Fostering Critical Consciousness in the English Classroom

• In Event: "Showing Up" for Students, Schools, and the Profession: Critical Practitioner Inquiry in Justice-Centered Teacher Education

Abstract

This project explores a practical application of Paulo Friere’s concept of critical consciousness in the high school English classroom. My goal was to merge the skills of the English classroom such as analysis, argumentation, and asking questions, with building students’ awareness of oppressive systems and their position within them. I used literary theory, classroom dialogue, and authentic assessments to foster the three components of critical consciousness: critical reflection, political efficacy, and critical action. My data analysis illuminated students’ ability to critically reflect, but the question of how critical action would manifest in the English classroom remained. Given that critical action in the form of social action projects was not feasible, I measured critical action in terms of the extent to which students exhibited dispositions necessary to make positive change beyond the classroom. I found that students primarily exhibited three significant dispositions: perspective taking, asking critical questions, and open-mindedness. Implications that arose from this project include the role of community building, legitimizing emotional knowledge, and content relevance

Author

• Mackenzi Turgeon, Riverdale Country School