Chapter 26. Teachers for Social Responsibility Teaching by principles By H.D. Brown

Critical Pedagogy Teach students to fit into society or change the society: visionary practice (Giroux & McLaren, 1989) Beware of political agendas in language teaching (Phillipson, 1992)

Critical Pedagogy Brown: 4 principles of CP -Create space for students to express themselves freely -Respect students’ viewpoints -Encourage multi-perspectives -Delay your views until students exhaust their ideas (do not force students to think like you!)

Critical Pedagogy Teachers as critical pedagogue Engage in teaching valuing cooperation, empowerment, problem-posing/solving, understanding of self in relation to others rather than competition, totalitarianism, conflicts or prejudice

Critical Pedagogy Teachers as Change Agents: Proactive activists Language as tool for liberating and power discourse Raising consciousness (conscientization) & taking actions: Freire-Pedagogy of Oppressed (1975)

Critical Pedagogy Be reflective & reflexive: Why am I doing what I am doing? Who benefits and are disadvantaged from current education and my teaching? Will you teach your son or daughter as you do now?: Importance of Other people’s children (Delpit, 1996)

Topics in class 1. How to deal with controversial issues in language classrooms Beware of ‘hidden curriculum’ 2. Respect for offering space for diverse opinions, beliefs, & ethnic/cultural diversity 3. Maintain a threshold of morality & ethics in class *Read examples (See p. 516-517)

Moral dilemmas & Imperatives Risking cultural biases of communicative approaches Avoiding contributing to disempowerment Creating inoffensive yet interesting materials Remaining as neutral as possible Dealing with assessment standards (Critical Language Testing) **teach students to maintain the status quo or to be change agents: competition vs. cooperation, powerless vs. empowering, conflict vs. resolution, prejudice vs. understanding