Resisting ideological echo chambers: if we are all critical pedagogues, how will we know we are doing LD well?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi32.1461Keywords:
critical pedagogy, neoliberalism, social justice, echo chamberAbstract
At the launch of How to be a Learning Developer in higher education (Syska and Buckley, 2024), a common thread emerged during contributor presentations: the need to develop a shared critical approach to position ourselves effectively within higher education. This approach would identify and implement strategies to resist the challenges of neoliberalism, working towards social justice for our students, using critical pedagogy. These themes are relatively common in the LD literature, and the ALDinHE value of ‘embracing […] critical pedagogy’ accompanies the manifesto statement that ‘neutrality is not an option’ (ALDinHE, 2023). These terms carry political connotations and implications for LD practice. Together, these factors suggest a move to develop a ‘signature’ critical LD pedagogy, underpinned by an explicitly ideological vision. Under these circumstances, we risk constructing ‘a bounded, enclosed media space that has the potential to both magnify the messages delivered within it and insulate them from rebuttal’ (Jamieson and Capella, 2008, p.76) — in short, an echo chamber. This raises some important questions:
- Given the explicitly political nature of critical pedagogy, in recruitment of new LD colleagues, should we test for and limit entry to our critical pedagogy club to those with ‘acceptable’ political views?
- Critical pedagogy is skeptical of dominant narratives. How will we prevent critical pedagogy from becoming the dominant narrative in our community?
- What if we are wrong? Even if our diagnosis of the challenges we face is correct, how will we test our solutions in the absence of robust challenges from alternative perspectives?
References
ALDinHE (2023) About ALDinHE. Available at: https://aldinhe.ac.uk/about-aldinhe/ (Accessed: 12 January 2024).
Amsler, S. (2015) The education of radical democracy. London: Routledge.
Asher, G. (2015) ‘Criticality in postgraduate research and writing’, in E. Ryan and T. Walsh (eds.) Writing your thesis: a guide for postgraduate students. Maynooth: MACE Press. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/50595237/Criticality_in_Postgraduate_Research_and_Writing_Critical_thinking_critical_reading_and_critical_writing (Accessed: 23 September 2024).
Asher, G. (2018) ‘Critical dialogues for learning and technology — in, against and beyond the neoliberal university’, Uncommon Thought, 4 December. Available at: https://www.uncommonthought.com/mtblog/archives/2018/12/01/critical-dialogues-for-learning-and-technology-in-against-and-beyond-the-neoliberal-university.php (Accessed: 23 September 2024).
Asher, G. (2022) ‘Working in, against, and beyond the neoliberal university: critical academic literacies as a critical pedagogical response to the crisis of the university’, in G. Asher, S. Cowden, S. Housee and A. Maisuria (eds.) Critical pedagogy and emancipation: a festschrift in memory of Joyce Canaan. Oxford: Peter Lang.
Asher, G. (2023a) ‘Learning development in, against, and beyond the neoliberal university: critical learning development and critical academic literacies’, in A. Syska and C. Buckley (eds.) How to be a Learning Developer in higher education: critical perspectives, community and practice. London: Routledge.
Asher, G. (2023b) ‘Collaboration in, against, and beyond the neoliberal, neocolonial, pandemic university’, in S. Abeggelen, T. Burns and S. Sinfield (eds.) Collaboration in higher education: a new ecology of practice. London: Bloomsbury.
Asher, G., Buckley, C. and Syska, A. (2024) ‘In, against, and beyond the neoliberal university’, The Learning Development Project [podcast]. Available at: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ldproject/episodes/Gordon-Asher-in--against-and-beyond-the-neoliberal-university-e2nfsak (Accessed: 23 September 2023).
Biesta, G. (2017) ‘Don’t be fooled by ignorant schoolmasters: on the role of the teacher in emancipatory education’, Policy Futures in Education, 15, pp.52−73. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/1478210316681202
Brookfield, S. (2005) The power of critical theory for adult learning and teaching. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Darder, A. (2015) Freire and education. New York: Routledge.
Darder, A. (2024) The student guide to Freire’s pedagogy of the oppressed. London: Bloomsbury.
Darder, A., Hernandez, K., Lam, K.D. and Baltodano, M. (eds.) (2024) The critical pedagogy reader. London: Routledge.
Di Angelo, R. and Sensoy, O. (2014) ‘Leaning in: a student’s guide to engaging constructively with social justice content’, Radical Pedagogy, 11(1). Available at: https://ccej-sfu.ca/research/leaning-in-a-students-guide-to-engaging-constructively-with-social-justice-content/ (Accessed: 24 September 2024).
Duarte, J.L., Crawford, J.T., Stern, C., Haidt, J., Jussim, L. and Tetlock, P.E. (2015) ‘Political diversity will improve social psychological science’, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 38, pp.1−13. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X14000430
Freire, P. (1970) Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Seabury.
Giroux, H. (2015) ‘Higher education and the politics of disruption’, Truthout, 17 March. Available at: http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/29693-higher-education-and-the-politics-of-disruption (Accessed: 25 September 2021).
Giroux, H. (2020) On critical pedagogy. London: Bloomsbury.
Giroux, H. (2024) ‘The necessity of critical pedagogy in dark times’, Uncommon Thought, 22 September. Available at: https://www.uncommonthought.com/mtblog/archives/2024/09/22/the-necessity-of-critical-pedagogy-in-dark-times.php (Accessed: 24 September 2024).
Haidt, J. (2022) ‘Why the past 10 years of American life have been uniquely stupid’, The Atlantic, 11 April. Available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/05/social-media-democracy-trust-babel/629369/ (Accessed 5 May, 2024)
Held, D. (1980) Introduction to critical theory: Horkheimer to Habermas. Berkeley: University of California Press.
How, A. (2003) Critical theory. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Jamieson, K.H. and Cappella, J.N. (2008) Echo chamber: Rush Limbaugh and the conservative media establishment. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
Kincheloe, J.L., McLaren, P. and Steinberg, S.R. (2011) ‘Critical pedagogy and qualitative research’ in Denzin, N.K. and Lincoln, Y.S. The SAGE handbook of qualitative research 4, pp.235−260. London: SAGE
Luckett, K. and Bhatt, I. (2024) ‘Getting critical about critique in higher education: provocations on the meanings of “Critical Perspectives”’, Teaching in Higher Education: Critical Perspectives, 29(6), pp.1690−1703. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2024.2335223
Markman, A. (2021) ‘Changing your mind about something as important as vaccination isn’t a sign of weakness — being open to new information is the smart way to make choices’. The Conversation, 23 September. Available at: https://theconversation.com/changing-your-mind-about-something-as-important-as-vaccination-isnt-a-sign-of-weakness-being-open-to-new-information-is-the-smart-way-to-make-choices-167856 (Accessed 15 July, 2024)
Stapleton, P. (2019) ‘Avoiding cognitive biases: promoting good decision making in research methods courses’, Teaching in Higher Education, 24(4), pp.578−586. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2018.1557137
Stroud, N. J. 2010. ‘Polarization and partisan selective exposure’. Journal of communication, 60, 556-576. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2010.01497.x
Syska, A. and Buckley, C. (eds.) (2024) How to be a Learning Developer in higher education: critical perspectives, community and practice. London: Routledge.
White, S. and Dhillon, S. (2024) ‘We need to talk about AL: has academic literacies designed the pedagogy out of learning development?’ Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, 31. Available at: https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi31.1267
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
