[Book Review] Empowering education : critical teaching for social change

Abstract

It is not uncommon to come across criticism levelled at certain exponents of critical pedagogy for their highly esoteric theoretical abstractions which, it is argued, render their work alienating to educational practitioners seeking to work for social change. I must confess that, while I do subscribe to the "project of possibility" (Simon 1992), which they attempt to carry forward, I have often felt frustrated by these works precisely for the above reason. This is why I respond enthusiastically to works which speak directly to "people in the field," works intended to inspire and spur on cultural workers to reflect deeply on their practice and to increase their struggle for social change. Writers who produce these very accessible works follow the advice given by Paulo Freire to Peter McLaren, namely that one should be "simple" but never "simplistic." Some excellent examples of this kind of work, that I know of, are provided by publications in the Canadian series, Our Schools/Our Selves. The conversational books by Paulo Freire himself would also fall within this category.