*all education is inherently political and all pedagogy must be aware of this condition
* a social and educational vision of justice and equality should ground all education
* issues of race, class, gender, sexuality, religion, and physical ability are all important domains of oppression and critical anti-hegemonic action.
* the alleviation of oppression and human suffering is a key dimension of educational purpose
* schools must not hurt students--good schools don't blame students for their failures or strip students of the knowledges they bring to the classroom
* all positions including critical pedagogy itself must be problematized and questioned
* the professionalism of teachers must be respected and part of the role of any educator involves becoming a scholar and a researcher
* education must both promote emancipatory change and the cultivation of the intellect--these goals should never be in conflict, they should be synergistic
* the politics of knowledge and issues of epistemology are central to understanding the way power operates in educational institutions to perpetuate privilege and to subjugate the marginalized--"validated" scientific knowledge can often be used as a basis of oppression as it is produced without an appreciation of how dominant power and culture shape it.
* education often reflects the interests and needs of new modes of colonialism and empire. Such dynamics must be exposed, understood, and acted upon as part of critical transformative praxis.
I suppose if none of that works we could simple privatize education and let the market decide. I hear that after Madoff made off with all that money he's looking for a new line of work (after Kashkari is done carrying all that cash to his bankster freinds perhaps he could helpout as well). As EdSec/ basketball hero Duncan says: "I don't run 600 schools, I manage a portfolio of 600 education stocks." That is a brilliant apprach- when all else fails appeal to the infallible logic of the market.
No comments:
Post a Comment