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| Banning Ethnic Studies or critical pedagogy |
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The incessant attack on immigrants has now taken an inward direction targeted at Chicanas/os in American society. Look for more imigraphobic policies to work their way into the great State of Colorado, including legislation regarding the 14th Amendment to our Constitution that guarantees citizenship to all children born in America, regardless of race, class, or creed. Racial profiling has no boundaries; now that SB 2010 has become law, those given authority to enforce the law will use probable cause to violate the rights of both undocumented workers and Latinas/os who are full fledged citizens.
To add salt to the wounds, on May 12th Governor Brewer signed HB 2281 into law that bans all ethnic studies classes in public schools. It goes against the grain of freedom of speech and has stirred up the passion of veterana/o activists walking mano-mano on the streets of Arizona with upcoming activists and community and civic-minded citizens in an old fashioned protest seemingly aimed at authoritarian education.
The real attack by HB 2281 is against critical pedagogy. It is masked by indicting progressive teachers and professors for creating rebellion and revolt. Finger pointing at Ethnic Studies educators accusing them of seditious behavior are really attempts to protect a system that benefits some at the expense of others. Anything that defies the power structure is criticized as un-American and undemocratic.
Education liberationist Henry Giroux, a disciple of Paulo Freire, defines critical pedagogy as an “educational movement, guided by passion and principle, to help students develop consciousness of freedom, recognize authoritarian tendencies and connect knowledge to power and the ability to take constructive action.” In striving for social justice, critical pedagogy challenges armchair sociologists; you know who they are. They are scholars that have all the answers at parties and gatherings but never bother to see if their solutions work.
Critical pedagogy is a deconstruction/reconstruction dichotomy that challenges sacred cows. It takes on old attitudes and clichés and turns them upside down for critical examination. It is aimed towards marginalized groups in American society, those who have been subjected to what Paulo Freire terms the banking theory of education. At its core is decolonization of the mind, soul and spirit.
Youth have an uncanny ability to recognize, uncover and react to social injustice. They are repositories of the master narrative. Intervention into their subliminal and unconscious processes is difficult. Prying open those gateways is difficult. Trapped in the vestiges of young minds, festering in educational sweatshops is unconscious bitter sweetness waiting to be uncovered. Youth can see through its veneers; but seldom are they given permission to fully participate in the construction of knowledge that will free them. Teachers who defend the status quo don’t grant students permission to think critically because nobody wants to bite the hand that feeds them. Youth spend their time studying for the CSAP during the day and rapping on América’s streets at night.
Youth are generally treated as second class citizens in schools where critical consciousness is shunted aside to protect the master’s ideology. Critical pedagogy is a social justice ideal; it is a pair of tweezers that pulls at the roots. It is a journey, where followers take action against human beings drowning in linguistic and cultural imperialism. Its function is to unveil social injustice as students begin to think critically. In the practice of critical pedagogy there is no blind justice.
During the onslaught of Ethnic Studies there is no doubt that Chicana/o Studies Programs and Departments across the nation face placement on the proverbial chopping block. It is a question of continued eradication of nuestra historia y cultura or survival. It is of the utmost importance for Chicana/o Studies Program and Departments to join the struggle against repression that threatens annihilation. It is incumbent upon Chicana/o Studies Programs and departments to develop creative and innovative approaches to critical democratic pedagogy and to work on discovering pathways into colonias and barrios, places that hold our young students hostage to educational hegemony. True liberation should never cease simply because the powers above, guided by irrational fears and misinformation, practice auto de fe and academic ethnic cleansing a la academia. Controversial disciplines expose the master’s social contradictions, and thus, face extermination as critical views of society expose students to manifestations of overt and covert oppression suffered by the oppressed as they resist the oppressor in a play called life.
Roberto Vargas argues that “If people who experience oppression are allowed to create knowledge, they could create the knowing to liberate themselves and destroy the forces that oppress.” Oppositional consciousness should be part of el remedio. This would require authentic dialogue, defined by Freire as “two-way communication, a horizontal relationship between persons engaged on a joint, critical search. “ Learning comes through praxis or the combination of theory, action and reflection. Praxis uncovers social contradiction and leads to liberation as students act upon their worlds.
Creating spiritual space where critical pedagogy can evolve means communities will have to become innovative, practice more outreach and networking and develop service learning opportunities as key components to creating emancipation and liberation con la gente.
Take off the blinders and begin to see the real world. Join the Ethnic Studies Revival and save critical pedagogy.
Dr. Ramón Del Castillo is an independent journalist.
© 2011 The Weekly Issue/El Semanario, Inc.
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