Teachers as Intellectuals

Henry Giroux's collection of essays Teachers as Intellectuals: Toward a Critical Pedagogy of Learning represents the evolving arc of radical and critical educators and theorists' efforts to critique and affirm the essential role and agency of teachers and students in the struggle to create a emancipatory education and practice grounded in democratic principles of justice and equality. These essays, influenced by cultural and social reproduction theory and theoretical perspectives of radical and critical theorists such as Paulo Freire, Antonio Gramsci, Stanley Aronowitz, Peter McLaren, and Ira Shor, reflect a critical pedagogy emphasizing the importance of individuals as social actors and change agents. Giroux was among the first theorists to develop and define the [Page 870]term critical theory as a vehicle for moving beyond the prescribed ...