thematic universes, Dewey had also argued that learning takes place within meaningful contexts that allow students to build upon the knowledge they already have. Both argue that educators need to understand the experiences and world views of their students in order to successfully further the learning process. Moreover, both associate learning with critical reflection, with actively seeking after truth and applying it to future problems. They also draw a connection between critical reflection and politics, with Freire linking critical reflection with the fight against oppressive social conditions and Dewey linking it to responsible and ethical democratic citizenship.

Two Important Constructivists: John Dewey and Lev Vygotsky
John Dewey (1859 - 1952), American philosopher and educator, is generally regarded as the progenitor of the progressive education movement as well as constructivist educational theory in the United States. Dewey rejected the practice of rote learning and instead argued that educators need to engage students in meaningful and relevant activities that allow them to actively apply the concepts they are attempting to learn. In Democracy and Education Dewey writes, "Education is not an affair of 'telling' and being told, but an active and constructive process." For Dewey, education must be grounded in experience and active inquiry. As such, he encouraged educators to implement real-world practical work-shops as well as to provide students with opportunities to reflect upon their experiences and to express their thoughts.

Three key educational texts by Dewey:
  • Democracy and Education, 1916.
  • Experience and Education, 1938.
  • How We Think, 1933.

Lev Vygotsky (1896 - 1934), Russian psychologist who sought to develop a Marxist theory of human intellectual development. His work has been revived by constructivist educators who have seen in texts like Mind in Society (1978) and Thought and Language (1962) support for their educational theories and practices. Specifically, Vygotsky's conception of the "zone of proximal development" has been of particular interest to educators and is frequently cited in the educational literature. Vygotsky defined the zone of proximal development as "the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers" (Mind in Society 86). Vygotsky's zone suggests that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of cognition and has thus been embraced by constructivist educators who believe that real learning takes place in social situations that involve exchanges between learners. The common constructivist practices of collaborative learning, peer mentoring, group work, and peer review all draw on this idea that students can learn through meaningful interactions with their peers, rather than solely with the teacher. These kinds of learning situations can ultimately help students move to a new level of understanding and intellectual development. The zone also emphasizes the idea that learning takes time, that it is an active process that involves "problem solving" rather than memorization and repetition, and that "scaffolding," the constant adjustment of the level of help provided in response to the learner's development, plays an important role in helping students learn. For Vygotsky and many contemporary constructivists, teachers serve as mediators or facilitators who assist students in the formulation of the students' own levels of understanding through direct interventions or carefully designed projects.
culture circle A discussion group in which educators use representations and themes from learners' everyday lives' to initiate critical dialogue regarding the various factors that contribute to the real material, social, and political contexts in which the learners are embedded. Through dialogue and collective reflection, the group of learners transforms their various observations and opinions into critical knowledge.

culture of silence

 A characteristic of oppressed people in colonized countries who do not have a voice in their society. The dominant culture silences the oppressed through the cultural transmission of discourses in schools and other institutions that support its hegemony and through ignoring or demonizing other discourses that might challenge its authority. As a result, oppressed people learn to internalize negative images of themselves. Because they are not taught the tools of critical inquiry that would allow them to challenge these false representations, they remain passive and silent.
dialectic

In Hegel's philosophy, change occurs through the tension between an initial thesis and its contradiction, or antithesis. Reconciliation of this contradiction leads to synthesis, a higher conception that involves but transcends both thesis and antithesis. For Hegel, this movement from thesis, to antithesis, to synthesis is characteristic not only of thought, but also of nature, cultural progress, and history. Marx and Engels differed from Hegel in that they saw dialectics as a product of human labor changing the world. Hegel believed that dialectics could only be understood through pure reason, whereas Engels and Marx believed it must be understood through thought and practice--through the the practical struggle to overcome contradictions.
dialogical method

The dialogical approach to learning abandons the lecture format and the banking approach to education in favor of dialogue and open communication among students and teachers. According to Paulo Freire, in this method, all teach and all learn. The dialogical approach contrasts with the anti-dialogical method, which positions the teacher as the transmitter of knowledge, a hierarchical framework that leads to domination and oppression through the silencing of students' knowledge and experiences.

essentialism

The belief that things have essences, understood as fixed properties that define and limit what a thing is, sharply delineating it from what it is not. Essentialism is characterized by the impulse to define and the belief that the world can be classified into codes and understood in the same way by all rational people. Essentialist arguments often emerge in discussions of categories such as race, gender and sexuality. An essentialist position would be that these categories are fixed, determined, and/or grounded on real essential features of an individual's biology or psychology.

Essentialism contrasts with social constructionism, which views contemporary conceptions of categories like race, gender, and sexuality as the product of cultural influences rather than from essential features of an individual's biology or psychology as essentialists believe. Social constructionists argue that language and culture mediate our perceptions, and as such we can never have direct access to reality. Any definition of reality or a thing's essence is always a construction/interpretation.
humanization For Paulo Freire, the vocation of each individual is to become more fully human, configured as an emancipation from oppression. Liberatory education works in the service of humanity's historical vocation to become more fully human by affirming and empowering students as "subjects of decision" (27) Humanization is thwarted by the forces of "dehumanization," which oppress human beings and limit their freedom. The oppressed must learn to liberate themselves, and in turn, their oppressors, who are also dehumanized through the very process of oppressing others.
liberatory education Liberatory education raises students' consciousnesses, preparing them to engage in larger social struggles for liberation. It attempts to empower learners to critique and challenge oppressive social conditions and to envision and work towards a more just society .
metanarrative Metanarratives are grand totalizing philosophies that attempt absolute explanations of systems and events and that are grounded upon some transcendental truth, such as God or the progressive movement of history toward human perfection. In simpler terms, metanarratives can be understood as stories that are told to explain, legitimize, and buttress existing belief systems. According to Lyotard, all aspects of modern societies rely upon their own grand narratives. For example, Marxism has as its metanarrative the notion that capitalism will eventually collapse and a utopian socialist world will emerge in its place. In contrast,"postmodernism" as Lyotard defines it, is characterized by "incredulity toward metanarratives." Postmodernist theory critiques grand narratives, disrupting their foundational principles and the "absolutes" upon which they rely by highlighting the contradictions and instabilities that are inherent in any social organization or practice.
mystification The process by which oppressive ideologies and social structures are disguised and hidden, often by being configured as natural, common sense, and value free. Educational systems have been complicit in perpetuating and disseminating mystifications that lead to the development of "false consciousnesses." Liberatory education demystifies oppressive discourses and empowers learners to develop a more accurate perception of their experiences so that they might critique and challenge the ideologies and social structures that oppress them.
praxis

A complex activity involving a cycle theory, application, evaluation, reflection, and then back to theory. Social transformation is the product of praxis at the collective level.

Action
Reflection 		} word =work=praxis
(Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed 75)
problem posing education Rejects banking education, or education as the process of transferring information, and embraces a view of education as consisting of acts of cognition that take place through dialogue. Students and teachers become critical co-investigators in dialogue with each other (Pedagogy of the Oppressed 68). According to Freire, with problem posing education,"no one teaches another, nor is anyone self-taught. Men teach each other, mediated by the world, by the cognizable objects which in banking education are 'owned' by the teacher" ( 67).
social constructionism Contrasts with essentialism, which views categories like race, gender, and sexuality as the product essential features of an individual's biology or psychology. Social constructionists, on the other hand, view such categories as the product of cultural influences. For social constructionists, language and culture mediate our perceptions, and as such, we can never have direct access to reality. Any definition of reality or a thing's essence is always a construction/interpretation.
transformative intellectual Coined by Henry Giroux to describe educators who possess the knowledge and skills to critique and transform structural inequities.
zone of proximal development Coined by Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky to describe "the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers" (Mind in Society 86). Vygotsky's zone suggests that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of cognition and has thus been embraced by constructivist educators who believe that real learning takes place in social situations that involve exchanges between learners.