The Main Connections between Pedagogy and Critical Theory Cover Image

Główne związki pedagogiki z teorią krytyczną
The Main Connections between Pedagogy and Critical Theory

Author(s): Wojciech Kruszelnicki
Subject(s): Ethics / Practical Philosophy, Sociology of Education, Philosophy of Education
Published by: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Sklodowskiej
Keywords: Henry Giroux; critical theory; critical pedagogy; democracy;

Summary/Abstract: This paper analyses connections between pedagogy and critical theory in the work of Henry A. Giroux. Locating the genesis of critical pedagogy in Giroux’s scholarship and account- ing for its persistent exploitation of the intellectual legacy of the Frankfurt School have signifi- cant implications for how we understand the role of theory in education. Critical theory pro- vides essential tools for developing pedagogies and forms of education that seriously engage with the ideas of emancipation, social transformation, and cultural struggle for a viable democ- racy and a rationally organized social life. The paper strongly opposes recent claims that critical pedagogy has lost its close connections to the critical theory of the Frankfurt School, and that educational critique has failed to offer any positive vision of schooling, leading instead to cyni- cism and despair. Contrary to these views, it demonstrates how the key concepts of critical the- ory operate in Giroux’s discourse and how they allow him to construct a program of critical literacy and civic education that provides a rationale for rethinking schools as democratic public spheres where critical thinking and democratic skills can be analyzed and practiced.

  • Issue Year: 2023
  • Issue No: 35
  • Page Range: 181-217
  • Page Count: 37
  • Language: Polish