CRITICAL PEDAGOGY and ISSUE BASED LEARNING

 CRITICAL PEDAGOGY and ISSUE BASED LEARNING

Critical Pedagogy is the theory of PAULO FREIRE.

 It envisages an educational system capable of transforming the world - 

where people get involved in social issues, 

analyse them critically, 

discuss them in a democratic atmosphere and

 achieve a deepened awareness of socio-cultural reality that shapes their life. 

According to Freire, when students think critically about their educational situation, they will be able to find connection between individual problems and experiences with the social context in which they live. 

Freire stresses the importance of LIBERATING EDUCATION.

'PRAXIS' is the power and knowledge to take action against oppression. Praxis involves engaging  in a cycle of theory, application, evaluation, reflection and then back to theory. 

The first step of praxis is 'conscientisation' , which is realising ones consciousness. 

Social transformation is the product of praxis at collective level. 

Steps in Critical Pedagogy

Critical Pedagogy develops through a sequence of six steps:

1. CONTEXT  

This tells about the background of the students. Educator must know each student -his/her family, social status, financial condition, culture, religious belief etc.

2. VOCABULARY

This tells about the volume of vocabulary possessed by each student. The educator must know the vocabulary of each student including their pronunciation, colloquial usage, slang etc.

3. CODIFICATION

This tells about the codification of words or usages possessed by the student. The educator must know the vocabulary possessed by the student with its coded meaning - a word may have different meaning in different localities and places.

4. DE-CODIFICATION

This tells about the codification of words and themes possessed by students, as being part of a culture, the educators must be aware of their influence on the child - listened words can create images in the mind. 

5. DIALOGUE

This narrates the dialogue mode of learning , which builds upon dialogue between persons. This approach helps all learners to be active in learning process , contributing their share of knowledge. The educators must set a free learning atmosphere to help learners express themselves. In this setup, the students are co-investigator with the teacher and each one in the group teach others. 

6. PRAXIS

This is 'action'. The dialogue mode of learning helps one to gain new knowledge and this knowledge inturn leads to actions. 

ISSUE BASED LEARNING

By incorporating the ideas put forward by Freire, a problem based approach is being introduced in the school curriculum in Kerala. There are eight major issues to be dealt in as the bases for classroom transactions. They are : 

• lack of vision as a universal citizen
• lack of development of work competency
• lack of awareness of cultural heritage and independence
• state of negligence towards agricultural heritage
• lack of scientific perspective on  public health
• negligence to the marginalised sections
• lack of scientific land and water management

Role of teachers in issue based classroom.

                       In issue based class room, teachers should set the objectives in accordance with the issues highlighted in the chapters. 

The  activities should be chosen, considering the individual differences of the learner. 

The teacher makes sure s/he understands the students' preexisting conceptions and guides activities , focusing on construction of knowledge 

        Teacher deliberately inculcate cooperative learning skills such as sharing, helping others learn, contributing ideas, and leadership skill for effective social life.

        Teacher should organise  group activities and ensure that  learning environment is comfortable.