Journal 7

I am glad with my learning in today session because I had the opportunity to read and discuss about an approach that was developed almost 40 years ago but it is still new for me. I used to think that communicative language approach was the most significant for students' learning, in which they have the chance to learn and enjoy the language. Still, it is exactly what is it, communicative approach focused essentially on language itself, giving it even more importance than students' personal, social and cultural lives. So, in that way, this approach that is called "Critical pedagogy" gives a lot of more importance and power to students' emancipation. It is focused on a problem posing education more than a baking education, that is, students are social agents of change in their own society, even in their educational context. We as critical teachers are transformative intellectuals, so we have the role of encouraging and empowering students to analyze and challenge the authority within their educational and living situations if the consider it necessary. 

Within this pedagogical approach, although teachers represent the authority in the class, they both students and teacher are co-agents, that means, they use dialogism in order to make the education more libratory and social transformative. In that way, praxis is the most important part of the education because it emphazises on equality between teacher and students, so students are not anymore empty boxes who just receive the knowledge. Finally, I like to emphazise that marginalization in CP is completely avoided, it allows to students have a voice and teacher to be a guide and helper in this path and process of liberation and emancipation. I really love this approach, although I consider that at the moment I am still focus more on communicate the language instead of being critical, I would like to change my perspective of teaching and giving more importance to students' life and help them to become active agent in their living situations and to develop a critical consciousness of it.

Glossary:

Critical pedagogy: It is a teaching approach which help students question and challenge domination, and the beliefs and practices that dominate, and help them achieve a critical consciousness. 

Critical consciousness: People with this consciousness can interpret the problems and analyze their realities. It is not just individual and intellectual effort but a collective result. 

Libratory education: To empower students to challenge oppressive social condition and to work toward a more just society.

Banking education: It is a represention of student being vessels who just receive information and knowledge.  

Problem posing education: Education that lead to critical consciousness, focus on problematic issues in learners’ lives.