"The Hegemonster" and Questions of Power: Lessons From Teaching Critical Theory in Elementary Classrooms

• In Event: 63.058 - Reassessments of Power, Ideologies, and Praxis: Toward a More Critical Elementary Education

Abstract

Objectives and Research Questions
In Teachers as Cultural Workers (2005) Paulo Freire referred to challenges regarding literacy “always involve ideological questions and, along with them, questions of power.” This paper extends Freire’s analysis to elementary education research to put pressure upon the need for preparing elementary teachers to engage critical theory in the service of teaching students to ask ideological questions and critique power. Specifically, I focus on how teachers of color learn and teach critical theories to young children. The study addresses the following research questions:

1) What challenges do teachers experience with teaching critical perspectives and theoretical frameworks in their elementary classrooms?

2) How might Ethnic Studies and other critical formations better support teachers’ and students’ engagements with theory?

Theory
This study draws from critical multicultural education (Au, Brown, and Calderon, 2017), ethnic studies pedagogies (Sleeter, 2011; Tintiangco-Cubales, et al., 2014), and critical pedagogy (Freire, 2008). These frames provided a foundation to develop tools and curricula that engage critical theories such as: “hegemony” (Gramsci, 1995) and “three pillars of white supremacy” (Smith, 2015). Collectively, these frameworks supported the teaching and learning of teachers utilizing critical perspectives in their teaching practice.

Methods/Data Sources
Data for this year-long study were derived from semi-structured interviews and focus groups with four elementary school teachers working in public schools located in historically underserved neighborhoods in California. Supplementary data included teachers’ reflections, teacher artifacts and lesson plans, and students’ work. Teachers were selected because of their self-identified expertise in Ethnic Studies, critical approaches toward teaching, and engagement with community organizing (Reyes-McGovern and Buenavista, 2017). The study explored: 1) the impact and influence of Ethnic Studies on their teacher training and 2) how their experiences in critical educator spaces supported the development of pedagogical practices centered upon critical theory.

Findings and Significance
This study pushes forward the possibilities of attending to the few empirical studies focused on Ethnic Studies for elementary teaching. Findings from this study included: 1) The importance of collaboration with like-minded teachers; 2) Honoring and utilizing the role of Ethnic Studies in the preparation of elementary teachers; and 3) The role of interdisciplinarity in the construction of critical approaches toward curriculum design. Teachers developed curricula that explicitly engaged with critical theory. For instance, through the development of “the Hegemonster” – a curricular intervention premised upon students’ reading of Antonio Gramsci – teachers found effective the ways teaching critical theory supports students’ comprehension of complex systems of power.

The current political moment – one of neoliberalism and an emboldened white supremacy – demands the urgent need to imagine and dream ways to better prepare school’s most vulnerable students. Ultimately, this study engaged with the critical and innovative energies from Ethnic Studies to develop tools and frameworks appropriate for elementary classrooms to attend to Freire’s call for “questions of power.”

Author

• Edward Ryan Curammeng, California State University - Dominguez Hills