Critical-Praxical Pedagogy. Reflections on the experience of the Postgraduate Program in Teacher Education of the Pedagogical Department of Primary Education of the University of Crete

Abstract

The current article attempts to develop a critical proposal for the pedagogical reality and our “frozen” educational practices in the 21st century. The school’s knowledge-centered and examination-centered orientation, along with the imposition of power and authority through the dominant ideology, nurtures social inequalities, creates cultural and gender hierarchies, acting as an outdated/ frozen social image of a commercialized school perception for science, social relations and the expectations of young people. Our reflections are based on the principles of Critical Pedagogy, expanded through the concept of Border Pedagogy, which will allow us to cross the invisible borders of race, class, gender, identity, religion and sexual orientation, to empower individuals and transform schools and society. In this way, learning can become a highly active (practical/ effective) process, based on individual and social self-actualization and democratic understanding. An indispensable methodological tool, in this regard, is the adoption of sophisticated forms of teaching and research that are able to highlight the true lives of the oppressed and socially excluded groups in which concerns Critical Pedagogy. In addition, through our proposal we redefine the current - conventional - framework for academic research and move towards a critico-praxical approach to research and learning, with emphasis on the praxical (in the Foucauldian sense) actions (where praxis, discourse and communication are intertwined) rather than technocratic practices.