A Critical Look into Critical Pedagogy

Abstract

In line with postmodern philosophy, critical pedagogy has gained considerable importance and has become a valuable educational goal. The purpose of this study is to dig into the effects of critical pedagogy in a modernist educational system. To this aim, 15 Iranian university students were asked to write down their feelings at the end of a course titled “Philosophy of Education”, which was their first encounter with critical theories. The qualitative analysis of the self-narratives revealed 11 themes, which demonstrated both destructive and constructive effects. At the end, implications were given for appropriate placing of critical pedagogy in the educational system.