Critical theories of education are philosophical, political, and pedagogic responses to real world circumstances, which attempt to shift the purposes, scope, aims, and delivery of education to enable cultural and social transformation through the progressive growth of individuals. They pay particular attention to the situation of oppressed and marginalized groups and seek to contest the ideologies of dominant social relations and established needs, which proponents view as key to the reproduction and naturalization of current social and global inequalities. A critical theory of education is rooted in an understanding of the features of currently existing capitalist societies, their relations of subordination and domination, but also their contradictions and the openings these produce for progressive social change through transformative practices that proponents believe will generate a ...