1.4.3 The challenge of using critical pedagogies
Educators, yourself included, may feel overwhelmed when it comes to connecting knowledge and action around climate change teaching and learning. We’ve certainly felt this ourselves. This feeling might be due to the complexity of the issue, but also the fact that for a long time, the physical phenomenon of climate change was largely ‘invisible’ in everyday life, and easily perceived as ‘everybody’s’ problem, where individual contributions seem insignificant (Schreiner, Henriksen and Hansen, 2005). There have been shifts in such views, and climate change is now featured prominently in mainstream media. This course itself might be a reflection of this change that has taken place.
Educators, yourself included, may feel unsure about where and how to make a start. There can be an apparent disconnect between the theoretical breadth of critical pedagogies and practice-based research. This creates challenges for educators wanting to implement critical pedagogy frameworks (Booker, Vossoughi and Hooper, 2014). If you’ve experienced any of these feelings yourself, it could be useful to record and revisit them.
One of our most valued collaborators, and an influential educator, Maha Bali (2015) has written of critical pedagogy as ‘both painful and a joy’, explaining:
It’s painful because to practice it, the consciousness-raising process is difficult and painful as you uncover oppression you had previously been burying or unaware of… that is done unto you, and (even worse) that you may be doing to others unconsciously; and because once you begin looking at the world this way, you cannot go back. … It’s painful also because you start to empathize so much more strongly with the suffering of others, because you can see it more clearly.
And yet it is a joy. First, the joy in being able to see this deeper layer of subjective reality, painful and ugly as it often is; it’s like a blindfold has been removed from in front of your eyes. But also because in seeing it, you feel more empowered to change it – knowledge is not enough, it’s not critical pedagogy if it does not lead to reflective action – praxis. And then the absolute and utter joy of having that kind of goal in your teaching… it makes the process of teaching that much more rewarding, meaningful, as a way to be in the world.
You may find yourselves experiencing similar feelings to what Maha Bali is describing above. Engaging with critical pedagogy is not easy. This notion of ‘reflecting and acting’ is critical to developing your way of thinking upon and acting on things – your ‘praxis’ – as an educator.
Activity 2 Reflecting on critical pedagogy for climate justice
Reflect on these ideas and how they apply to education for climate justice in your own context. Make a note of an example from your own practice that involves thinking about the justice-related aspects of the climate emergency. Think about the following questions.
- How could you support learners to imagine and enact the world as it could be, rather than accepting it as it is?
- What challenges might you experience in your own context?
- What possibilities might critical pedagogy offer you in terms of supporting students’ engagement with the climate crisis?
You’ll return to these notes when you’re making your action plan at the end of the course.