Social Justice Pedagogies

The seeds of critical pedagogy began with Paulo Freire's 1968 work, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, which has been largely expanded upon since by scholars such as Henry Giroux. The goal of critical pedagogy is to use education to empower individuals with the tools to help "make the world a more socially just place" (Pagowsky and McElroy, 2016). Critical pedagogy contests the idea that learners are passive and can “bank” information. Instead, it pushes for education to be an exchange between instructor and student built upon dialogue. Critical pedagogy envisions the transformative potential of education as a means of liberation. Critical information literacy and critical race theory are direct branches of critical pedagogy, but it also informs many other social justice pedagogies such as antiracist pedagogy, disability justice pedagogy, and feminist pedagogy. 

Reflective Practices

As you explore these resources, ask yourself the following questions:

1. What are some ways I can redistribute power in my classroom so as to help dismantle classroom hierarchies and frame learning as a partnership between students and the instructor?
2. What are classroom practices, discussions, or assignments I can implement to help my students learn how to more consciously identify the systems of power at play within academic institutions as well as the world at large? 

Teaching Practices

After you work through some of the reflective practices, here are some starting teaching practices you might adopt. 

1. Rather than teaching via demonstration or lecture, try teaching through dialogue with your students. Design lessons so that you are seeking answers together. 
2. In order to foster more independent thinking, encourage students to share their perspectives on a topic, interrogate what systems have shaped their perspectives, and then have them challenge those beliefs.
3. Examine how you assess students. Rather than focusing on correct and incorrect answers, make sure your assessments are designed to foster critical thinking skills.
4. Encourage activism amongst your students both in and out of the classroom. Share with them activist opportunities concerning the university or their community where they can work to challenge systems of oppression. 

Born out of legal theory, critical race theory describes and works to dismantle the role of racism in society in contrast to the idea that society and learning spaces are colorblind or race neutral. Within the realm of libraries, Leung and López-McKnight identify the major tenets of critical race theory as race as a social construct, racism is normal, experiences and knowledge of BIPOC, intersectionality, interdisciplinary, whiteness as property, critique of dominant ideologies, focus on historical contexts, counter-storytelling and voice, and interest convergence.