Tagged: Paulo Freire

Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Organizations & Work

The Sociology Classroom: Critical, Transformative, Radical? Part 3 of 3. Radical Pedagogy & Practice

In the first part of this series, I asked whether the sociology classroom can be a space of critical or radical pedagogy and discussed the theories behind Freirean learner-centered approaches to radical pedagogy. In my second article , I laid out some critiques of these models brought forward by scholars equally committed to critical sociology and radical analyses. Despite these critical voices though, there is certainly good reason for radical scholars to have their pedagogy reflect their intellectual commitments. Today’s...

Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

Sputnik Point of View: Deficit Language in U.S. Education

It was a Sputnik moment, President Obama said, when the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) standardized test scores were published late last year. The US ranked somewhere in the mid-20s for most subjects. “America is in danger of falling behind,” Obama warned. We’re being “out-educated,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan cried. Panicked pundits followed suit: “Wake up!” “Catch up!” Fill up that “gap!” There’s no doubt that our everyday uses of language matter. The language we use can shape how we...