I don’t usually post other articles or essays in their entirety, but this one is pretty good and not too long, and since this is one of my few professed academic interests, it just seems like the thing to do. I’ve lifted it from the ICAAP Radical Pedagogy site [pictured at left is one of the “founding figures” of radical pedagogy, Paulo Freire]:
What is Radical Pedagogy
The concept, “radical pedagogy,” has many different meanings. For some, a discussion of radical pedagogy implies an analysis of the deeply politicized aspects of educational institutions, policies and practices—and, further, that education can and must be oriented towards radical social change (Freire, 1970, 1997; Giroux, 1997; McLaren, 1998; Shor, 1992). For others, radical pedagogy refers to cutting edge developments in the field of education: the latest theories, methods and practices that promise to reinvent fundamentally the processes of teaching and learning. Different as these perspectives may appear to be, they are, nevertheless, linked quite closely. Radical pedagogy is all about knowledge and education, and how they can (or should) change to best serve the purposes of both educators and the educated. Since the one constant in the universe is change and because education has come to be among the most important social institutions in the world, then it is very important to consider as broadly as possible the nature of education as it exists today—as well as how it might change as we move into the future. That will be the task of this journal. Radical Pedagogy will be a forum for the discussion of education and change.
Important as the institution of education happens to be, it is far from perfect. There are many who do not have adequate access to education, there are places where educational opportunities exist, but they are woefully inadequate (Kozol, 1991), and there are those who are ill-served by being a part of educational institutions (Eisenstein, 1996; Ladsen-Bilings, 1997; Murrel, 1997; Willis, 1977). For these and a myriad of other reasons education will change. No institution that has so many vocal critics can ignore the call for change. There are millions, or, more likely, billions of people who have opinions about what is wrong with education and why it must change “for the better.” But, what is “better education” and how can the enormous institutions that serve the goal of education be changed for the better?
