No / This article reports on original research designed to track the impact on student learning and development of fundamental pedagogical changes - from tradition to critical pedagogy - in undergraduate conflict resolution teaching in the Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford. Using grounded theory methodology, the authors researched the transformative learning potential of the pedagogy. They found broad support for the pedagogy on student learning and development grounds in relation to the praxeological challenges of peacebuilding and conflict resolution work many of their students will expect to do after graduation. Out of the data emerged four clusters of learning experience that support transformative learning theory, particularly the role of disruption in learning and the importance of critical reflection, but that also, in a preliminary way, suggest some gaps in our current levels of understanding of transformative learning as praxis.

This qualitative study followed the classroom practices of a second grade teacher across the course of a school year. Data collection methods used included interviews, fieldnotes, observations, various site artifacts and photographs. Informants were the classroom teacher, thirteen second grade students, the building principal, and several colleagues, family members and friends identified by the teacher. The study used literature in the fields of critical pedagogy and democratic educational practice to interpret the teacher's work. Analysis suggested that the second grade class group evolved toward a sense of democratic community as the teacher: 1) provided the foundations of relationship, high expectations and belief in her students; 2) created classroom structures that supported the growth of moral intelligence amongst class members; and 3) extended opportunities for students to regularly contribute to and actively participate in class experiences. Findings suggest that a sense of democratic community can not be quickly or easily realized. As this teacher sought to foster its development through building foundations, creating support structures and extending opportunities to her students, she experienced unpredictability, risk and struggle. Significantly, however, she perceived her daily struggles as opportunities to reflectively reconsider her teaching practices. As she continually assessed and refined her practices, she and her students grew as a mutually supportive community. / Ph. D.

While critical pedagogy, as introduced by Paulo Freire (1970), carries an extensive legacy of theoretical interpretation for rhetoric and composition praxis, this study argues that there is a lack of implementable models of practice in the context of first-year writing, particularly for new instructors and graduate teaching assistants. This study uses a three-part methodology. First, relevant scholarship is synthesized in four parts: critical pedagogy as theory, critical pedagogy as design for instructor accompliceship, critical pedagogy as method for students, and relevant critiques. Then, the project summarizes a gloss analysis of institutional climate, including a list of theory-informed, self-reflective instructor pre-work questions. Finally, the central model-building is conducted through a theory-informed coding of the Virginia Tech University Writing Program blueprint Literacy Narrative and Worknets projects. The result of this approach is a proposed implementable model (Miller, 2014) of critical pedagogy in practice for English 1105 at Virginia Tech, including invitational language, scaffolding exercises, and supportive assignments to affirm student agency, engage in instructor accompliceship, and create a climate of love and care in the writing classroom. This model is designed to transform critical pedagogy from unapproachable methodology to workable method that empowers and encourages instructors to try alternative approaches to the classroom. Implications of this work include furthering of diverse, inclusive methods of pedagogy that interrogate power boundaries, honor student/instructor identities, and complicate institutional power structures for WPAs and instructors. / Master of Arts / This project describes an approach to teaching first-year writing at the university level that is based on Paulo Freire's (1970) theory of critical pedagogy, a school of thought that centers the student as the authority in the classroom, rather than the teacher. Essentially, Freire (1970) argues for allowing students to explore their identities, their autonomy, and their existing power imbalances within their education, while the teacher stays out of the way. Possible effects of teaching in this way include a classroom that embodies empathy, care, and engagement for students, as well as a larger awareness of complex power structures. However, one of the largest problems within this scholarly conversation is a lack of suggestions for how to "do" critical pedagogy. While critical pedagogy exists widely in scholarly theory as a methodology, or study of methods, there are very few actual methods—or practical, repeatable, theory-based suggestions—that instructors can implement in their teaching. This study seeks to answer how the institutional climate—the branding, goals, and policies—of Virginia Tech invites an approach of critical pedagogy, as well as what a method of critical pedagogy might look like in the context of two projects within one of Virginia Tech's first-year writing courses. This project first considers relevant background scholarship on critical pedagogy before conducting a two-part analysis: first of the institutional landscape of Virginia Tech, and then of the two projects in their original format. The result is a model of practice that is usable and applicable for instructors teaching writing at Virginia Tech.

This work centered on the Creating Creators Cinema Project (CCCP), a for-profit organization that works with K-12 school districts in California to integrate student filmmaking into core subjects. The qualitative case study documented the experiences of CCCP’s founders, the teaching artists who mentor filmmaking youth, and the students participating in year-long projects, providing a “thick description” of the creation, implementation, and impact of the program in a high school setting. The research addressed the dearth of arts programs in urban schools and their connection to representation in arts fields, particularly filmmaking. The study utilized three frameworks: Critical Pedagogy, Constructivism, and Situated Learning Theory to analyze data about pedagogical approaches and impact in the personal and professional lives of those involved in the project. Findings revealed participants in CCCP challenge traditional schooling practices and create a professional identity for students in the program. This study affirmed the importance of arts education in student lives and identifies how arts is a transformative vehicle for students and educators.

Leaders within the black community are among the most important assets for black people in America. Given all that black Americans have experienced and still endure from social, economic, and political disenfranchisement, it is necessary to explore the values, beliefs, experiences, and practices of current leaders or those organizing for food justice with youth in black communities. This research explored the experiences of self-determination and empowerment of African American community organizers and educators, providing community-based educational opportunities to youth. It also sought to understand the values, beliefs, and experiences of the participant leaders pertaining to community empowerment, youth development, and food justice. A critical race theory (Bell, 1987; Crenshaw, 1989; Delgado and Stefancic, 2012) lens was utilized to conduct a narrative analysis of 10 black leaders in the Triad area of North Carolina. The researcher inquiry involved a narrative interview, using narrative inquiry practices (Saldana, 2016) that were both audio and visually recorded. Narrative inquiry is a methodological tool for capturing and co-interpreting the personal stories of people, their personal experiences and their interpretations (Clandinin, 2007). A narrative videography was developed to reach a wider audience and include the direct experiences of black leaders. Upon completion of the data-collection process, the leaders were brought together to view the video and discuss excerpts from their narratives in a single focus group. The study itself explored each leaders' views on what food justice looks like in their community, how self-determination influences their approach to black youth development for food justice, and their experiences of racial and micro-aggressive barriers to their work. It was found that the participants were very knowledgeable about what they needed to secure food justice in their communities. It was also found that the leaders often experienced racism and sometimes it was internalized racism, which often led them to the work with black youth empowerment and community food justice. / Doctor of Philosophy / African Americans have been among the most disenfranchised and marginalized populations in American history (Anderson, 2001). Although today is not as physically reflective of this as the days of slavery and post-slavery Jim Crow, racism is still as pervasive now as it was then, (Alexander, 2010). Critical Race Theory is the theoretical lens of this study thought it is primarily utilized in modern law to understand the presence of race discrimination in the decision making of court officials (Dixson & Rousseau, 2006). This research was a narrative inquiry exploration to understand the experiences of self-determination and empowerment of African American community organizers and educators providing educational opportunities to youth for food justice. The researcher utilized narrative inquiry as methodology in a community-based context to explore the perceptions and attitudes of African American leaders as organizers and educators in the Triad area of North Carolina as they pertain to community empowerment, youth development, and food justice. Using a critical race theory lens, each of the 10 adult participants had been identified as an asset to the black community regarding agriculture and youth empowerment practices. They were then interviewed after consent to audio and visual recording. Influenced by the Whole Measures for Community Food Systems (Abi-Nader et. al, 2009), interview questions were developed and applied to highlight the values and beliefs associated with a just community food system, efforts to counter unjust food access and the racism within it. Participants were asked to contribute to a single collective focus group discussing various excerpts from their narratives. Findings support that each participant was knowledgeable of the food justice issues and what was needed to create it in the communities they worked. Participants expressed several themes related to critical race theory, critical pedagogy and community food work.

In an age of adultism in which children have been perceived as mere drains on society, schooling often has been viewed as a means to an end. Due to the fact that a capitalistic society requires future workers, children have been socialized in the necessary skills and knowledge required to fulfill their future job requirements. Consequently, schooling often has taken place in the form of the banking model in which students are treated as empty vessels to be filled up by the knowledgeable teachers, and then to regurgitate said knowledge on assessments to prove their understanding. I challenge this antiquated vision of education, especially in relation to what it has meant for young children in preschool through first grade. Using critical pedagogy and the Reggio Emilia approach as theoretical frameworks, I conducted a critical narrative study of eight early educators who have had experience working with students in early grades in emancipatory ways. I found that educators’ own experiences and consciousness greatly affected their beliefs about young children as well as the liberatory practices they engaged. I present a proposal for a shift in thinking about the education of young children, a relational model of education that highlights the intersections of critical pedagogy and the Reggio Emilia approach in grounding the work of teaching in armed love, belief in the capabilities of children, and opportunities for students to work with educators as revolutionary partners and transformative change agents who have an active role in their education and their world.

By employing pláticas y encuentros, this qualitative study examined the testimonios of Chicana/Latina youth and their experiences with navigating the sexual politics on the high school campus. Six young Chicana/Latinas, all of whom graduated from the same high school in South East Los Angeles, participated in the study. The study used two frameworks: Chicana/Latina feminist theory and critical pedagogy to analyze the young women’s testimonios. Findings speak of their daily struggle with adults policing, objectifying, and containing their bodies; as well as the benefit of a third space, counterspaces, for self-actualization. This study contributes to this field by identifying how Chicana/Latina youth experience schooling and what they believe must happen in order to ensure that the school community and larger society is more responsive to their experiences with navigating sexual politics in and outside of the educational context.

Much attention has been given to “bridging the gap” between research and practice since neuroscience research first made claim to its potential impact in classrooms. With the inception of Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE) as a new interdisciplinary field, an unprecedented opportunity to explore the educational implications of new research coming out of neuroscience has presented itself. And yet, the gap between research and practice persists while new problems arise as education looks to brain science for answers with ongoing social and academic difficulties faced by students. A critical bicultural methodology, grounded in a decolonizing interpretive approach, is utilized to interrogate the field of MBE in order to shed light on the epistemological power dynamics and social justice issues that inform the field. By examining the historical, philosophical, economic, and ideological roots of neuroscience and education, a colonizing epistemology and hidden curriculum of inequality is revealed. The lack of awareness of how MBE, if left unexamined, will continue to fall short of the democratic and socially just goals of education is also addressed. The argument made is that there exists an abyssal divide within the field that epistemologically privileges neuroscience with its reductionist, Eurocentric, and positivist discourse. The case is made that the field must move toward an itinerant position that honors hierarchical dialogue and praxis and places the voices, scholarship, and values of educators and students at the forefront of this educational movement, in order to close the gap between research and practice in emancipatory ways.

The accelerated growth of 1:1 educational computing initiatives has challenged digital equity with a three-tiered, socioeconomic digital divide: (a) access, (b) higher order uses, and (c) user empowerment and personalization. As the access gap has been closing, the exponential increase of 1:1 devices threatens to widen the second and third digital divides. Using critical theory, specifically, critical theory of technology and critical pedagogy, and a qualitative case study design, this research explored the experiences of a middle school categorized under California criteria as “socioeconomically disadvantaged.” This study contributes to critical theory on technology within an educational setting, as well as provides voice to the experiences of teachers and students with economic disadvantages experiencing the phenomena of 1:1 computing. Using observational, interview, and school document data, this study asked the question: To what extent do 1:1 technology integration uses and associated pedagogical practices foster Margins of Maneuver in an eighth grade comprised of a student population that is predominantly economically disadvantaged? Probing two key markers of Margins of Maneuver, student agency and participation, the study found: (a) a technology-enhanced learning culture; (b) a teacher shift to facilitator roles; (c) instances of engaged, experiential, and inquiry learning and higher order technology uses; (d) in-progress efforts to strengthen student voice and self-identity. Accompanying the progress in narrowing economically based digital divides, the data also demonstrated some tension with the knowledge economy. Nevertheless, sufficient margins existed, associated with one-to-one uses and practices, to result in micro-resistances characterized by assertion of student agency and democratization potential.

The concept of self-esteem has so thoroughly infiltrated American education that “most educators believe developing self-esteem to be one of the primary purposes of public education” (Stout, 2001, p. 119). That the available scholarship challenging the validity of self-esteem principles has had little to no impact on schooling and school policy demonstrates the need for more a comprehensive interrogation of a concept that has become so pervasive and commonsensical that many administrators and teachers do not even think to question its place in traditional pedagogy, let alone consider the possibility that self-esteem is a damaging ideological construct. The rhetorical (and impossible) promise of self-esteem as both a quantifiable and fixed human resource has proliferated in educational language as schools continue to promote self-esteem among racialized and poorly performing students, while the structural conditions that negatively impact these students’ performance in the first place remain intact. The legacy of self-esteem in educational discourse requires a critical interpretation, or re-interpretation, by educators who wish to challenge oppressive commonsense assumptions and feel-good principles that covertly help to maintain “dominant cultural norms that do little more than preserve social inequality” (Darder, 2015, p. 1). This study takes a decolonizing approach that involves a substantive interrogation—historical, political, and philosophical—of the Eurocentric epistemological concept of self-esteem, in order to demonstrate the debilitating effects that self-esteem has on students from working-class communities of color. It then suggests an emancipatory understanding of the self and alternative critical pedagogical principles of social empowerment.