Critical Pedagogy and the Ethics of Liberation

• In Event: Critical Pedagogy: New Philosophical Interventions

Abstract

One of critical pedagogy’s core aims, possibly its sole aim, is to provide children with an emancipatory education. While this goal is noble and justifiable (to a certain extent), critical pedagogues have failed to philosophically explain “what is an emancipatory education?” Moreover, by assuming the sole aim of education is human emancipation, critical pedagogues have relied upon an incorrect and politically problematic conception of education. Assuming that the purpose of education is human emancipation is philosophically incorrect because it overlooks other educational aims such as having children gain an intrinsic appreciation for learning. Furthermore, assuming education is only for human emancipation is politically problematic because it creates a myopic vision of education, and thus fails to appreciate our democratic obligation to provide children with an education that expands their capabilities, beyond the call for emancipation.

While critical pedagogues are wrong to assume the sole purpose of education is human emancipation, it is essential to preserve some emancipatory processes in education; especially within this era of neoliberalism. In order to do so, I build upon the Latin American philosopher Enrique Dussel’s (2013) ethics of liberation to provide an analytical and normative answer to the question “what is an emancipatory education?” To make my argument I first shall briefly explain why critical pedagogy assumes the purpose of education is human emancipation and why this assumption is wrong. Then, following Dussel, I explain how and why an emancipatory education is a dimension of an autonomous education: specifically, it is the type of education given to children to inform them about oppressive conditions. To clarify why an emancipatory education is a dimension of an autonomous education, I will distinguish between an autonomous education and a critical autonomous education—what Freire calls critical consciousness. Specifically, I argue the justification for an emancipatory education arises within particular social circumstances in which children are part of a group that is systemically excluded from participating within “basic structures of a democratic society”, and whose future life chances to live flourishing lives are thereby diminished. Or, as Dussel argues, the call for liberation arises when the ability of a group of individuals to produce, reproduce, and develop as human beings is symmetrically undermined within a pre-existing social order. After sketching out the general contours of an emancipatory education I shall highlight four tensions and/or issues that critical pedagogues must address when thinking through the difference between providing children with an autonomous education and an emancipatory education.

References

Dussel, E. (2013). Ethics of liberation: In the age of globalization and exclusion. Durham, NC: Duke University.

Author

• Quentin Wheeler-Bell, University of Wisconsin