The Critical Pedagogy Reader

Pedagogy is hard for me. I know when I have my own classroom, I will have a hard time constructing my own classroom Pedagogy that works for all of my students. I want my students to be able to understand the material and feel comfortable asking questions. With theory and pedagogy, I feel like it is hard to find the balance between what works and what have just been accepted because it is socially permitted in the school systems like what McLaren has said. 

I love what he said about Critical pedagogy. I think students should look at common sense and why people think the way they do. This has to do with what we were taught, where we grew up, and our own personal beliefs. One question McLaren uses as an example is how does school reinforce stereotypes? I feel like this is something students should be aware of. As teachers, we should be teaching them facts about science, math, and history and they should certainly be able to write an essay, but shouldn’t we also be preparing them for the real world? Teachers should be teaching them how to survive in college and in life. 

I know this is a really controversial topic because teachers are not parents. We shouldn’t be teaching our students values. But what about the students that don’t have parents to teach them about these things that are vital for living in the outside world? Who is supposed to teach them then? 

“Street Smarts” are just as important as being “book smart”. Kids should have the ability to think for themselves when they are in a situation that requires them to use their common sense and problem solving abilities. Schools are not teaching these kinds of things. It is the parent’s job. I know that but some parents are either not there or don’t have the ability to teach their kids about stereotypes and why different societies think the way they do.