ERIC Number: EJ897333
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Oct
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1356-2517
EISSN: N/A
Achieving Social Justice within and through Higher Education: The Challenge for Critical Pedagogy
McArthur, Jan
Teaching in Higher Education, v15 n5 p493-504 Oct 2010
While the term critical pedagogy embraces a range of writers and literature, a common feature of all is a belief that education and society are intrinsically inter-related and that the fundamental purpose of education is to improve social justice. However there are perceptions that critical pedagogy has been more successful in critiquing educational and social practices than in achieving actual change. In this paper I explore two areas that critical pedagogy can address to move beyond critique: the importance of a movement formed by diverse elements, in which difference and disagreement are harnessed to help drive change; and the use of this diversity to direct change at a range of levels. My analysis draws specifically on literature that challenges managerialist assumptions about change as a simple, technical process, focusing instead on the complexities of the social world and the attendant complexities of achieving educational and social change.
Descriptors: Social Justice, Critical Theory, Social Change, Educational Change, Role of Education, Higher Education, Cultural Pluralism, Social Influences, Change Strategies
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A