Hopeful Provocations for a Dialogue with Critical Pedagogy

In respect for the tentative ways of knowing critical pedagogy, I choose not to define the notion, but rather discuss it from my point of view. It is easier to begin by discussion on what critical pedagogy is not: Critical pedagogy is not prescriptive way of teaching. It is not teacher-proof because it invites teachers to make their own decisions. It is expected to be student-centered but does not prioritize that the student has more to say than the teacher. It is respectful of different traditions, different ways of seeing the world. I would say that critical pedagogy is couched in literacies and, in a non-academic sense, it is couched in the notion of Paulo Freire�s notion of reading the world� the word becomes less important than the world, once one understands the world, cultures, societies, people actually do read the word better. For the purpose of this essay, I embed quotes from Freire�s work to include his voice within the text.