Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Critical Pedagogy and Popular Culture in an Urban Secondary English Classroom



Critical pedagogy is kind of a confusing thing for me. I have rewritten my beginning statement like 3 times and erased it because I don’t think I fully understand what it is. I looked it up on the internet and Google says that Critical pedagogy is based on the Marxist theory to overthrow domination. One example that was given is standardized testing. The article talks about students in English reading material and enjoying what they ready even if it is “politically incorrect” or a social stigma.

Students have the right to their opinions and if they want to read something that is not socially acceptable, they have the right to. In the article, the author says that students in urban schools tend to deny authority. Urban schools are known for having the “tough” kids. They act out at authority figures because they have a dominant personality or some other thing that makes them feel like they can do whatever they want. How do we get these kids to stop acting out? I think one answer to this question is having them relate the thinks being taught in class to something they know about or have experienced in their own life. Teach about things they like and have their culture represented in the classroom.

In an English class, I think bringing things into the classroom that relate to the students is super helpful. If they can read stories about things that they can relate to or write about the things they have experienced, they will feel comfortable in the classroom. They can feel safe and comfortable. In an urban school, there are a lot of kids that have to go through really crappy things but the classroom should be a safe place for them to come. They can share their feelings and relate to others. Writing is all about emotion and so is reading.

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