Critical Theory

Any critical theory or discourse is characterized by its insistence upon both critiquing society and offering a foundation for reform. Thus, a critical theory provides both a language of critique and a language of possibility, a simultaneous process of dissent and reform.

Critical educational theory has its roots in the school of critical theory known as the Frankfurt School and in the writings and challenges of critical progressive educators of the 20th century, such as John Dewey, George Counts, Harold Rugg, and Paulo Freire.

The Frankfurt School of Critical Theory originated in Germany after World War I, concurrent with, but in opposition to, the rise of Nazism, and developed a neo-Marxist analysis and critique of society. It insisted upon the necessity of an ongoing critique of political and social structures and practices of any society in view of social change and individual emancipation. Because most of these scholars were Jewish, they took refuge in the United States in 1934, but some returned to Frankfurt in 1953. The Frankfurt School of Critical Theory is identified with many recent and contemporary philosophers and social analysis, including the life and writings of Max Horkheimer, Erich Fromm, Herbert Marcuse, Theodor Adorno, and Jürgen Habermas. They had a history of continually critiquing society and raising dissent to the insistence of a positivist, technical rationality in producing knowledge and value to the social construction of knowledge.

Critical educators such as John Dewey and George Counts historically focused upon democratic progressive principles of justice and equity for all, while acknowledging the political aspects and effects of schooling. Progressive educators offered reforms from both a theoretical and a practical perspective so that learning would respond to the historical struggles of making real the democratic values of equity, social justice, caring, and community, thus developing the world for self and others as a “better world,” becoming a more humane and just world.

This critical approach to education gave rise to developing a “critical pedagogy,” penned by Henry Giroux in 1983 in his book, Theory and Resistance in Education: A Pedagogy for the Opposition. From that point on, a critical theory of schooling would be identified as critical pedagogy, which would apply a language of critique and a language of possibility to what is happening in schools and what could be happening in schools. However, critical pedagogy is neither a method nor pedagogy, but an approach to understanding what [Page 242]schooling is about and can do. It does not offer a set of recipes or techniques such as instructional strategies and models. Instead, critical pedagogy embeds a process of praxis, that is, to continue to reflect upon “what is,” to critique “what is,” and to act upon the possibilities of transforming “what is” to “what could be.” Thus, critical pedagogy is recursive as an ongoing praxis of reflection and action, a process of transformation and hope, and is characterized by what it does rather than the “how” of a typical instructional methodology or pedagogy.

Critical pedagogy continues the struggle for social transformation, beginning with a concern for the amelioration of society, focusing upon the plight of the poor and the marginalized. It focuses upon the relationship between the hidden curriculum in schools on the one hand, and on the other, social classes and gender and the experiences and voices of oppressed men and women. It understands literacy as being the struggle to define and emancipate oneself and society, grounded in recognizing the need for developing a vision of justice and equity for social and educational reforms. These aspects of critical pedagogy are congruent with Freire's notion of education as a dialogical process in view of developing a critical consciousness.

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