Prior to this session we were asked to review a video from the Paulo Friere Project called Why Critical Pedagogy? and prepare some thoughts in response to the following prompts:
- What are the central concerns of critical pedagogy?
- In what ways does critical pedagogy relate to UK Higher Education?
- How does critical pedagogy relate to your own practice?
- Discuss one thing you have learned or surprised you from the film
- Discuss an aspect of critical pedagogy that you would like more information/clarification on.
Critical pedagogy (CP) is widely concerned with decolonizing the curriculum and creating a program of study which recognizes the biases (unconscious or otherwise) of the curriculum designers themselves. In this way CP seeks to utilise socialist and intersectional models of education to create alternative modes of learning. These modes are usually student centred: focussing on empirical teaching and learning and rooted in activity based learning rather than didactics.
The responses from my colleagues in the session were interesting and mirrored many of my own thoughts. Many of us were already utilising critical pedagogy in our teaching practice without even knowing that it was a practice at all, which was a pleasant surprise. This kind of innatism is mentioned briefly in the Friere video and is to a certain extent linked with empirical teaching and learning as it relates to teaching in non- Western communities or communities of colour. If this is the case then CP provides a practice for unlearning the damaging pedagogical methods which signify a colonized curriculum and re-establishing a connection with innate embodied knowledges which allow us to bring out the best in our students.
This kind of teaching has particular scope in Arts Higher Education settings which are less formal and rely on group centred teaching and learning practices such as crits and group tutorials. Considering this in relation to my own teaching on the MA Applied Imagination course, I am contemplating ways that students can be encouraged to utilise their own knowledge base and trust their initial instincts when it comes to their research projects. Many of them come from authoritarian educational backgrounds where this way of thinking has not been encouraged, and the concept of trusting their initial instinctual thought process is alien and scary. I am interested in utilising CP to in essence give them permission to trust in the exercise of process based (rather than results based) learning. Transitioning them gently from the absolutism of other forms of formal education into the ambiguity of arts education.
There was a general consensus that while the film attempted to demonstrate critical pedagogy and apply an understanding of intersectionality to teaching practice, there was a distinct lack of diversity featured in the film itself – i.e. all the academics featured were white and the majority of them appeared to be over 40. Additionally, the video was difficult to follow at times, with editing and graphics which could possibly be difficult to read or follow for people who are neurodiverse or have visual impairments. There seemed to be a disconnect between the content of the film and the visuals produced which was jarring. This highlighted to me that the resources we use lessons in can provide valuable teaching moments for students to engage their critical thinking on multiple levels. Even if students don’t think the resource is valuable or completely correct in its execution this gets the students thinking/engaging with their thoughts and feelings about how the ideas featured in the resource can be produced/portrayed differently.
During the course of the day we were also asked to engage with a couple of exercises or tasks which enabled us to draw from our different intersecting identities and lived experiences and use them to explore the concept of positionality. For example, I as a white passing, middle class, mixed-race Jewish woman living with a chronic illness occupy a unique set of privileges, biases and challenges. My Jewish Zayde (grandfather) used to say “We all have our meshugas!” which essentially much means we all have our stuff to deal with in life. This applies as much to students as it does to staff. Being aware of my positionality means that I am conscious of how my meshugas can and will affect my teaching. Over and above that, how can I use my unique set of circumstances to enhance and inform the learning of my students? Perhaps through radical honesty, acknowledging that the supposition that teaching occupies a neutral space is false and admitting that we all have bias/encouraging students to explore this in a safe space? Approaching situations from a place of empathy and cultural awareness in the first instance and attempting to embed those principles into my teaching time. Following on from this it is important to realise that safe and inclusive spaces do not look the same for everybody, neurodiverse or disabled students will have different access requirements and part of creating a teaching environment which is inclusive is doing one’s own research and asking the students themselves what their access requirements are e.g. comfortable chairs, taking breaks, use of stimming/sensory tools in class, choosing videos that have closed captioning etc.
Later on in the day we discussed the Equality Act (2010) and protected characteristics which were put in place to prevent legal discrimination against anyone on the grounds of:
Gender reassignment
Age
Disability
Marriage and civil partnership
Pregnancy and maternity
Race
Religion and belief
Sex
Sexual Orientation
As educators we have a personal and professional liability to our students as well as our colleagues to prevent and flag discrimination wherever possible. However, within an institution which has its roots in colonialist patriarchal ideals, it is difficult to do this. Policy and bureaucracy abounds, and the burden of proof often falls upon those who have been victimized and traumatised in the first place – often resulting in cases of discrimination being dropped due to sheer exhaustion and the emotional strain proceedings like that take on the bodies of the oppressed. UAL does have an anonymous complaints service in place via the “Tell Someone” campaign, in order to give students who may be too afraid to come forward with complaints a voice within the University. We discussed the importance of signposting students to the various services within the university, such as counselling, disability services, tell someone etc and what impact being armed with knowledge and resources can have upon the general and educational wellbeing of students.
Overall I feel that I learned a lot in this session about using the experience of the student to help them to learn. A couple of the exercises that we did during the seminar such as active listening and the simple act of writing down our various identities were very helpful in beginning the dialogue around self reflection and its importance as part of a healthy teaching practice. I’m looking forward to utilising the methodologies we learned of today in my own teaching moving forward.