I’m just going to put this right here.
Right now schools across America are gearing up for standardized testing season. THIS IS FOOLISHNESS! We are in the middle of a global pandemic, trust in government and people as a whole is at an all-time low. Many teachers are too stressed to engage in metacognitive thinking because of the stress of life and the monumental stress at work. TEACHERS ARE LEAVING THE PROFESSION in droves! I speak to my colleagues around the country and leaders of school districts nationally are not focused on teaching and learning which is our primary role. And any chance of engaging in critical pedagogy is left to those who have an internal sense of resiliency that you can’t teach.
I’m determined to support those who choose to develop a lens toward antiracist education with my reflections on what it takes to be the critically self-reflective, equity minded and focused adults our children deserve. The children do not have a choice, we have a duty to provide a liberating learning environment regardless of what we are experiencing right now.
Education as a Practice of Freedom
“When education is the practice of freedom, students are not the only ones who are asked to share, to confess. Engaged pedagogy does not seek simply to empower students. Any classroom that employs a holistic model of learning will also be a place where teachers grow, and are empowered by the process. That empowerment cannot happen if we refuse to be vulnerable while encouraging students to take risks.”
In her book Teaching to Transgress bell hooks names engaged pedagogy as the pinnacle of “…education as the practice of freedom.” I love how hooks describes engaged pedagogy. She shares that this pedagogy requires the teacher, school leader, professional learning facilitator to take on the role of learner. As a learner, the critical educator recognizes their willingness to take risks has a direct impact on the success of children in their care. Engaged pedagogy is critical pedagogy because it necessitates a selfless view of your role as lead learner in the classroom or professional learning space. In her chapter on engaged pedagogy, hooks says, “to teach in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our students is essential if we are to provide the necessary conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin.” (hooks, p. 13) If the teaching tools you are using or “requiring” teachers to use are rote memorization, test taking strategies, regurgitation of facts, and robotic timed tasks stop now.
Critical Pedagogy requires us to take a stance centering care and concern when it comes to decision making for children. That care and concern will lead the critical educator to study their craft and develop the pedagogical skill to:
- Engage in think aloud when introducing a new concept.
- Teach students how to provide constructive feedback.
- Receive constructive feedback from students.
- Nurture self-efficacy in students by showing them they matter to you.
- Nurture an environment where all coach their peers.
- Nurture curiosity about the world in your students.
- Check in with students as a daily/weekly practice.
- Resist the idiocy of providing boat loads of homework.
Note: If you are leading professional learning for teachers and educational leaders you must model what you expect to see in the classroom. If you are the one lifting the cognitive load in your professional learning space stop now.
#AntiRacistEd Reflection/Action: Take inventory of your daily schedule. What do you spend the majority of your time on? If you are an educator and your main purpose is not to create space for liberating education for the students in your care you must shift your priorities. If you do not prioritize reflection and planning you will not be able to engage in critical pedagogy in schools. Something will always come up; someone else’s priority will always overtake your priorities. To engage in critical pedagogy is to become critically aware of your environment and set the personal parameters necessary to fully engage.
Angela Ward, “Critical Pedagogy is Engaged Pedagogy”, As originally published on 2ward Equity Blog, February 2, 2021.
Photo by Anton Sukhinov on Unsplash
