Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Rest, withdraw from work, step away, confront the current system, and indeed, say 'no' in general.This rebellious, critical tone is characteristic of the entire volume of Leanne M. Evans, Kelly R. Allen, and Crystasany R. Turner's Advancing critical pedagogy and praxis across educational settings, which examines the narratives of American educators through a critical lens as a method.All the studies in the volume fundamentally speak out against the self-exploitative work organization dictated by the prevailing Protestant work ethic in the majority of U.S. society, and against discrimination in general.A substantial book with a collection of 15 studies and authors from a diverse palette, both in terms of their cultural background and roles in academic life, it is logically organized and well structured.However different the authors' starting points may seem first, their central idea is to develop the practice of critical pedagogy with the explicit intention of establishing educational relationships based on mutual respect in the field of pedagogy aiming to disrupt and challenge unjust social processes through the development of cultural competence.The target audience is most likely composed of scholars, researchers, educators, and laypeople interested in the field of sociology, pedagogy and philosophy of education.Its 372 pages are divided into four main parts: the first one is centred around developing community relations; the second is about giving voice to educators and practice leaders involved in teacher training; the third part examines how various partnership networks can break down and rethink oppressive and marginalizing pedagogical practices at the level of pedagogical systems and subsystems; while the concluding, fourth part focuses on the voices of participants in pedagogical partnerships and their experiences within the partnerships.Critical reflection on the relationships with stakeholders based on equity and justice also plays a central role.The term critical in an educational philosophical reading means a reflective scientific approach, whichinstead of automatically accepting the status quoinvolves questioning existing power relations, social inequalities, and various forms of discrimination, in other words: disrupting its existing equilibrium.What we have in our focus is an action-oriented, value-positive and optimistic way of thinking that has a strong belief in the plasticity of society and the transformative power of education at its core.
Author: László Rajnai
Institution: Eszterhazy Karoly Catholic University
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4410751649