Critical Pedagogy- Theory and Practice

In this blog I aim to explore Bracher’s notion of critical pedagogy both in theory and practice. Since I find it hard to understand the implications of theory without trying to find ways to make it practical, I will offer the example of forum theatre as an educational practice to map out identity complexity, a process that Bracher sees as key to both recognizing and experiencing the tensions within ourselves and creating much needed social change.

Critical Pedagogy:

Generally, I agree with Bracher’s assessment early in his book that a strong, resilient identity can facilitate well-being and social transformation. In part two, he examines the distinction between resistance and critical pedagogy. He believes that resistance pedagogy can perpetuate the kind of violence and disrespect it seeks to critique. While a resistance pedagogy approach to education can motivate students to take action and change oppressive systems, it can also disempower students by supporting “socially destructive forms of identity politics that pit different groups against one another” (p.97). In essence, fueling us vs. them and oppressed vs. oppressor mentalities, further polarizing groups and individuals. Bracher states the outcome strongly by saying, “Hating and demonizing the devil, whether in the form of the violent criminal of the angry white man, simply makes the devil more diabolical” (p.100). This process engages people in and perpetuates a process of othering, and lacks the development of empathy and compassion for those who are different than us.

Bracher goes on to suggest that critical pedagogy can help us move beyond these rigid identity definitions by enhancing the complexity and multiplicity of peoples’ identities. He believes that critical pedagogy, “Like resistance pedagogy… aims at liberation from the oppressive forces and structures that constitute racism, classism, colonialism, sexism, and heterosexism. But, in addition to liberating students, it also aims to help students develop their full potentials, to become empowered” (p. 101). It does this by increasing awareness of present identity components and other qualities that could become new aspects of identity, allowing us to see our identities as more complex and dynamic rather than static and inflexible. He further suggests that his three registers- symbolic, imagistic and affective- add to the usefulness of critical pedagogy by helping students’ identify and explore their own internal conflicts.

Theoretically, I find this quite compelling. I believe that moving beyond our one-dimensional, rigid sense of ourselves and others is the only way we can create more understanding and compassion for one another. But I wonder how it plays out in practice, and how people respond to it? My instincts tell me that this work is hard and needs to be done carefully and over time. How do we as educators facilitate peoples’ identity awareness? I find Bracher lacking in practical case studies and stories about how this actually happens in the real life of educators.

Forum Theatre:

It is easy for me to examine all my adult education training over the last ten years and identity what has been the most transformative experience to help me examine my desires, vulnerabilities, and my identities as both oppressed and oppressor. A few years ago I took a leap of faith and signed up for a one week popular theatre program in Vancouver with Headlines Theatre called Theatre for Living. Theatre for Living evolved from Augusto Boal's "Theatre of the Oppressed", based on Paulo Freire’s (1970) “Pedagogy of the Oppressed”.

There are two ways that Headlines Theatre is different than any other theatre you have probably experienced. First, it is a type of forum theatre that involves the community in the creation of stories being told, and the audience in the theatre production. The stories being told on stage involve conflict, and when the tension or conflict is at its peak, audience members are asked to step up on stage and act out possible scenarios to resolve the conflict. Many people can step in and play different roles as the theatre piece unfolds.

Second, people are encouraged to play the roles of the “oppressed” and the “oppressor”. The idea is to move away from binary language and model of "oppressor/oppressed" and instead to approach community-based cultural work from a systems-based perspective. Headlines begins with the understanding that a community is a complexly integrated, living organism. This approach moves beyond traditional forum theatre work that tends to focus on the stories of the oppressed. The theatre piece becomes a community dialogue about the complex identities and feelings of the players in the conflict.

My experience with this work is that it is profoundly transformative. When I stepped into the role of the “oppressor” and tried to empathize with their story, I realized that their story wasn’t so different from my own, and that I can be both oppressor and oppressed at the same time. At the time, this was a shift in how I had previously seen myself and my alignment with the oppressed part of myself and others.

To be more specific about how this approach to forum theatre works, I’ll explain one exercise called Rainbow of Desire. This exercise asks people to replay situations from our everyday lives and reveals invisible elements of our relationships, such as emotions, mental obstacles and desires that may be of hindrance or of help. This process helps people explore their own internal voices that complicate our relationships with other people creating conflict that stops us from achieving our goals. By learning to identify and talk about these internal voices, we begin the process of understanding ourselves and each other. We learn how to navigate multi-layered moments in complex relationships. As well, both sides of a conflict are honoured in order to get beyond the symptoms and into root causes.

The headlines website states that “Culture, after all, used to be ordinary people singing, dancing, painting, carving, and telling stories. If we can reclaim cultural expression as part of our everyday vocabulary - a common language that we use to tell our own collective stories - we are one step closer to being balanced as individuals and as communities” (Headlines Theatre). I think this is what we’ve been talking about over the last few months- balancing the complexity of identity and culture, getting inside our bodies and heads to understand our stories and those of others, and trying to withhold judgement to listen and act with understanding and empathy.

References:

Bracher, Mark. (2006). Radical Pedagogy. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.

Freire, Paulo (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group.

Theatre for Living (n.d.), Retrieved from http://www.headlinestheatre.com/theatre_for_living.htm