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Home  What I Offer Crit. Ed. Practice FAQ
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Q. Is Critical Praxis only possible in a Design Studio? A. No. There are some excellent examples of Critical Praxis in other fields. Ira Shor's early work in education at the Bronx comes to mind. Paulo Freire hinself was a master of critical praqxis in the field of literacy. There are examples in Journalism, in Criminology, in Health Studies, in almost every field, but they are never collectively identified and perhaps because the Critical practitioners are busy doing rather than talking about doing, the field never gets a good collective press. |
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Q. Is Critical Praxis only about design? A. No!. The examples used here are about design. But critical praxis can be applied to any field. It just happens that Design is a useful lever for unpacking the critical issues of other field In this section on Critical Practice you will find a range of examples in which the principles of Critical Theory have been put into practice. Mostly, these examples are in the field of Architecture or Community Design and involve an interrelationship between academic institutions, students and communities with issues and problems. But the issues are not just about Architectural Design. By its very nature Design extends into critical analyses of its subject area. Hence, issues such as Community Health or Education or Tourism or Cultural Politics and many more all come within its purview. In the design and construction of a children's playground, for instance, the child's needs and requirements as voiced by the child become the driving factors of the design.(below) Here, students working to the requirements and specifications of the primary school children themselves design and construct a school playground with the assistance of parents. In the classroom and finished playground In this sense, Critical Design Theory is a lever for unpacking numerous social and political issues in a wide range of areas (in this case Early Childhood Education, Critical Pedagogy, Child-Centred Learning, the Politics of Schooling etc). Interestingly, Critical Architectural Theory is itself at odds with mainstream Architectural Theory. Projects such as the one illustrated above are generally deemed "not suitable" for architecture students because they do not grow from aspirations of cultural and aesthetic leadership and superiority. Architectural Education stresses the importance of a depoliticised aesthetic, while the former recognises the issues of cultural imperialism that lie masked behind every aesthetic judgement. |
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Q. Why is Critical Praxis so important in Education? A. Speaking truth to power is something that the mainstream education teaches us not to do. From the time we are born, we are on a massive learning-curve. Nobody teaches us how to crawl, how to walk, how run, to talk, or to do the myriad kinds of everyday activities and skills that we take for granted. We learn these things through a combination of innate programming, coupled with a keen sense of observation and a built-in capacity for imitation and mimicry. We do this from the day we are born until, sometime around our fifth or sixth birthday, we go to school. Immediately, the rules change. We are no longer credited with an innate capacity to learn. Our trusted ability to imitate and mimic is branded “copying”. Punishment is instituted as a means of making sure that we adhere to the (new) rules and “copying is inaugurated as the most punishable offense. Our previous interests in co-operative creative play and invention are frowned upon, and we are instructed to keep to ourselves, to share none of our knowledge. All of the means that we have thus far employed to reach this remarkable stage of our personal development are now suddenly outlawed, and we are thrust into a brand new and unfathomable world in which we must bow to the will of the “teacher” who wields absolute power. Sometimes, in the early stages, this process assumes a benign face. Children are encouraged to “share” their personal space and toys, and sometimes their knowledge. As time progresses, however, the rules become more rigid, the penalties more draconian and the authority of the teacher more absolute. So intimidating is this system, that we are afraid to tell our parents of our experiences, our terror, our misdemeanors, for fear that they, too will side with the voice of authority against us.
As we “progress” we become less boisterous, less inquisitive, more intimidated, more fearful, Finally, we emerge into the world of “adulthood” as “well-adjusted” citizens, ready to take our place in society, to accept its rules and morés and to never again question the basis of the authority upon which we have been transformed.
This is what we call Education. It masquerades as education, but in reality, it is a system of imposed social, cultural, political and economic control which curbs the enthusiasm of the creative impulse and which has as its ultimate goal the maintenance and continuation of the existing structures and processes of power exercised by a very few powerful individuals in society.
Critical Education Theory challenges and interrogates how Education operates in support of this system, and poses alternative models of learning premised upon the realisation of personal and cultural potential in the creation of a more just and equitable society. Critical Education Theory involves the application of Critical Theory to educational theorizing. It interrogates the composition of what is taught and the way in which it is taught, viewing both as a medium of social control. It does this through different areas of investigation.
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Q. How is Critical Praxis different from, say doing a practicum or a job placement?
A. It's very different. In these other situations the purpose of the work is not to try to change things, but just to exercise skills that one has learned or is learning. Critical Praxis is much more than just learning by doing,as, for instance in on-the-job training. In a Critical Praxis situation, there is a direct relationship between means and ends, between pedagogy and the actual content of learning. First of all, Critical praxis focuses on rearranging power relationships out in the world. In order to learn how to do this, it is crucial to have the experioence of reordering power relationships as part of the learning experience itself. This means that the pedagogy has to be different and that the student has to be an equal decision maker in the process of education. This is good critical praqxis in education in the classroom. But when this experience is then taken out into the world, it requires of the "student" a very different perspective on the issue expertise, of being an expert. It requires, in other words, that the student/teacher approach the world in a different way, as a participant in process with his or her client community. It is quite difficult to do this, and monitor the process and to manage the in-house education simultaneously.But the positive suie is that students given the opportunity to take control of their education become so enthusiastic and passionate, that they share the burden of responsibility of monitoring and managing the programme in both spheres. |
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Q. Why isn't Critical practice more recognised?
A. Examples of critical practice are not easy to find. In a world in which education systems are failing to close the social and economic gaps, Governments spend increasing amounts of money to solve the problem in the hope of staying social unrest. Critical Education Theory offers a coherent and clear picture of why these failures are occuring and what need to be done to reverse them. Sadly, the application of Critical Education Theory has been limited. Academics have for the most part confined themselves to researching and defining the problem rather than trying out different models towards finding a solution. Examples do exist, but they are scarce and not well known- This website offers a number of downloadable examples of Critical Practice in a range of disciplines: |
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Q. Is critical praxis risky? A. The simple answer is yes! But not perhaps how you might think. When a persion engages in critical praxis they are really making themselves open to experiencing the suffering of others and recognising the implicit role they play in that suffering. What happens, then, in Critical Practice is that the learners put themselves and their world-view at considerable risk, and inevitably, they change. They cross what the 19th Century Marxist designer William Morris called “The River of Fire”, or what Paulo Freire called committing “Class Suicide”. That is, they come to recognise their own previous (and previously unrecognised) implicit involvement in the cultural dominance and subordination of minority or disenfranchised cultures. This is what we mean by “cultural shock”, and once recognised, there is no going back.
This shock to the “mainstream” or dominant culture students is paralleled by a similar shock for the subordinated. As members of the client group come to recognise the extent and depth of their assimilation into European culture and values and their alienation from their own historical culture of origin, a rage begins to emerge against everything that is associated with their subordination – including the students and the “teachers”. This shock on the one side and this rage on the other, cannot be left unattended, but must be addressed as an essential component of reconciliation and forgiveness. Mutual means have to be found by both parties to construct dialogue and rebuild trust across the cultural divide resulting from historical oppression. The most significant example we can cite is the Truth and Reconciliation hearings that took place throughout South Africa after the fall of Apartheid. In a much smaller way, this same process is an inevitable part of the cross-cultural engagement in Critical Practice. This may seem strange in the context of a design project where the task at hand may be the design of a Whare Hauora or Community Hospital or the Programme Development of a Cultural Tourism programme but Critical Theory has the ability to penetrate below the surface of superficial appearances and to reveal the underlying cultural power dynamics that otherwise remain invisible in our everyday view of the world. Examples of Critical (Educational) Practice, connected to a theoretical base can also inform and clarify the ways in which pedagogy and curriculum operate within the same nexus of cultural power dynamics, and can reveal to the student and to the “teacher” the manifest ways in which we avoid speaking truth to power.
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Q. Isn't all of this just about complaining and criticising the system? A. Not at all! Critical Theory and Critical Praxis go way beyiond simply finding fault and blaming. They suggest ways of improving things abd lay a burden of responsibility on each of us who are the recipients of privilege to make things better. They also outline not only what is wrong, buit why it is wroong and what can be done about it. Critical Pedagogy analyses the nature and practice of classroom interactions, demonstrating how they are shaped by, model and hence reproduce existing structures of power (class, race, gender etc.). They do this at a number of different levels and through different media. The imposed organisation of classroom time and space both play critical roles in this process, the latter being of particular importance. The role of age and gender grouping and stereotyping are also significant. It is by means of this imposed order that the Hidden Curriculum operates. The Hidden Curriculum constitutes all of those hidden or subliminal unasuming and practices in the classroom bring about subliminal learning of patterns of social control (passivity, fear of authority, competition, hierarchy, control of body functions etc.)
At another level, Critical Curriculum Studies interrogates what is able to be taught and who controls the process by which this particular form of knowledge is chosen amongst all others (legitimation), It views the imposition of a National Curriculum, for instance, as a means of erasing cultural difference and silencing minority voices. The power to determine what is valid knowledge corresponds closely with differences in cultural power and class. The Universities play a major role in the naming and legitimating specific forms of knowledge and are key instruments in ensuring that the beliefs and ideology of the elite in society hold sway. The previous discussion about Critical Aesthetics demonstrates this point well.
One of the crucial requirements of Critical Practice in Education – and specifically Critical Pedagogy is that they call into question the curriculum content of the knowledge field in question. The example of Critical History will suffice to make the point. It has become axiomatic that “history is written by the victors”. This is to say that our view of what happened in the past is socially, culturally, politically and economically determined. It is the story of what happened in the past from a particular perspective. In colonised countries this perspective is invariably the perspective of the coloniser. Other views of what happened in the past are routinely silenced or (more usually) elided from the official story of the past. In general, the history of colonised minorities is conspicuous by its absence, so that few in society are ever able to recognise or come to terms with the social and political foundations of their own privilege, and failing this, are unable to recognise the suffering of those others who bear the cost. The history curriculum in Education therefore becomes crucial to ensuring that children emerge into adulthood with a particular view of the past. George Orwell put it well when he said, “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past”.
Critical Practice in the classroom therefore involves a search for these hidden or suppressed histories. It involves listening actively to the stories of the marginalised and subordinated. It involves challenging the received curriculum, the assumed conceptual boundaries of the knowledge field and the role of the institution in the suppression of equity and justice.
Examples of Critical Practice can help to remind us of the true basis of Education, can inspire us to change our educational practices and to challenge received educational theories. |
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Q Is it hard to set up a project?
A. No it isn't hard but it does take time and connections to people who need assistance. One of the main difficulties is that because almost all of education is disconnected from everyday reality, student proposals for change are categorised in the media and in everyday life as fantasies, ie. unrealistic, uneconomical, idealistic, unattainable etc. This is an obstacle to establishing a serious programme. The main issue is that the request for assistance has to come from the community and cannot simply be a do-gooding imposition on people who are already subordinated. |
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Q. How Can I Find Out More? A. For seminars and workshops on the application of Critical Theory or Critical Practice click here .
For downloadable PDFs on instances of Critical Practice click here.
For a student-centred Training Workshop on Critical Theory or Critical Practice click here. Alternatively, if you would like to be part of an ongoing discussion group regarding Critical Theory or Critical Practice click here. |
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Q. What is the Community Design Studio that is referred to in these documents?
 A. In 1983 I helped to form the Integrated Design Subschool as a distinctive element within the School. It embraced a design philosophy which included the integration of all design determinants (social, political, economic, aesthetic, technical etc.) into the design and evaluation processes. The Integrated Design SubSchool spanned all four years of the programme and accounted for approximately one third of the staff and student body. Although there were a wide variety of teaching styles within the Subschool, it was possible for each staff member to pursue an educational philosophy consistent with his or her own personal inclinations. My own studio usually revolved, once again, around real clients, real sites, real design problems, and achieved a considerable amount of media publicity in the New Zealand context.
In general, the Community Design Studio, which was the successor to the Integrated Design Subschool engaged exclusively in LIVE projects, many but not all of which are in the Maori community. Projects are conducted in the context of a co-operative learning environment in which students work collectively on one design proposal. Decisions are made by consensus. Students are evaluated upon a range of issues involved in a group process as well as on the merits of their final design proposals. Client feedback forms an important element in this evaluation process.
Below is a comprehensive description of the projects that have been completed over the years. I have included projects from a time preceding that required by the Terms of Reference for a number of reasons:
The Community Design Studio has been operating for seventeen years and has over that time established a considerable reputation in the outside community which contributes significantly to the ongoing demand by client groups for the service provided by the studio.. The list gives a sense of the basis of this reputation. The list gives some idea of the diversity of the projects addressed in the studio. The list indicates the degree to which the integration of technology and design is an essential component of the Studio. The projects completed in the Community Design Studio address many of the concerns both implicit and explicit in the University’s own Missions, Goals and Strategies. In particular, the emphasis upon cultural factors in many of the projects supports the need for Maori and Pacific Island students to have access to programmes and pedagogies that will enhance their chances of academic success and improve their retention rates. Projects in Maoridom explicitly address the University’s responsibilities under the treaty of Waitangi. Projects in Community Design enhance the University’s and the School’s standing in the wider social environment. Design processes which integrate technology and social factors specifically respond to and satisfy the qualifications requirements set out in the “red book” of the Commonwealth Association of Architecture (Appendix A). Projects completed involve a substantial research component considered not separate from but integral to a pedagogical framework that integrates Theory and Practice. Students involved in these live projects have gained enough knowledge to go on after graduation, to complete similar projects in practice.
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