Critical Rhetoric and PedagogyWord下载.docx

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Carbondale

cglenn@siu.edu

Ifstudentsaregoingtolearnhowtotakerisks,todevelopahealthyskepticismtowardsallmasternarratives,torecognizethepowerrelationsthatofferthemtheopportunitytospeakinparticularways,andbewillingtocriticallyconfronttheirroleascriticalcitizenswhocananimateademocraticculture,theyneedtoseesuchbehaviordemonstratedinthesocialpracticesandsubjectpositionsthatteachersliveoutandnotmerelypropose.（Giroux,1992,p.141）

Inpractice,criticalrhetoricseekstounmaskordemystifythediscourseofpower.Theaimistounderstandtheintegrationofpower/knowledgeinsociety—whatpossibilitiesorchangetheintegrationinvitesorinhibits,andwhatinterventionstrategiesmightbeconsideredappropriatetoeffectsocialchange.（McKerrow,1989,p.91

Ingeneral,aprincipleaimofcritical2approachestopedagogyisthecreationofconditionswithinwhichstudentsareabletodevelopacriticalconsciousness.Thepedagogicalprocessofdevelopingcriticalconsciousness（orPauloFreire'

snotionofconscientization）3involvesshowingstudentshowtorecognizeandevaluatestructuresofpower.Thispedagogicalfocusondevelopingcriticalconsciousnessmeansthatstudentscanbegintounderstandthemselvesasactiveagents,enablingthemtoidentifyand/orcreateconditionsforthepossibilityofchangeinoppressivesociopoliticalconstructs.Aspartofthispedagogicalapproach,student-centereddialogueiscitedasessentialinfacilitatingthedevelopmentofcriticalconsciousness（Friere,1970;

Giroux,1992;

hooks,1994;

McLaren,1997;

Shor,1997;

Tayko&

Tassoni,1998）.However,sincecriticaldialogueismosteasilyfacilitatedwithinarelativelysmall,seminar-likeclassstructure,largerclasspopulationspresentaconsiderablechallenge.Theabsenceofcriticalpedagogyliteraturethatdiscussesthischallengepointstoaneedfortheorizinghowcriticalconsciousnessmightbedevelopedwithalargenumberofstudents.Iaim,inthisessay,tocontributetothatliteraturebypresentingacasestudyanalysisthatdemonstrateshowcriticalconsciousnessdevelopmentcanbeenabledinaclassroomwithover100students.

Thecasestudyanalysispresentedinthisessaysuggeststhatstudent-centereddialogueisnottheonly--norisitanessential—meansforhelpingstudentsdevelopasenseofcriticalconsciousness.UtilizingRaymieMcKerrow'

s（1989）theoryofcriticalrhetorictoanalyzethestrategiesofoneteacher,Ifocusonhowthedevelopmentofcriticalconsciousnessispossiblewithoutacentralfocusonstudent-centereddialogue.Inthefirstsection,Iofferabriefoverviewofcriticalpedagogyasitrelatestostudent-centereddialogue.OutlinedinthesecondsectionareMcKerrow'

spraxis-orientedaspectsofacriticalrhetoric.Inthethirdsection,thevariousteachingstrategiespresentedinthecasestudyareanalyzedviaMcKerrow'

sconcepts.Inthelastsection,Isuggestpossibleimplicationsfortheorizingcriticalpedagogywhenstudent-centereddialogueisnotaviableoption.Myhopeinofferingthisexampleofcriticalpedagogy--performedinacontextgenerallydeemedinadequatetosupportsuchanapproach--istounderscorehowcriticalconsciousnessdevelopmentdoesnotdependonan.priorifocusonstudent-centereddialogue.

CriticalPedagogy&

Student-CenteredDialogue

Ingeneral,criticalpedagogy4hasbeendescribedasanapproachtoteachingthat,throughafocusonstudents'

interestsandidentities,attemptstomoveawayfromteacher-andtext-centeredcurricula.Bydrawingsubjectmatterfromstudents'

ownlives,language,andcultures,acriticalreadingofdominantsociopoliticalconstructsisincludedandsituatedwithinstudents'

experiencestoprovideasociohistoricalcontextfromwhichtoenvisionandenactsocialchange（Friere,1970;

1998;

Shor,1997）.Inshort,criticalpedagogyaimsatdevelopingstudents'

criticalconsciousness.Eventhoughthespecificmeansengagedtodosovaryamongpedagoguesinthisarea,affordingaprivilegedstatustostudent-centereddialogueisafamiliartheme.

Theadvantagesofcriticaldialogueintheclassroomhavebeenafocalpointinrecenteducationaltheoryandresearchandmuchhasbeenwrittenexplicatingthetransformativepotentialofincludingastudent-centereddialogicaspectincriticalapproachestoteaching（Arnett,1993;

Boler,1997;

Conle,1997;

Friere,1987,1997;

hooks1994;

McHenry,1997;

Popkewitz,1997;

Schutz,1998）.Thesescholarspointtotheconstitutiveaspectsofdialogueastheprimarymeansforhelpingstudentsdevelopanawarenessoftheiragencyinaffectingchangeinoppressivecircumstances.Performingascriticallythinkingandspeakingsubjectsintheclassroomprovides,forstudents,thebasisforperformingascitizen-criticsoutsideit,aswell（Giroux,1992）.Scholarshaveaddressedhowdialoguecanofferstudentsanopportunitytorehearsesocialcriticism（Andrews,1989;

Foss,1989;

Fry,1986）,howsocioculturalandidentityissuescanbetreatedduringdialogicprocesses（Braithwaite,1997;

Kidd,1989;

Strine,1993）,andhowissuesrelatedtogenderandsexualorientationcanbecriticallyengagedwhendialogueisstudent-centered（Campbell,1991;

Jenefsky,1996;

Wood&

Lenze,1991;

Yep,1998）.Itseemsclearfromtheseaccountsthatstudentsbenefitwhentheyareofferedopportunitiestoengageincriticaldialoguewithpeers.

Whileacknowledgingthevalueofastudent-centeredapproachtodialogicpedagogy,anequalacknowledgementofthecontingenciesofinstitutional,sociopolitical,andideologicalconstraintsmustbeconsideredalongsidetheaimsofacriticalapproachtoteaching（Boyd,1999;

Burbules,2000;

Gur-ze'

ev,1998;

Lather,1998）5.Oneofthoseinstitutionallimitationsisclasssize,anaspectofclassroomorganizationthatisrarely,ifever,apartofthescholarlydiscussionofstudent-centereddialogue.Itshouldgowithoutsayingthateachclassroomcontextisuniqueandeachintrinsicallypossessesitsownpromiseandpotential;

ontheotherhand,eachalsopresentsdistinctivecontextualchallenges（Glenn,1999b）.Thisrecognitionofcontextcontingency--specificallyasitrelatestothenumberofstudentsinaparticularclass--isnonexistentinscholarshipadvocatingacriticalapproachtoteachingthatutilizeslearner-centereddialogueasthemeanstoattaincriticalconsciousness.

Facilitatingcriticaldialogueisnotaneasytask,evenwitharelativelysmallnumberofstudents;

itisacomplicatedprocess--usuallyamongonefacilitator-teacherandmanystudents—thatrequiresconstantcommunicative（re）negotiation（Glenn,1999a）.Forthosecriticalpedagogueswhofindthemselvesinthecontextofalargeclassroom,thatcommunicationprocessbecomesnearlyuntenable.Itiscrucialforthoseteachers,then,todevelopspecific,situated,andlocalizedstrategiesinordertoretainthecriticalcharacteroftheirteachingapproachwhileadjustingtheirteachingstrategiestoaccommodatealargenumberofstudents.Dr.MichelleWolfisonesuchteacher,andthisstudyrepresentsastartingplacefortheorizingthosestrategiesemployedinherclassroom.

Dr.WolfwasoneofmyprofessorswhenIwasanundergraduatestudentatSanFranciscoStateUniversity（SFSU）,andherteachingapproachleftanimpressiononmethathasendured.Dr.Wolfis20-yearfacultymemberintheDepartmentofBroadcastandElectronicCommunicationArts（BECA）;

shecompletedherM.A.inCommunicationStudiesattheUniversityofMassachusettsandherPh.D.inCommunicationTheory--withaMassCommunicationsandEducationalPsychologyemphasis--attheUniversityofTexasatAustinbeforecomingtoCalifornia.Dr.Wolfhasbeenteachingfor25years.Beingapartofherclass“SocialAspectsofElectronicMedia”（BECA422）wasamemorableexperienceformeasanundergraduate;

herprovocativestyleandinherentlycriticalmodeofteachingwasalwaysengaging.Thetheoreticalmaterialintroducedinclasswasinterspersedwithfrequentlyaffective,sometimesgraphic,andalwayscontroversialmedia;

and,theseculturalfragmentswereofferedwithahealthymeasureofDr.Wolf'

sownsocioculturalcritique.EventhoughIregularlyfoundmyselfdisagreeingwithparticularpositionsshetookinthecourseofintroducingthematerial,herobviousenthusiasmfor,commitmentto,andengagementwithstudentsandteachingfacilitatedawelcomingclassroomenvironmentthatinvitedcriticalexplorationofthecoursematerialinconnectionwiththelifeexperiencesweallbroughttothetable.ChoosingtostudyDr.Wolf'

spedagogicalstyleforthisprojectwasmotivatedbymyowninterestincriticalapproachestopedagogy,approachesIassumednecessitatedacentralfocusonstudent-centereddialogueasthewaytofostercriticalengagement.Initially,Iviewedtheprojectasanopportunitytolearnhowtofacilitateacriticaldiscussionwithalargenumberofstudents（over100）fromateacherwhosecriticalperspective,likemine,alsoinformsherpedagogy.Ilearnedduringthecourseofthisproject,however,thatmyownpresuppositionsaboutcriticalpedagogy—significantlyinfluencedbythoseassumptionsfoundinmuchoftheliterature--wereinneedof（critical）reconsideration.Inthefollowingsection,Iofferabriefsketchofthetheoreticalframeworkwithinwhichthosereconsiderationsaresituated.

CriticalRhetoric

RaymieMcKerrow（1989）describescriticalrhetoricasapracticeandtheoreticalenterpriseencompassingdivergentcriticalprojects