Chapter 2 Critical Pedagogy

Critical pedagogy as created by Paulo Freire is the foundation of student-centered learning. At its core critical pedagogy is based on the conviction that the student comes with a wealth of knowledge making her a capable contributor and not an empty vessel awaiting enlightenment in all things. A key component of critical pedagogy is problem posing because it focuses on points of interest and leads to the fruitful discussions as Hones found in his research (Diaz-Rico, 2008, p. 25). Critical pedagogy takes control from the state and the dominant democratizes instruction and learning. It places control within each family and consequently in each individual. That is why Sharon M. Chubbuck argues that the socially just teaching is framed by teachers’ knowledge of their own and their students’ cultural and racial identity as it is not as it should be (2007, p. 241). In light of these powerful concepts and practices, it is unfortunate that schools look to indoctrinate students rather than use them as founding contributors.