A Plea for the Introduction of Critical Pedagogy in Pakistani Classrooms

Abstract

Critical pedagogy (CP) in the context of Pakistan is of central significance, for it is a behavior which links classroom teaching to broader socio-cultural context. It helps develop critical consciousness in students through education. Critical consciousness is required to resist oppression against commonly approved dogmatic beliefs prevailed in a society. Though there are schools and education systems which have a reasonable understanding of critical pedagogy, and they practice it too, its fuller realization and broader application is a goal yet to be achieved. In this study, the researchers use the framework of Paulo Freire for the discussion of critical pedagogy and its proposed application in the Pakistani context. The researchers have observed ten second language teachers for almost six months in various parts of Pakistan to learn about their teaching praxis. The results have disclosed that the critical pedagogy, despite being a potential approach, is considerably insufficiently investigated or practiced in Pakistan. Therefore, the researchers intend to investigate the power-oriented structures embedded in the sociopolitical situation of Pakistan and their possible effects on and relations with pedagogic conditions in Pakistan. In this way, the researchers aim at working out guidelines/suggestions to foreground CP in the language classrooms of Pakistan and give it a wider application.