Critical Pedagogy in an Urban High School

I really appreciated this read on Critical Pedagogy. It was a nice change to read something that was almost purely positive when it comes to reforming our educational system. I really enjoyed hearing the theory stated on the second page by Strauss and Corbin that was being drawn by their research. The fact that the two co-teachers didn’t agree on much when it came to ideas, but they both agreed on the fact that students now live in a world where no matter what the teacher wants to think, they will be expected to take and perform well on standardized tests that serve as a gatekeeper for post-secondary education. While I think this is still true, the main focus is that we as teachers need to also have them be able to understand, interpret, and produce products from this information and knowledge. Any teacher can work hard and make their students understand concepts, but do they really understand? Do they understand the relevance of it, the importance of it? I think that’s the next thought process in this idea of critical pedagogy. This also applies to English literacy. It is important students develop linguistic competencies and literacy skills for academic advancement, but it is crucial that they also understand the text and the power of language. Like the article said, it is impossible to be able to critique or refute a text that one does not understand, and critiquing is a huge prerequisite for English literacy. This idea really resonates with me, because in school I was also a stronger reader, but I was not always good at comprehending what I was reading. I really struggled with being able to retain, summarize, or explain what I just read because even though I was able to get through the material quickly, it was not efficient because my mind was not keeping up. This is super important that these problems be addressed in schools, to create not only better readers, but better contributors and interpreters of society through English literacy.