This document discusses critical pedagogy, an educational philosophy that combines education with critical theory. It aims to help students develop consciousness, recognize authoritarian tendencies, and take constructive action. The document provides an overview of critical pedagogy and its goals of promoting reflection, evaluation, dialogue and collective decision making. It also discusses how critical pedagogy can be applied in a science classroom to encourage students to connect classroom learning to social issues and develop a critical perspective.

1. ONLINE ASSIGNMENT ON
CRITICAL PEDAGOGY
Submitted to,
Dr. Padmapriya. P.V.
N.S.S Training College
Pandalam
Submitted by,
Nidhina. P.K.
Natural Science
Roll No: 107
N.S.S Training College
Pandalam

2. INDEX
Sl.No. Content Page No
1
2
3
4
Introduction
Content
Conclusion
References
1
2-5
6
7

3. INTRODUCTION
Critical Pedagogy is a philosophy of education and social movement that
combines education with critical theory. First described by Paulo Freire, it has
since been developed by Henry Giroux and others as a praxis – oriented
“educational movement guided by passion and principle, to help students
develop consciousness of freedom recognize authoritarian tendencies, and
connect knowledge to power and the ability to take constructive action.” Among
its leading figures are Michael Apple, bell hooks Joe L.Kincheloe, Peter Mc
Laran, Henery Giroux and Patti Lather. Critical pedagogy includes relation ship
between teaching and learning. Its proponents claim that it is a continues process
of what they call “unlearning” , “learning” and “relearning” , “reflection” ,
evacuation and the impact that these actions have on the students in particular
students whom they believe have been historically and continue to be
disenfranchised by what they call ‘ traditional schooling’
Teacher education is the integral part of education system. Education is an
important means to shape the density of the country. Any change in the nature,
purpose and quality in education demands a concomitant change in teacher
education. Delores report (1996) visualizes learning as “the treasure with in”.
According to the report, learning hoists “the heart beat of society”. ‘Learning to
know’, learning to do, learning to live together, and learning to be constituting
the four pillars of education.

4. CONTENT
Education is primarily intended the skill and capacity among the students in
addition to acquisition and expansion of knowledge. At present the educational
practices are firmly rooted on the objective ways of evolving knowledge. The
traditional teaching prevents interaction and differential thinking among the
students. Teacher is considered the custodian of the knowledge and the
classroom interactions are centered mostly on him. The students particularly
listen and learn from an authority of knowledge. The student – student
interaction is curtailed and very little time is given for teacher student dialogue.
This instructional practice fails to promote the interface between students and
teachers.
Conventional teaching learning promotes the learning capacity knowledge
dimensions but curtails the student initiative, intellectual growth, critical
thinking and problem showing ability. Critical pedagogy as an alternative mode
of teaching and learning provides analytical skills, reflective thinking and assists
students to achieve critical judgment and collective consciousness. It facilitates
collective decision making through open discussion and by encouraging and
recognizing multiple view points. Critical pedagogy emphasizes teaching
through dialogues, dialectical and practical analysis of issue and phenomenon’s
related to life. Its approach is democratic and aims at achieving equality and
justice through educational process. Grounded in the work of Paulo Friere ‘
pedagogy of the oppressed, critical pedagogy is concerned in the development of
knowledge, autonomy, reflectivity, transformation, representation of reality and
action for creating better leaving environment. It creates endless possibilities for
teachers aid the students to explore and construct the knowledge. It is a
challenge to any type of alienation, oppression, subordination and submission in
learning process. Teachers and students share each other knowledge; Learning
becomes pleasant, reciprocal, dialogical and participatory in nature. It acts

5. against the oppressive schooling structures and liberates the needs for knowledge
building and critical problem solving.
Critical pedagogy has its root in the critical theory of the Frankurt school, whose
influence is evident in the emancipatory works of Paulo Freire, the most
renowned critical educator. Their efforts to humanizing the pedagogy challenged
inequality and oppression in the contemporary education system. Contemporary
critical educators, such as Henry.A, Giroux, Bell Hooks and peter Mc Laren are
critiques of education as oppression and social polarization of schooling.
Critical pedagogy is particularly concerned with teaching learning practices that
are designated to raise learner’s critical consciousness regarding oppressive
social condition. It focuses on personal liberation through the development of
critical consciousness which is positioned as the necessary first step of the larger
collective political struggle to challenge and transform oppressive social
conditions such as social liberation can be achieved in classroom where pupils
get an opportunity to react upon their own situations, criticize them and opt for
changing. It attempts to empower learners to critique and challenge oppression
in social conditions and worked towards a more just society
In critical pedagogy the three variables of education viz the learner, teacher and
content together attempt to disrupt the effect of oppressive regines of power both
in the classroom and in the larger society. Critical pedagogy focuses on
reconfiguring the traditional teacher student relationship, were teacher is the
achieve agent, the one who knows and the and the students are the passive
recipients of teachers knowledge. Instead of the classroom a site where knew
knowledge grounded in the experience of students and teachers alike, is
produced through meaningful dialogue.

6. Joe.L.Kincheloe lists the following basic concerns of critical pedagogy.
 All education is inherently political and all pedagogy must be aware of
this condition.
 A social and educational vision of injustice and equality should ground all
education.
 Issue of race, class, gender, religion and physical ability are all important
domains of oppression and critical anti – hegemonic action
 The alleviation of oppression and human suffering is a key dimension of
educational purpose.
 Schools must not hurt students – good schools don’t blame stuents for
their failures
 All positions including the critical pedagogy itself must be problematised
and questioned.
 Education must both promote emancipator change and the cultivation of
the intellect - these goals should never be in conflict, they should be
synergistic.
 The politics of knowledge and the issues of epistemology are central to
understanding the way power operates in educational institutions to
perpetuate privilege and subjugate the marginalized.
 Education often reflects the interest and the needs of new modes of
colonialism and empire. Such dynamics must be exposed, Understood and
acted upon a part of critical transformative praxis.
Corresponding to the social constructivist perspectives, the present science
curriculum focuses on the setting up on a community of scientific inquiry
where the teacher represents the very powerful discourse of scientific culture
and scientific way of viewing and dealing the world. This shared
environment of knowledge constructions will certainly acknowledge the basic
concepts of critical pedagogy. If the students are confronted with a critical

7. approach to teaching they are most likely to participate in the learning
process with a critical perspective of their own. If students can able to
connect what they learn in science classroom what they face in the outside
world, they will gradually develop the power of challenging some social
dominations in their society another way to promote critical pedagogy in
classroom is issue based approach which sets a classroom that promote open
dialogue, where students relay their options about scientific aspects of social
issues. Because in critical pedagogy the subject for educational programme
flow from learning own life situations, from the problems that lie at the heart
of their concern

8. CONCLUSION
No one can deny that teachers have a per found impact on students achievement.
Constructivism was proposed by eminent scholars like John Dewey, Maria
Montessori, Mahatma Gandhi, Piaget, and Vygotsky; by failed is penetrate the
traditional pedagological practices till 1990s. Researchers like Driver, Navak,
Posner and Van Glasefeld experimented on classroom constructivism and found
its effects to help on students initiate for the construction of knowledge. The
constructivist paradigm calls reform sin classroom interaction pattern,
pedagogical strategies and instructional practices. The role of teacher is changed
from transmitter of knowledge to facilitator and guide in the exploration of
knowledge. The student role shift from passive receiver to one of knowledge
creator. In constructivist classroom, students took initiative in the learning
process and become scholar in designing experiments, tests, hypothesis and
drawing conclusion to become a part of self created knowledge. Performance
based participatory learning enabled classroom.

9. REFERENCE
 Salvin, E. Robert.(2003). Educational Psychology: theory and practice (7th
Ed.) New York: Allyn and Bacon.
 Vygot sky.L.(1978). Mind in society. The Development of higher
Psychological process. MA: Hardvard University Press.
 Wilson .B (1996). Constructivist learning environments. Englewood
cliffs, New Jersy: Educational Technology Publications.
 Sharma .S (2006) constructivist approaches to learning and teaching
.NewDelhi : NCERT
 Dr. Sivarajan.K , Prof.Faziluddin .A (2009) Science Education (7th Ed).
Calicut University, Central Co-operative stores.