Critical Pedagogy and Popular Culture in an Urban English Classroom

Dear Readers,

            This is my response to “Critical Pedagogy and Popular Culture in an Urban Secondary English Classroom.”

            This is a very empowering article. It wonderfully lays out the complexities of societal issues and their impact of education and how critical pedagogy is to creating the most positive environment for student success. Even in the abstract I was struck at how much sense it makes it means to be dealing with those issues in a classroom.“It is rooted in the existential experiences of marginalized peoples; that is centered in a critique of structural, economic, and racial oppression; that is focused in dialogue instead of a one-way transmission of knowledge; and that it is structured to empower individuals and collectives as agents of social change.” Bringing together students and teacher in a discourse where outside social inequalities are addressed but never imposed will greatly benefit everyone; for students greatly affected by this oppression as well as students who are not. By observing and critiquing this oppression we create students ability to empathize with other situations from their own.

            Literature plays perfectly into this because it is always both a social commentary and an insight to the human condition.  We can use novels, poetry, short stories, plays etc. to bring up these topics and have students identify with characters emotions in a way that relates to their world.

            Creating this new environment for learning will make for a better future. If, as teachers, support and give all students what they need to overcome social injustices that hold them back from opportunities. For someone (like many of us) in the world of education it seems like common sense that these needs are met but this article puts it in a way that shows, through extensive study and research, just how students are affected academically by our social culture. Connecting with our students on a personal level inspires them to deal with the materials they are given in a new way than just regurgitating what the teacher said onto a test. It instead sparks interest and emotion so they have a deeper understanding. 

Thanks for reading,

Halee