Critical Pedagogy: Analyzing Oppression and Proposed Solutions

This essay delves into the realm of critical pedagogy, examining its core tenets and its application in addressing issues of oppression within educational systems. It explores the concept of critical consciousness, tracing its origins to thinkers like Paulo Freire, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Thomas Aquinas, who all highlighted the importance of questioning traditional ideologies and power structures. The essay identifies oppression as a central problem, analyzing how it manifests in curriculum, teaching practices, and societal expectations. It also discusses how educators can foster critical thinking and empower students to challenge dominant narratives and advocate for social justice. The essay considers the historical context and the role of teachers in promoting a more equitable and inclusive learning environment, emphasizing the need for students to critically analyze their surroundings. The essay concludes by offering potential solutions to the problem of oppression. It underscores the importance of student empowerment, critical thinking, and the need for educators to facilitate meaningful learning experiences.

Running head: CRITICAL PEDAGOGY
CRITICAL PEDAGOGY
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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The aim of this paper is to discuss various factors and features of critical pedagogy. This
is a teaching approach which combines different critical theories and radical philosophies and
attempt to encourage the students to question as well as challenge the posited domination.
This helps the students to undermine the practices and beliefs alleged to dominate. Through
critical consciousness, the students will be developing the habit of thought, writing, reading
and speaking of those which lies beneath the surface of the socially granted meanings. In this
regard the teachers are the helping persona who instigate the students to question the
traditionalism and ideologies which are considered to be oppressive. These teachers
encourage the liberatory individual as well as collective responses for the actual conditions of
their own lives.
In this context the students who question the authority or the ideology of the traditional
thoughts remains a member of a group or a course of study which he or she is critically
studying. This can be religion, cultural norms, national identity and expected roles. The
student why critically studying the course he or she starts to see the present society as highly
problematic. This leads him or she to share the knowledge acquired. This knowledge sharing
is coupled with the attempt of change to the perceived oppressions of the society. In this
respect, the students are to be controlling their class activities, grading and syllabus.
1. Identification of problem
The main problem of critical pedagogy is the question to oppression. The students
while following the path of critical pedagogy must go beyond his myths, received
wisdoms, clichés and mere opinions. Through these, the ideology of the common
people are regulated in the society. This is the reason why critical pedagogy is also
termed as the pedagogy of the oppressed. In order to understand the problems of
critical pedagogy the factor of oppression has to be understood. Oppression is the
systematic as well as institutional abuse of power by one group at the expenses of the

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others. This also includes the use of forces for maintaining his process to e dynamic.
The main problems here is the domination of one particular group on the other. The
ideology is developed in such a way that the people who are designated as the
inferiors will be feeling confined. This will hinder all their growth and realisation of
spiritual, physical, emotional and psychological potential and wellbeing making them
more powerless.
In order to understand the problems that critical pedagogy touches, knowing its features is
essential. The critical pedagogy demands that the cultural domination by the colonial groups
creates barrier for the development of the anti-colonial education which must have an end and
the role of the indigenous or native knowledge must get the opportunity to flourish among the
people of the country (Brayboy, Mckinley & Maughn, 2009). Secondly there is a political
nature of the education that surrounds the education system as the government of the country
is responsible for the educational growth of the students. Moreover, the teachers have their
own political notions which are transmitted through their knowledge sharing process. In this
regard the domination of the white knowledge is found. As mentioned by the author like
Leonardo (2004), the white culture has a truly dominating role in the growth of education in
the different parts of the world. It dates back again to the colonial time when the native
practices and ideology was submerged with the innovation in the art, Science and literature of
the white people. This supplies power to the knowledge and keeps the privileged on the top
of the social level and the underprivileged on the bottom. Thirdly, the education is the guide
for the development of the society towards justice and equality in all forms. Critical
pedagogy founds problem in the structure of the education system where the curriculum
differentiates students on the basis of the race, class, gender, sexuality, religion and their
physical abilities (Ladson-Billings, 1998). These are the problems pointed out by the
practitioners of critical pedagogy.

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2. Why is it a problem
As mentioned before, education system of the country captures the idea whether there is
equal relationship among the people in the society. Therefore, the critical pedagogy when
identifies oppression to be a problem there must be reasons. The students if cannot question
to the curriculum of subject they study then the flourishing of the students and the society
will be limited. The question of equality comes when the powerful groups of the society
decides what the less powerful people of the country will be knowing (Pinar, 2005). Their
knowledge thus is limited by the governments or for that matter the oppressors. The more the
student will know the more they will be questioning. This may hamper the absolute power or
ultimate governance of the ruling class. This is why oppression that is questioned by critical
pedagogy is problem. The students when gains full knowledge about the society surrounding
them and their factors, can revolt against the oppressors making them completely powerless.
For this demand of justice and equal rights, there can the riots, revolt and other social
upheavals. This is why oppressing the students to abide by the transitional ideologies are
forced to be acknowledged.
a. Who said this is a problem:
The problem of oppression has direct connection with the development of the critical
consciousness of the people or the students of the society. The problem of oppression in
terms of education has been first pointed out by Brazilian pedagogue and educational theorist
Paulo Freire. He related the demand or questioning process of the students against the
oppression of the powerful people in controlling the knowledge flow in a society with the
critical consciousness. This is focused on the achievement of the ability for in-depth
understanding of the perceptions as well as exposure of the political and social contradictions.
This idea critical consciousness also includes the making decisions as well as taking actions

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against the oppressive elements of the human lives which are illuminated by the
understanding. According to this educationist, the idea of critical consciousness is the ability
to intervene the reality for changing it. This identifies as iconic representations which have a
powerful emotional impact in daily lives of the learners. Thus this helps in promoting the
culture of silence in which the socially dispossessed internalised the negative images of
themselves propagated and created by the oppressors in the situation of extreme poverty
(Roberts, 2013).
b. how have other tried to solve critically conscious:
The aspect of critically consciousness was present in the works of Mary Wollstonecraft. She
is was an English writer, philosopher and an advocate of women's rights who plays an
important role in developing the idea of thinking, reading and writing in the support of the
women rights in the aspect of gaining education. In this respect, the question reading the
social justice and equality Mary Wollstonecraft is answered through the abolition of the
unequal social systems which keeps on promoting the power and knowledge of the men by
making the women powerless and weak. Through her writings, she has pointed out that the
point of view about the women holds is not actually real. She held the idea that the
individuals are born with intimate sense of truth which allow their critical thinking. She
advocated for the rights of the women citing that education does not create difference among
the men and women. The women if are not educated the entire society will not be developed
properly. She is best known for her vindication of the rights of woman in 1972 in which she
argued that the women are not inferior to men in any way. They are equal in terms of biology,
psychology and emotions. They are all capable of understanding every aspects of education
hence they must get proper opportunities in terms of education. According to Mary
Wollstonecraft, the women are no way inferior to men but seem to be because they lack
proper infrastructure for education and support to grow. Through the process of alleviation of

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the oppression lead them for human suffering. If these women get the equal right, they can be
treated as the rational beings and imagines social order founded on the reason.
Thomas Aquinas and Mary Wollstonecraft were the pioneers of the critical pedagogy who
perceived education to be the path that can reduce the mechanisms of oppression and
eliminate human suffering through education. Thomas Aquinas was a Scholastic Theorogian
and creator of the Medieval Christian Synthesis who developed the theory of education which
complemented his wider philosophical as well as theological works. According to this
educationist, the human nature gets scope for development only through the education. This
gives the life a purpose like spirituality does. During his time, the impact of theology on
education of the student was huge. The church used to decide the curriculum as well as the
contents of the subjects. Now Thomas Aquinas saw this is be a type of oppression where the
religion of a country decides what the students should ne knowing. The subjects or topics
other than religion or supporting the theology used to be granted as sin and the students or the
practitioners were punished.
Now Thomas Aquinas held the view that the destiny of the human beings is the beatific
vision of the god which education helps to gain. He also added that education helps the
human beings to reach the reality more effectively. It captures the two dimensions including
physical and spiritual. Through proper education they can understand the needs of the soul as
well as of body. Therefore these needs are to be met so that these contributes in the salvation
of the souls. Thomas Aquinas was the first person who mentioned that education must be
structured in such a way that can cater the need of the human being according to their levels.
The problem of the dark ages has been found eliminated by education. To this
educationist, the teacher has the responsibility of serve the humanity therefore he is being
idealised as a powerful person having intense knowledge. Here the teacher possesses the

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body of knowledge as well as instructional skills which will be transmitted to the students.
During that time, the teachers were mainly the monks, priests and nuns who were detached
from the social upheaval and other pressures of the human life reflecting the purpose of
education and the meaning to existence.
3. how will I solve it:
The problem of disparity in the society in terms of education relates to the oppression of
the one group of people upon the others. This can be solved only when the teachers will
be playing their part ideally. As mentioned in the article by Ellsworth, (1998), the
discourse of critical pedagogy is based on the rationalist assumptions giving rise to the
representative myths. The assumptions, implicit power dynamics, goals and the issues of
who is producing the valid knowledge continue to be untheorized as well as untouched,
the idea of critical pedagogues will be continuing to continue relations of the domination
in the classrooms (Biesta, 2012). In this regard, the teachers can play important part. The
must not view the students to be empty account which can be filled unnecessarily by the
teachers.
In this regard, it can be stated that the critical pedagogy always wants to share the idea
that the students must get the scope for questioning. This is the way through which they
will be able to understand their stand points and fight back to the oppressors or the
dominating thoughts or institutions. The teachers thus will be able to understand that the
lives of the students are full of experiences. They have their own generations, own
pressure for living. Therefore they need to be able utilise their education in such a way
that will be helping them to shape their learning process. Great teachers never blame their
students for their failures but bring them to the classrooms. The teachers are the medium
through which the knowledge flows from one part to the other. Therefore they must be

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able to eliminate any type of power equation. The curriculum that the state or government
has set for the studies depending upon the age and capabilities of the students. The
teacher must not confine themselves on this only. Rather they must be able to go beyond
the expectation of the students as well as the curriculum. Thus their students will also be
able to learn from them and start questioning the only acceptable setting of education.
This is how the problem of the educational domination can be mitigated.
4. how have my work change the conceptualisation
This method of thinking beyond the accepted nature and traditionalism regarding education
can lead the teachers to discover new ways of teaching so that their students get the scope to
judge the life experience on the basis of their learning of curriculum. My work will be
developing a new in of relationship between the teachers and the students. The traditional
relation creates barrier for the students to understand the materials taught in the class in one
hand and the teachers cannot go beyond their teaching materials (Bengtsson, 2013). Through
my process, a feeling of deep respect to the teachers will be developed in the minds of the
students. As mentioned before, the role play of the teachers is not only to filling the vacuum
of the minds of the students but teach them learning from the true events of their life
experiences. Therefore, the teachers can learn from the students as they may have insight to
share with the teachers. Similarly the learners will play the role of teachers from their own
experiences. This will be pointing out different factors to the teachers about which they may
not have proper knowledge.
5. Significance to the others
Critical pedagogy hammers this acceptable traditional setting of education but in this
process of replacing the role between the students and teachers, the teachers get the scope to
r6easerch on the topic questioned by the students. The professionalism of teachers will be

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respected only when they can properly answer the questions of the students. They must be
scholars and researchers so that the ultimate knowledge is found. They are the worriers of
intellectuals. Thus the equality in terms of gender, social and economic class, cultural
ethnicity in the regard of education can be faced. The teachers will be teaching to fight
against the problem and stay beside their students in this war.
Therefore, it can be concluded that education is the path for limiting human suffering
and critical pedagogy is alight with which the education gets better chance to change the
points of view of the people or institutions of traditional thinking. It is the method through
which the promotion of the emancipation and intellectual growth can be attained. Critical
pedagogy empower the teachers as well as students to expose the forces which prevents the
individuals as well as groups to make decisions that can positively affect their livelihood.

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Bengtsson, J. (2013). Embodied Experiences in Educational Practice and Research, Studies in
Philosophy and Education, 32(1), 39-53.
Biesta, G. (2012). Philosophy of education for the public good: Five challenges and an
agenda. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 44(6), 581–593.
Brayboy, B. Mckinley J. & Maughn, E. (2009). Indigenous Knowledges and the Story of the
Bean. Harvard Educational Review, 79(1), 1-21.
Ellsworth, E. (1998). Why doesn’t this feel empowering? Working through the repressive
myths of critical pedagogy. Harvard Educational Review, 59(3), 297-324.
Ladson-Billings, G.(1998). Just what is critical race theory and what's it doing in a nice field
like education? International Qualitative Studies in Education, 11(1), 7-24.
Leonardo, Z. (2004). The Color of Supremacy: Beyond the Discourse of “White Privilege”,
Journal of Educational Philosophy and Theory, 43(6), 675-698.
Pinar, W.F. (2005). The Problem with Curriculum and Pedagogy. Journal of Curriculum and
Pedagogy, 2(1), 67-82.
Roberts, P. (2013). Happiness, Despair and Education, Studies in Philosophy and Education,
32(5), 463-475.