How do you feel about the notion or action of politicizing pedagogy? Is it necessary within the context of critical digital pedagogy? Is it necessary within the context of our country and world today? Should teachers be activists; is education a practice of freedom, and therefore always already political? How does activism and/or justice show up in our curriculum, our syllabus, our lesson plan?
Is pedagogy politicized? Absolutely.
Should it be? That’s the larger question.
While I don’t think that it should be, I’m not sure pedagogy can exist within a non-politicized world. From regulated national and state curriculum down to administrative-approved syllabi and lesson plans, there is a bureaucratic leaning that can limit teaching and learning alike.
In the context of the United States during the current pandemic, there have been very divisive lines drawn for public health, education, racial inequities and the government. And, so, education has been politicized with polarizing views amongst teachers, administrators, students and families. Should we consider pedagogy politicized when teachers are striking for their own safety and student’s safety during COVID-19? What is the preferred or correct option when schools are offering in-person versus hybrid versus remote course set-ups?
These are deeply personal and individualized questions.
Julie Fellmayer’s Disruptive Pedagogy and the Practice of Freedom states that teaching “in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our students is essential if we are to provide the necessary conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin” (2018). When reviewing Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs, how can a student’s self-actualization be met when some students are currently experiencing lack of food, lack of shelter and inaccessibility to devices, internet, and/or learning? Is this a politicized question?
I think that the answer is that learning can’t occur when physiological and safety needs aren’t being met. And, thus, teachers and families fight for emotional and physical well-being. Even if these needs are being met, critical digital pedagogy dives into the rabbit hole of different methods of remote learning. Is our data safe in Zoom lessons and meetings? What data is your online course’s learning management system keeping? What do we give away when we’re living our lives solely online?
"New media, new websites often demand we sign over our intellectual property. If they don’t ask outright for copyright, they demand a license to such — “you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with [whatever].”
[Whatever] sells ads against that content. [Whatever] grants access to data to their partners.
[Whatever] [Whatever] [Whatever] — that seems to be the response from most folks in edtech. A shrug. An acquisition, one that is seemingly happy to work on someone else’s farm — the LMS, the academic journal. But to work there oneself is one thing; to demand one’s students work in these silos, on these farms as well… that’s horrifying.”
-Audrey Watters, 2014
Watters’s words may sound like a dystopian warning to heed. However, as we head into the future of increased remote learning and data mining, where can the line be drawn? And, if this is a part of pedagogy, what kind of world should we focus on to mold now before it’s chosen for us?
The fight continues.
Fellmayer, J. (2018). Disruptive Pedagogy and the Practice of Freedom. Critical Digital Pedagogy. Retrieved September 11, 2020 from https://cdpcollection.pressbooks.com/chapter/disruptive-pedagogy-and-the-practice-of-freedom/
Watters, A. (2014). Maggie’s Digital Content Farm. Critical Digital Pedagogy. Retrieved September 11, 2020 from https://cdpcollection.pressbooks.com/chapter/maggies-digital-content-farm/
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