Examining High School Students' Sociopolitical Development Through Critical Classroom Practices

• In Event: 77.043 - Name the World: Teaching Students to Recognize and Resist Racial and Economic Inequity

Abstract

Objectives: Ira Shor (1999) argued that as critically literate beings, we must “use and teach oppositional discourses so as to remake ourselves and our culture” (p. 2). While developing and teaching such critical literacies is a necessity of education for liberation (Freire, 1970), applying this critical approach to public education has oftentimes been challenging for classroom teachers working within K-12 school settings. This research study uses sociocultural theories of learning as a framework to examine the teaching and learning practices that impact students’ critical literacy development in two urban charter high schools whose missions include fostering students’ civic engagement and engaging students in social action. Through an analysis of qualitative data, this paper examines the ways in which particular pedagogical practices can cultivate students’ sociopolitical awareness and critical literacy development.

Theoretical Framework: According to Freire (1970), critical consciousness “is brought about, not through an intellectual effort alone, but through praxis- through the authentic union of action and reflection” (p. 473). Thus, education for liberation and empowerment must go beyond purely academic learning to include an analysis of systems of oppression and individual and collective action to bring about change. Academic spaces can play a significant role in the development of students’ social awareness by teaching critical literacy practices (Shor, 1999) and engaging students in dialogic inquiry (Wells, 2000). Sociocultural learning theories approach education through this lens, focusing on the role of social interactions, culture, and community participation in the co-construction of knowledge and identities (Guitérrez, 2008).

Methods: This year-long ethnographic study was conducted in two pedagogically distinct urban charter high schools whose missions included student empowerment and civic engagement. The researcher collected qualitative data through classroom observations and interviews to discover how students develop critical literacies regarding race and class inequality and how teaching and learning practices in these schools can impact young people’s sociopolitical development. For each of these classroom observations, the researcher took notes on the teaching and learning practices exercised in the classes based on documented structures of sociocultural learning theories (Kirshner, 2007). The data were coded for observations of critical pedagogical practices (Darder, et al., 2003), critical literacy practices (Shor, 1999), and sociopolitical development (Watts & Hipolito-Delgado, 2015).

Results & Significance: The teachers in these classrooms used particular historical, cultural, and literary texts to expose students to multiple perspectives, to introduce them to ideas and structures of social change, and to facilitate critical dialogue about race, class, power, and equity. These teaching and learning practices worked to cultivate critical literacies, evidenced by the students’ writing, interview responses, and contributions to class discussion. In each of the schools discussed, students engaged in explicit discussions of race, class, power, and equity through classroom lessons and assessments. The results of this study reveal academic strategies for cultivating sociopolitical thought and critical literacies in the secondary classroom.

Author

• Lauren Leigh Kelly, Rutgers University Graduate School of Education