Critical Pedagogy

It is interesting to consider whether education is truly a liberator or an assembly line like tool of the dominant classes. To be honest, I usually feel like the latter is a bit of a conspiracy theory that I've never been wholly convinced of because it feels a like to Matrix-esque for me. However, it is certainly a critique of our education system worth considering. Being a part of the American education system, on the secondary level, I do not concede entirely to the idea of education as an "invisible" tool of the dominant classes; however, the fact that I do work within private schools is evidence of my frustration with the public school system.

Teaching students to question existing systems, assumptions, and perceived realities is an important piece of education as liberation. However, from a practical perspective, I'm not sure how critical pedagogy would fit into an entry (freshman) level composition class. It seems that our struggle as composition teachers would be even more basic than student awareness of the "invisible" superstructures in the world around them. It seems that students need to be able to express themselves effectively in writing before being challenged with questioning or critiquing society. However, maybe my understanding of the practical implications of critical pedagogy are shallow or my expectations of freshman writers are too limiting.

As an aside, I'm not comfortable in the least with professors using classrooms as soap boxes for a specific political agenda. There is a stark contrast between faciliating discussions about what social injustices or "invisible" social and cultural superstructures may exist and a professor telling students what to think about such issues.