Chapter 6

Praxis and Critical Pedagogy

Praxis is the interplay between theory and practice. For critical educators, praxis is
conscious reflection about how power operates in various contexts. Elementary
teachers intentionally employ this process of reflecting on theory, practice, reflection,
dialogue, and action (Darder, Baltodano, & Torres, 2009; Kincheloe, 2001).
The word praxis derives from the ancient Greek. It means to enact theory and
skill, or practice, into reflection. As praxis is applied in elementary education, trans-
formational teaching and learning are the result. As transformation occurs, teachers
and children work together to make a difference in the world (Kincheloe, 2001).
Praxis changes classroom practices resulting in a reexamination of cherished beliefs.
How to “do praxis” is the focus of this chapter.
What follows is an example of praxis. Readers are encouraged to download and
then listen to the free podcast of This American Life at http://www.thislife.org/
Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=322.
The middle section of the program is about a Muslim family living in the United
States. The narrative is the story of an extreme experience in discrimination at the
hands of an insensitive elementary school teacher, principal, and school system
because of a child and families’ religious preference. It is a heartbreaking commentary
of what can occur when a teacher is narrow-minded and undereducated about
others’ beliefs. Cruelty and hatred ripple to the point that lives are ruined.
To initiate praxis, readers are encouraged to reflect upon what they heard. How
should this situation have been handled? What should the principal have done?
What assumptions are changed from listening to this podcast about religious dis-
crimination? Ask yourself how did your assumptions change and why? Do you
think that teachers have to remain compassionate to children of all family structures
and religious practices? Is this crucial to early childhood and elementary teaching
practice?
Going through this exercise is praxis. I (Lois) have to add that this particular
exercise was derived from my son, Conor. He is an ardent listener to This American
Life. So on a short car trip, he had me listen to a downloaded podcast of the aired
broadcast. Upon returning home, this broadcast was immediately added to a syllabus

L.M. Christensen and J. Aldridge, Critical Pedagogy for Early 35

Childhood and Elementary Educators, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-5395-2_6,
© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013
36 6 Praxis and Critical Pedagogy

of a critical pedagogy course that I taught. The early childhood and master’s students
who were all teachers were distressed that this could occur to a child. How could an
adult, elementary teacher traumatize a young child in the classroom?

Theoretical Background

In this chapter, through the act of praxis, several underlying features within the
complexities of classroom practice will be discussed. One aspect is the meaning of
our lives as educators. Another expression revealed from praxis is examining the
unexamined, what is taken for granted. White privilege is another part of praxis
the often lies unexamined. The cultural capital that families and children bring into
our diverse classrooms daily is another, often unexamined, facet of praxis. Lastly,
how praxis is enacted within elementary curriculum and instruction and utilized for
purposes of assessment is covered.

Educators’ Making Meaning

Darder et al. (2009) remind us that we are always building our theory and practice;
however, theory and practice cannot be separated. Theory separated from practice is
nothing. Together they are powerful. Let’s examine some theories that underlie critical
pedagogy and the praxis of it. Maxine Greene (1988, 1998) considers that valuing
human beings and assisting them to be in touch with themselves awakens a person’s
consciousness to become more just and compassionate. It is the meaningful part of
ourselves that leads us to further democratic practice in classroom interactions. She
(1988, 1998) prompts us to reflect on the goals of education. Greene believes that
education should be an act that is in continual support of children’s learning that
nurtures their intellectual talents and capacities. Her theory of knowledge assists all
humans to know who we are in the world in which we live. From Greene’s perspective,
the ultimate purpose of learning is to facilitate the process for early childhood and
elementary teachers and students to perceive the sometimes obscure meaning in our
lives. Do you agree? Why or why not?

Examining the Unexamined

Furthermore, Greene (1988, 1998) envisions mistakes in praxis as failing to act.

Believing in something without due reflection, she also states is a lie. Greene (1998)
challenges teachers to examine the “taken for granted,” the given, the bound, and
what is restricted. She admonishes educators that knowledge grows from beliefs
that have been subjected to deep reflection. Greene radiates light upon teachers’
thinking, perspectives, and teaching practice to enhance reflective processes.
Cultural Capital 37

Peter McLaren (2006) confronts critical questions that most theorists dare not
ask. His critical pedagogy texts squarely meet a radical pedagogy, one of a Marxist
thinker, yet he started as an elementary classroom teacher. So his credibility is
authentic.

What Is White Privilege?

If you as an elementary teacher grew up existing in a sheltered world, or possess

assumptions that have not been thoroughly examined, McLaren’s (2006) work may
result in facing disequilibrium. Praxis is an act of the depth of reflection in which
readers of this text are expected to engage on authentic practice and the complexities
of experience in elementary schools. It is praxis that led Peter McLaren to question
his teaching in an elementary setting as a white, privileged man into the critical
pedagogical realm. His work challenges and causes confrontation of one’s assump-
tions through praxis. Teachers and candidates that want to continue in comfort without
examining the uncomfortable by confronting critical issues and rethinking lifelong
assumptions probably don’t want to read McLaren’s work. His is a path toward
powerful and profound growth.
Peter McLaren’s (2006) questions and approaches to critical pedagogy strike at
the heart of praxis. Being keenly provocative, he assists readers to confront what
underlies veiled classroom practice. Questions braided throughout his texts draw a
depth of reflection necessary for praxis.

Cultural Capital

Paulo Freire (1970) believes in cultural capital. This is the knowledge that children
and families bring to school irrespective of economic social class. It is a result of
acting with praxis. It is discovering the knowledge that is held within the cultures
and families of our students. Home or cultural knowledge welcomed and utilized in
elementary school for teaching and building knowledge purposes is the work that
critical pedagogues do. Additionally, elementary teachers that effectively enact
praxis consistently utilize theory to prompt reflection to inform practice and to
uncover aspects such as cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1986; Wink, 2011).
Elementary teachers that practice critical pedagogy genuinely know their stu-
dents and have taken steps to sift through assumptions and perceptions of how they
see the world from their particular world views (Kincheloe, Slattery, & Steinberg,
2000). Not only do they know their students, they also know their families. They
seek to understand more about countries of origin for each student. For instance,
a critical pedagogue would invite a mother into the classroom from the “barrio,”
a Mexican American neighborhood, to make tortillas for a math lesson that
integrates some fractions and equivalents as children measure ingredients to
38 6 Praxis and Critical Pedagogy

equate a whole. By using the cultural knowledge within the local community of
learners, knowledge is celebrated and constructed in a communal and relevant
manner (Moll, 1992).

How to Accomplish Praxis

As Banks (2008) notes, the “contributions” approach that is most frequently imple-
mented to teach about people that are often labeled as others in the elementary and
early childhood curriculum is inadequate. Banks describes three stages to further
increase in-depth learning about pluralism. As levels advance in depth, each adds a
supplementary perspective. The continuum sequence advances, and it consists of
the following levels: “additive,” “transformational,” and “social action.” The upper
limit is the social action level. The social action level is the level that early child-
hood and elementary critical pedagogues and their students determine a “problem,”
whether it be local, community, or global. Next, together with all voices equal and
heard, they make propositions about how to resolve it. Ultimately, they take action
to improve the circumstances for the good of the whole.
Praxis is an early childhood and elementary reflective practice that critical peda-
gogues overlay upon various situations in the classroom. Multisensory resources
and materials for young children to examine, discover, inquire, and evaluate are
necessary as educators know. Together the resources are discussed as meaning is
constructed from students’ personal and historical connections (Levstik & Barton,
2001). It is conscious, wide-awake participation; it is an exchange of creative energy
between materials and perceiver (Greene, 1998). As young learners engage in
detailed observations and lead critical discussions, they are enriched in a depth of
learning that is fundamental to critical pedagogy and praxis. They begin to construct
contextual understanding about events in a critical fashion and certainly more about
themselves. Often questions of conflict arise about why particular occurrences hap-
pened. This is where the discussion of structures of privilege, power, and oppression
comes into play (Levstik & Barton, 2001).
One of our favorite examples comes from a former kindergarten teacher who is
now our university colleague. Her class followed the third graders into the cafeteria
for lunch. The kindergarteners noticed that the first graders had four chicken nuggets
on their trays and they had only three. In the classroom meeting before the school
day ended, many of the kindergartners brought up this problem to Ms. Kirkland.
She asked them what they wanted to do about it. After a discussion, they decided to
write to the workers in the cafeteria. In this case, the workers in the cafeteria had the
power to change things. The young children dictated a letter, and Ms. Kirkland wrote
down what the children asked her to write. Guess what? The next time chicken
nuggets where served, the kindergartners had four nuggets on their trays. This was
the beginning of many reflective lessons in praxis for the youngest of learners.
In another incident with Ms. Kirkland, the local fire department received a call
by a complaining parent about the school hallways having too much student work
Application 39

hanging up. My personal impression was that it was terrific seeing the students’
work, having been in and out of this school. The kindergarten children were the
most upset. Again, Ms. Kirkland asked the children what they wanted to do about
this situation during a classroom meeting.
By this time in the academic year, most of the children were able to write, albeit
“inventive” spelling. Each child wrote to the fire department as they had the power
in the situation. Some children enlisted the help of others. The Homewood Fire
Department did not change the violation or the ordinance. However, the 5- and
6-year-old children utilized their voices, and because the kindergarten teacher,
Ms. Kirkland, employed the wisdom of praxis, the youngest of learners engaged in
multiple opportunities to engage in praxis.
In these two cases, problems naturally arose and were identified by young
children. Generally, this is naturally the way in which problems do. Children noticed
them. Again, this is a human response. It was the critical praxis of the early child-
hood teacher that developed a plan for the youngsters to figure out how to resolve
the problem that they noticed. Next, the young children took action. In evaluating
the results of both situations from the action that they took, the kindergartners
considered why they received the responses that they did (Wink, 2011).

Application

Children are seldom offered opportunities to self-select or contribute to interests

when only teachers plan learning (ACEI, 2002; Kohn, 2004). Moreover, the ways in
which children are assessed should be supportive of total development (NAEYC,
2009). Childhood curriculum in general has the possibility of being the place where
critical pedagogy and social action begins (Dahlberg, Pence, & Moss, 2003).
As Sandra Scarr (1998) warns that in the United States, young children are insti-
tutionally socialized to reform to middle and upper class social mores in school. The
hidden curriculum speaks volumes. When children are not offered choices or given
opportunities to contribute, the democracy is not enacted. Within diverse settings,
children are accepted and celebrated for their unique and richness of difference. It
is here that teachers can begin to offer children freedom and democracy. Learning
to choose is where solidarity can be practiced and built (Bergen, 2001). For example,
when children have a voice in educative studies and opportunities to learn about
moral actions, the classroom and the school become the springboard for democracy,
social action, and transformation.

Technology as Application

Since most classrooms have technological access, additional means to add to learn-
ing about praxis is through children’s literature. Other ways are through visits
focused on learning about particular topics of study by students’ family members.
40 6 Praxis and Critical Pedagogy

Children took walking trips in the school neighborhood noting problems and choos-
ing topics in which to engage. Technology is a way for children to research topics
as well as to represent learning for assessment.
There are some wonderfully appropriate electronic means for children to explore
as either intentional or open discovery. For instance, ample and varied videos are
available for youngsters to view and discover at PBS. This site is a place that
teachers can bookmark for student learning groups or children can utilize on their
own as a search engine as sorts for particular topics or simply for fun. http://pbskids.
org/go/video/?campaign=go_eyecatcher

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