Critical Dialogues in the Teaching And Learning Process

Critical theory, critical pedagogy, and critical discourse analysis emerged following World War I in Europe, and entered American education from the 1970s onward. Through these perspectives, education professionals can learn to identify sources of socio-cultural power that shape, control, limit and empower the practice of education as an institution of culture. The perception of the classroom teacher by society, individual communities, and the teachers themselves is shaped by a complex intersection of political power, economics, gender and sexual discourses, and historical meta-narratives. This course will provide an overview of these discourses through the lense of critical theory to discuss the nature and characteristics of the teaching profession in contemporary U.S. schooling.