Critical Education Theory is a branch of Critical Theory applied to the field of Education. It interrogates the social, cultural, political and economic context of compulsory State education to demonstrate how Education serves the dominant cultural interests in any society by creating a community whose members are unable to question or challenge the status quo, and who meekly accept the directives they are given by Authority.
These three PDFs outline the main principles of Critical Education Theory, and chart its history and relationship to the wider cultural/political issues of the 20th Century. They contextualise these principles within the framework of Contemporary Cultural Studies, and show how the forms of knowledge and pedagogy promoted in schools is linked directly to the needs of capitalist production and the status quo power. They suggest (with evidence) that the notion of public education as a force for emancipation and self determination is a myth, and that instead, public education seeks to create conditions of social and political passivity, a fear of collective creativity and resistance. All of this is brought into sharp focus through the example of the campus uprising of 1970 which followed Richard Nixon's "incursion" into Cambodia during the Vietnam War, and the killing of demonstrating anti-war students at Kent State University, Ohio.
Part 1: Education and The State outlines the relationship of the Educational system to the exigencies of capitalist society
In addition to these three PDFs there are several more downloadable PDFs dealing with specific Educational therories and theoreticians, as well as critical analyses of the New Zealand education system. For instance:
To download Education as the Practice of Freedomclick here
To download Hegemony and Education in New Zealandclick here
To download Learning to Change the Worldclick here
To download Semantic Fields, Ideology and Knowledge click here
To download The Educational Theories of Paulo Freireclick here
While these PDFs outline the contextual and theoretical parameters of Critical Education Theory, they also need to be read against examples of Critical Practice which demonstrate how the theoretical analysis delivered here can be developed into classroom pedagogies that effectively educate for social change. To view a list of downloadable Critical Practice projects click here
Thanks for forwarding this to me; it's a really great review, not just in the sense that it's supportive, but it really situates the book within the issues and the issues within the book. It's obvious that you have a fine command of this material and I'm glad to now be aware of your Webpage and will turn my students on to it.
Great article Tony! And what a terrific website! A wonderful job bringing together themes and issues of importance to critical educators everywhere. There is much to offer social justice educators from a variety of fields. Well done, companero.(Peter Mclaren)
I am in awe of your energy, diligence and resilience, and beyond that, astuteness and resoluteness in maintaining a critical stance. Those are a lot of paper(s) to work through. Thanks also for reading my paper carefully. I worried, that with a critical stance, you mighy be impatient with my reaching back into the classical tradition in social theory, and especially Weber, whom we don't usually think of as critical. But, you grasped my point precisely and encouraged me about the value of such less than obvious sorts of critical work. Good on you, if that is the appropriate term. Thanks for your work and, as someone once said to me, in passing, many years ago, Don't lose your critical edge."
Thank you for sending along this great review. I appreciate your insightful observations on my chapter and on the volume as a whole. It's great to see such a careful and close reading of the book. I am also impressed by your wonderful website. All the best,
A colleague sent me a blog mentioning me which you had graciously responded to offering your website as a resource on critical pedagogy. Just wanted to thank you for the work you've put into this admirable decoding of the critical end of things...(Ira Shor )
This is a superb resource which forges links between important areas -architecture, sociology and critical education. I shall certainly share this with colleagues/students, friends and family members starting with my daughter who is an architect. It is also a brilliant teaching tool.
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