Critical Pedagogy for Promoting Evaluativist Thinking (Part 3 of 4)

Part 3: Praxis, Reflexivity, and Action Research

At Johns Hopkins University School of Education , much of the foundational coursework focuses on how educational researchers influence our work as functions of our identities, assumptions, and positions in relation to our research participants. This can be a challenge as 1) identities are an amalgamation of visible and non-visible features; 2) assumptions may be implicit, explicit, well-founded, or completely baseless; and 3) our positions within established structures can impact our engagement with participants in predictable and unpredictable ways.

Prior to preparing these articles, I had not fully appreciated the relevance of critical pedagogy to epistemic cognition. I baselessly assumed that epistemic cognition operated beyond the influence of social positionality. However, reviewing research on epistemic cognition, critical pedagogy, teacher training, and researchers' responsibility has highlighted relationships between praxis, reflexivity, action research, and epistemic cognition.

Praxis

Praxis is an ancient concept that describes engaging with knowledge through practice. The first article in this series discussed Paulo Freire ; he described practice as a simultaneous, ongoing, critical reflection on our actions and their underlying theories (2000). Freire (2000) asserted that humans' deeper understanding of the causes or effects of our actions brings the responsibility of considering how our actions can potentially transform our world. In a similar fashion, educators and researchers must iteratively assess how their knowledge processes can cause unjust benefit or harm.

While most of the work on praxis and critical pedagogy focuses on the social dimensions, researchers like Buehl and Fives (2016) further probed the work of Britzman (1991), Cochran-Smith and Lytle (1999), Freire (1970), Kemmis (2012), and Lima (2013) to examine the knowledge dimensions of epistemically informed praxis. Buehl and Fives (2016) emphasized the importance of educators' critical self-examination of how learning strategies are influenced by 1) the targeted knowledge; 2) awareness of students and learning contexts; as well as 3) educators' pedagogical views.

Epistemically informed praxis in teaching is the enactment of instructional decisions informed by the process of epistemic cognition engaged in to assist others in achieving specific epistemic aims (i.e. knowledge, understanding, and justified true belief) (Buehl & Fives, 2016, p. 260).

Just as critical theory is concerned with how social research can perpetuate exploitation and oppression within existing power structures, critical pedagogy interrogates the role of education in upholding similarly problematic dynamics. Early forms of critical theory and critical pedagogy did not explicitly engage with epistemic cognition, though I view critical pedagogy and epistemic cognition as linked. As educators and researchers can improve the world through the furtherance of knowledge, we have the power to influence how learners regard and value knowledge. Epistemically informed praxis is a way for educators to reflect critically on how our ostensibly authoritative positions demand that we are aware of our positions' impacts on learners' knowledge.

Positionality and Reflexivity

Before engaging directly with critical theory, I thought about positionality mostly in terms of my epistemological and ontological approaches to social science research. If not for my supervisor at 英国伦敦大学 - 伦敦国王学院 , I would have overlooked the need to examine my role in the social impact of my research. More recently, I read and discussed social positionality as presented by Holmes (2020), Thambinathan and Kinsella (2021), and Wilson et al. (2019); their research supported the notion that reflexive awareness of one's social position could promote socially transformative research.

It is important to emphasize that reflexivity is not identical to reflection; whereas reflection denotes the activity of being aware of one's beliefs about knowledge, reflexivity is the process that drives changes in one's beliefs about knowledge (Brownlee et. al, 2016). This distinction is critical as researchers need more than awareness of their beliefs; we must be able to shift, adopt, or change beliefs about knowledge in our pursuit of truth.

Critical theory and its variants mandate specific consideration of how research can elevate groups that have traditionally been oppressed or subjugated because of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, indigenousness, or ability status. Critical pedagogy is a lens through which educators can elevate the thinking of learners across the board and I believe that epistemic cognition can help learners, educators, and researchers to recognize our roles in maintaining or challenging hierarchical structures of oppression. As argued by Buehl and Fives, epistemic cognition can help educators and researchers to reflect on their perspectives and goals in order to recognize their limitations and disseminate knowledge for the advancement of learning (2016). A more democratic approach to education and research would then distribute more power to participants, which warrants further consideration of the significance of epistemic cognition.

Participatory Action Research

While there are traditional forms of research relating to ethnicity, gender, or indigenous peoples, a more collaborative approach to research is becoming more prevalent. Feminist thought, indigenous theory, and black radical thought heavily influenced the strategic approach of Participatory Action Research (PAR) (Strega & Brown, 2019) and I think it has value for furthering learners' epistemic cognition by empowering them to produce knowledge that has bearing on their lives.

"PAR demands that all stakeholders have a say in how knowledge is generated, research funded, findings applied, and outcomes disseminated" (Lake & Wendland, 2018, p. 19).

From the perspective of critical pedagogy, educators and researchers elevate learners through facilitating their active involvement in knowledge production. PAR leverages participants' knowledge to construct further knowledge about the phenomena being studied by researchers. Through this lens, research is more collaborative and less top-down, in a similar vein as a classroom effecting critical pedagogy. Whereas more traditional forms of research have been demonstrably exploitative or oppressive, PAR aims to promote transformative research that furthers the goals of social justice. Miskovic and Hoop (2006) highlighted the role of PAR in empowering communities to develop the skills to examine problems that are directly relevant to them. Additionally, Giroux (2001) argued that PAR can further develop students' capacities for critical thinking; sense of social responsibility; and commitment to public service.

[Participatory Action Research] challenges who has the right to produce and disseminate knowledge by placing students at the center of knowledge production (Caraballo et al., 2017, p. 315).

Thambinathan and Kinsella (2021) proposed that researchers concerned with praxis for social transformation should:

• exercise critical reflexivity by examining assumptions and situatedness within research contexts;
• reciprocate and respect self-determination through accountability and open, continuous exchanges between researchers and participants;
• embrace other(ed) ways of knowing by shifting perspectives on the ethics of knowledge production; and
• embody a transformative praxis through full, real-world realization and actualization of the principles that drive academic research.

In this light, it is interesting to consider how training students to become co-researchers may help them to develop their competency in evaluating the processes of knowledge production and empower them to self-direct their pursuit and application of knowledge. In the course I lead, students have considerable latitude to explore knowledge questions from their unique perspectives. The openness of the assessment provides them with opportunities to reflect on knowledge and discuss its relative applicability based on their specific experiences.

PAR can help researchers and participants to "[trace] dominant truths back through various discourses and practices to reveal the interests that lie behind their production and enunciation, the power relations they have been involved in organizing" (Carlson, 2003, p. 56).

While I see this type of assessment as very liberating, the openness of the task intimidates many students. This seems due to students viewing teachers as a singular authority with power in the form of answers and students' fear of failure along with associated repercussions. Students are active consumers of knowledge, but the metrics of academic performance do not widely include learners' evaluation of knowledge processes. These are barriers to students acknowledging their potential to contribute meaningfully to our collective knowledge. I hope to discover a means to shift students' perspectives so they can see themselves as authorities regarding the knowledge that is most relevant and pertinent to their lives and futures.

Questions for Further Consideration

• Critical theory addresses how links between power dynamics can distort knowledge involving themes of gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, neurological profile, and ability status. While critical theory provides a framework for evaluating degrees of distortion around certain issues, how do we establish metrics for the suitability of the processes of knowledge production? Beyond the ethical dimension, how do we empirically determine the impact of the processes of knowledge production on groups unduly positioned within established power structures?
• Is it possible to promote critical thinking without praxis? Can learners cultivate advanced thinking skills without a reflective or reflexive component? To what extent might my Buddhist training lead me to overvalue the role of reflection in the development of critical thinking?
• The second article in this series considered how we develop potent thinkers. Given the growing role of knowledge work, what data can schools, colleges, and universities use to measure or predict requisite competencies with knowledge processes? How do higher education institutions regard data provided by traditional secondary school transcripts and traditional standardized exams for capturing these advanced thinking skills?
• What aspects of our educational structures are denying learners' agency? How much of teaching can be democratized? How could redistribution of authority and agency influence how we measure student achievement and teacher effectiveness?

References

Britzman, D. P. (1991). Practice makes practice: A critical study of learning to teach. University of New York Press.

Brownlee, J. L., Schraw, G., Walker, S., & Ryan, M. (2016). Changes in preservice teachers’ personal epistemologies. In J. A. Greene, W. A. Sandoval, & I. Br?ten (Eds.),?Handbook of epistemic cognition (pp. 300-317). Routledge.

Buehl, M. M. & Fives, H. (2016). The role of epistemic cognition in Teacher learning and praxis. In J. A. Greene, W. A. Sandoval, & I. Br?ten (Eds.),?Handbook of epistemic cognition (pp. 247-264). Routledge.

Carlson, D. (2003). Troubling heroes: Of Rosa Parks, multicultural education, and critical pedagogy. Cultural Studies Critical Methodologies, 3(1), 44-61. https://doi.org/10.1177/1532708603239267

Caraballo, L., Lozenski, B. D., Lyiscott, J. J., & Morrell, E. (2017). YPAR and critical epistemologies: Rethinking education research. Review of Research in Education, 41(1), 311–336. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X16686948

Cochran-Smith, M. & Lytle, S. L. (1999). Relationships of knowledge and practice: Teacher learning in communities. Review of Research in Education, 24, 249–305. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1167272

Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed (M. B. Ramos, Trans.). Seabury Press.

Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed: 30th anniversary edition (M. B. Ramos, Trans.). Continuum.

Giroux, H. A. (2001). Pedagogy of the depressed: Beyond the new politics of cynicism. College Literature, 28, 1-32. PEDAGOGY OF THE DEPRESSED: BEYOND THE NEW POLITICS OF CYNICISM ( jstor.org )

Holmes, A. G. D. (2020). Researcher positionality—A consideration of its influence and place in qualitative research—A new researcher guide. Shanlax International Journal of Education, 8(4), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.34293/education.v8i4.3232

Kemmis, S. (2012). Researching educational praxis: Spectator and participant perspectives. British Educational Research Journal, 38(6), 885–905. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411926.2011.588316

Lake, D. & Wendland, J. (2018). Practical, epistemological, and ethical challenges of participatory action research: A cross-disciplinary review of the literature. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 22(3), Article 3. https://ojs01.galib.uga.edu/jheoe/article/view/1399

Lima, J. C. (2013). The possibilities and constraints of three teachers’ perspectives and enactment of critical praxis in public schools. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, 11(1), 283–323. Critical Teacher Education for Economic, Environmental and Social Justice: an Ecosocialist Manifesto ( jceps.com )

Miskovic, M. & Hoop, K. (2006). Action research meets critical pedagogy theory, practice, and reflection. Qualitative Inquiry, 12(2), 269–291. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800405284367

Ryan James. (2021, July 16). Positionality and reflexivity explained in two minutes [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imav_m1D4hg

SchYPAR. (2023, September 1). Introduction to Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7y0WM829Z8

Strega and Brown. (2019). Research as resistance: Revisiting critical, indigenous, and anti-oppressive approaches. In The Journal of Educational Research, 112(3), 429–429). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00220671.2018.1506730

Thambinathan, V. & Kinsella, E. A. (2021). Decolonizing methodologies in qualitative research: Creating spaces for transformative praxis. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 20, 16094069211014766. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069211014766

UH Class OET. (2018, March 5). Critical Concept: Praxis [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq7YjiBVmLs

Wilson, C. M., Hanna, M. O., & Li, M. (2019). Imagining and enacting liberatory pedagogical praxis in a politically divisive era. Equity & Excellence in Education, 52(2–3), 346–363. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2019.1656563