Practicing Critical Pedagogy: The Influences of Joe L. Kincheloe

153 Pages·2016·1.852 MB·English

by  Mary Frances Agnello, William M. Reynolds (eds.)

Critical Studies of Education 2
Mary Frances Agnello
William M. Reynolds Editors
Practicing
Critical
Pedagogy
The Influences of Joe L. Kincheloe
Critical Studies of Education
Volume 2
Series Editors
Shirley R. Steinberg , University of Calgary , Montreal , Québec, Canada
Kenneth Tobin , The Graduate Center , City University of New York ,
New York , New York, USA
Editorial Board
Kevin Alderson , University of Calgary , Calgary , Canada
Rochelle Brock , University of Indiana , Gary , USA
Alejandro J. Gallard , Georgia Southern University, Statesboro ,
Georgia , USA
Bettina Love , University of Georgia , Athens , USA
Christine Quail , State University of New York , Oneonta , USA
Leila Villaverde , University of North Carolina , Greensboro , USA
Peter Charles Taylor , Curtin University, Perth , Western Australia
John Willinsky , Stanford University , USA
We live in an era where forms of education designed to win the consent of students,
teachers, and the public to the inevitability of a neo-liberal, market-driven process
of globalization are being developed around the world. In these hegemonic modes
of pedagogy questions about issues of race, class, gender, sexuality, colonialism,
religion, and other social dynamics are simply not asked. Indeed, questions about
the social spaces where pedagogy takes place—in schools, media, corporate think
tanks, etc.—are not raised. When these concerns are connected with queries such as
the following, we begin to move into a serious study of pedagogy: What knowledge
is of the most worth? Whose knowledge should be taught? What role does power
play in the educational process? How are new media re-shaping as well as perpetu-
ating what happens in education? How is knowledge produced in a corporatized
politics of knowledge? What socio-political role do schools play in the twenty-fi rst
century? What is an educated person? What is intelligence? How important are
socio-cultural contextual factors in shaping what goes on in education? Can schools
be more than a tool of the new American (and its Western allies’) twenty-fi rst cen-
tury empire? How do we educate well-informed, creative teachers? What roles
should schools play in a democratic society? What roles should media play in a
democratic society? Is education in a democratic society different than in a totalitar-
ian society? What is a democratic society? How is globalization affecting educa-
tion? How does our view of mind shape the way we think of education? How does
affect and emotion shape the educational process? What are the forces that shape
educational purpose in different societies? These, of course, are just a few examples
of the questions that need to be asked in relation to our exploration of educational
purpose. This series of books can help establish a renewed interest in such questions
and their centrality in the larger study of education and the preparation of teachers
and other educational professionals.
More information about this series at h ttp://www.springer.com/series/13431
Mary Frances Agnello (cid:129) William M. Reynolds
Editors
Practicing Critical Pedagogy
The Infl uences of Joe L. Kincheloe
Editors
Mary Frances Agnello William M. Reynolds
Akita International University Department of Curriculum
Japan , Akita , Japan Georgia Southern University
Georgia , USA
Critical Studies of Education
ISBN 978-3-319-25845-4 ISBN 978-3-319-25847-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-25847-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015959698
Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016
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To the memory of Joe L. Kincheloe whose
intelligence, insight, and friendship inspired
us all.

Foreword
W hat is distinctively evident through Practicing Critical Pedagogy: The Infl uences
of Joe L. Kincheloe, as well as other texts/sites (T eaching Joe L. Kincheloe , T he
International Journal of Critical Pedagogy , a nd The Freire Project ), is Joe’s p ro-
found impact, his lasting legacy, and more powerfully his call to be present/think-
ing/ doing, for critical solidarity. His intellectual depth and pedagogical intent were
always crystal clear, even in the fi rst few minutes of an initial meeting. Many of us
that were his students and colleagues feel a sense of determination in continuing this
work. The institutions we navigate pull us to be less than the public intellectuals we
need to be, falling short of equitable praxis, and often feel turmoiled over the con-
sequences. These are diffi cult times not only for educational institutions k-higher
education but for youth in social/public spaces and for anyone thinking left of right.
There is a sense of the return of McCarthyism in many ways. The air is tense as we
slide further into regressive politics and new levels of public disclosure previously
unfathomable. I’m sure Joe would be feverishly writing, researching, and convers-
ing about these issues and graciously inviting us to write with him, critically prob-
lematizing these issues, and forecasting what’s next, and together new pedagogical
paths would materialize. His insight, as well as his incredible talent in mobilizing us
all, is sorely missed. P racticing Critical Pedagogy activates and makes clear the
need to enact what and how we know, reminding us to stay steadfast toward
justice.
Practicing Critical Pedagogy also encapsulates Joe’s distinct mix of humility
and urgency. One he also underscores in is C ritical Pedagogy: Where Are We Now?
There he elucidates the tension within critical pedagogy as a fi eld and warns that the
fracturing of a disciplinary community can be its forfeit, one we can’t afford and
one that inadvertently anoints more power to mainstream perspectives. In this can-
did refl ection, Joe lays out an imperative wake up call, much like Maxine Greene’s
call for wide awakedness 1 in the everyday. We can’t hide behind ignorance either;
1 Greene, M. (1981). The humanities and emancipatory possibility. Journal of Education 163, (4),
Fall, 287–305.
vii
viii Foreword
Deborah Britzman2 clearly states it offers no safety, and he suggests we be ready to
continuously forge the relationship between pedagogical practice and issues of
justice. Joe (2007) noted:
I am always amazed with how quickly the world changes, the acceleration of the pace of
change, and the expansion of the power of power. Given such dynamics it is inconceivable
that critical pedagogy would not be ever-evolving, changing to meet the needs posed by the
new circumstances and unprecedented challenges…In such dire circumstances we need
critical pedagogy more than ever. Where are we now? [We are] Wedged between an ideo-
logical rock and a hegemonic hard place with a relatively small audience. I believe critical
pedagogy contains the imaginative, intellectual, and pragmatic power to free us from that
state. Such an escape is central to the survival of not just critical pedagogy but also to
human beings as a species. (40)
T his brings me back to the compelling work in Practicing Critical Pedagogy: The
Infl uences of Joe L. Kincheloe . Without a doubt it fully engages, illustrates, and
maps Joe’s extraordinary intellectual contributions, pedagogy, and camaraderie
around the world. This book captivates while inviting the reader to pursue and com-
mit to the possible through the nexus of praxis, compassion, and equity.
Department of Educational Leadership Leila E. Villaverde
and Cultural Foundations
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Greensboro , NC , USA
Reference
K incheloe, J. L., & McLaren, P. (Eds.). (2010). Critical pedagogy: Where are we now? New York:
Peter Lang Publishers.
2 B ritzman, D., P. (1998). Is there a queer pedagogy? Or, stop reading straight 1 . In B. Pinar’s (ed).
Curriculum: Toward new identities. NY: Routledge.
Poem—We talked over s weet rolls and coffee
We talked over coffee and sweet rolls,
on a cold March Montreal morning,
AERA was early that year,
and we had chanced on one another in the lobby,
outside the Beaver Club
in the Queen Elizabeth Hotel,
900 Rene Levesque Boulevard West
The Beaver Club required formal dress,
and we did not meet their formal dress standards.
Joe was wearing a tee-shirt and jeans, and
I was in brown walking shorts, an old blue seater and my Birkenstocks.
but we fi t into a space outside that bastion of colonial power,
with its paintings
of trappers,
canoes,
Native Americans,
campfi res, guns, Hudson Bay Blankets,
beaver pelts.
we would not have gone in that room, even if invited.
we talked of this an that,
power, wars, Bush, truth,
academic politics, making a difference.
but mostly we shared a quiet moment together,
united in a love of critical pedagogy,
fi res inside the belly of the beast,
respecting the space of the other
outside a room that honored all that we
rejected … nothing loud though … laughter…
the laughter, the joy of being in that space together,
that is what I hold onto today.
Norm Denzin
ix