The Task of Critical Pedagogy

The central task of critical pedagogy is to understand the oppressive aspects of education and overall society in order to generate pedagogical, individual and societal transformation while developing pedagogical and political strategies that work toward the elimination of various forms of subordination such as class, gender, race and sexual orientation, and strengthen peoples’ possibilities for organic learning, and powers to fight for inequalities of the world.

But "there is no unitary conception of critical pedagogy. There are as many critical pedagogies as there are critical educators, although there are certainly major points of intersection and commonality. There are the writings about critical pedagogy that occur in the academy, which are many and varied. And there is the dimension of critical pedagogy that is most important - that which emerges organically from the daily interactions between teachers and students." (Peter McLaren in an interview with Mashhood Rizvi, http://www.sef.org.pk/educatewebsite/educate5fol/uron5.asp)

"Critical pedagogy does not end with the idea of using student experiences to frame curricula. Rather, it proposes that education should always go beyond that point by encouraging students to become active participants in their education (Anderson & Irvine, 1993; Macedo, 1994; Shor, 1992). Students who are active participants are engaged with the teacher and the curriculum. They contribute their own ideas and learn to wrestle with ambiguities and challenge assumptions. Active participation also means that they cocreate curricula with the teacher to ensure that their needs and interests are given primary importance. Finally, it means taking action and transforming the world in order to eliminate disadvantage. Social transformation is the ultimate goal of critical education." (Sophie C. Degener, http://www.ncsall.net/?id=562)