Duncan-Andrade and Morrell’s “Critical Pedagogy and Popular Culture in an Urban Secondary English Classroom”

"we felt that it was only within a pedagogy firmly committed to freedom and social change that we were able to motivate student to develop sophisticated academic literacies" -Duncan-Andrade and Morell

This article completely blew my mind in its ability to impress the idea that students learn best through a pedagogy in which they are given initiative. It was beautiful to see how through their given curriculum, students were able to take the initiative in their classrooms and their school. I applaud Jeff Duncan-Andrade and Ernest Morell for taking this perspective and showing teachers that students from urban high schools are capable of many things.  

I feel that it was essential that this research and the lessons were done in a culturally expressive way. I agree that students should be taught in such a way that freedom and social change are encouraged to help students learn. My students at Shadle Park High School or going through a culture unit right now. They are focusing on the idea of the "American Dream" and the "American Promise" and whether or not these two are achievable. They have been watching and reading many different texts that encourage discussions on this topic. At the same time, my students are actively learning and fighting for certain causes like the students in this article. A lot of my students are standing with immigrants and are wanting to give them the "American Dream" or help them to achieve it, which I think is an amazing thing. As teachers, we should give our students a pedagogy that encourages them to take a stand and connect with others. Empathy is key.

I rather enjoyed that this article connected our earlier reading of Paulo Freire's “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” Chapter 2. It was beneficial to see a connection made between readings. I thought it was interesting to see how the authors of this article agreed with Paulo Freire's idea that pedagogy should be centered upon "dialogue, inquiry, and the real exchange of ideas between teachers and students..." (p. 10). I actually find myself being influenced by Friere's idea about pedagogy. We should base more learning off of a mutual exchange of ideas between student and teacher.