Activist orientated
The work of teaching is inherently political. Teachers are cultural workers who play a crucial role in shaping society, by either perpetuating or challenging dominant ideologies (Darder, 2015; Freire, 2005; Rigney, 2023). Recognising that education is never neutral underscores the political implications embedded in every pedagogical choice, from curriculum choices to student interactions. In working towards becoming culturally responsive, teachers come to see themselves as agents of empowerment, capable of helping students and colleagues develop the tools to become active citizens in a democratic society (Rigney, 2006, 2021).
To work in culturally responsive ways, teachers recognise their work as never neutral, and to view themselves as activists who engage in critical thinking to analyse inequities in education, and whose role is to work collaboratively with students and communities as agents of change.
A critical awareness or ‘conscientisation’ “conscientização” (Freire, 1970/1996) of the socio-political context surrounding education and the influence of power structures on teaching and learning processes is a crucial part of this process. This entails recognising how positionalities such as gender, sexuality, class, ability, and race are used to create privileges and disadvantages. For a CRP, racial literacy emerges as a crucial component of this critical pedagogical approach (Brown et al, 2021; Maher et al, 2024; Schulz et al, 2023). Racial literacy involves developing a nuanced understanding of how race and racism operate within educational systems and broader society. It encompasses the ability to recognise historical and systemic racism, understand personal biases, facilitate meaningful discussions about race, critically examine educational materials, and act to disrupt racial inequities. The CRP Action Research approach introduces a “language of possibility,” balancing critique with the vision of contributing to a more just society. Curriculum development, viewed through this lens, becomes an exercise in cultural politics, examining the privileging of knowledge and its implications (Maher, 2023). To work in culturally responsive ways, teachers recognise their work as never neutral, and to view themselves as activists who engage in critical thinking to analyse inequities in education, and whose role is to work collaboratively with students and communities as agents of change.
References
Brown, L., Kelada, O., & Jones, D. (2021). ‘While I knew I was raced, I didn’t think much of it’: The need for racial literacy in decolonising classrooms. Postcolonial Studies, 24(1), 82-103.
Darder, A. (2015). Freire and education. Routledge.
Freire, P. (1970/1996). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Penguin Books.
Freire, P. (2005). Teachers as cultural workers. Westview Press.
Maher, K. (2023). Culturally responsive movements for climate justice: Learning from and with student activism. In L.-I. Rigney (Ed.), Global perspectives and new challenges in culturally responsive pedagogies: Super-diversity and teaching practice (pp. 131-148). Routledge.
Maher, K., Rigney, L.-I., King, M., Garrett, R., Windle, J., Memon, N., Wrench, A., Carter, J., Paige, K., O’Keefe, L., Lovell, M., Schulz, S., Soong, H., Colton, J., McDonald, S., & Hattam, R. (2024). Curriculum, democracy and pedagogies for justice: a collective futures dialogue. Curriculum Perspectives.
Rigney, L.-I. (2006). Indigenist research and Aboriginal Australia. In J. E. Kunnie & N. I. Goduka (Eds.), Indigenous peoples’ wisdom and power: Affirming our knowledge through narratives (pp. 32-48). Ashgate.
Rigney, L.-I. (2021). Aboriginal child as knowledge producer: Bringing into dialogue Indigenist epistemologies and culturally responsive pedagogies for schooling. In B. Hokowhitu, A. Moreton- Robinson, L. Tuhiwai-Smith, C. Andersen, & S. Larkin (Eds.), Routledge handbook of critical Indigenous studies (pp. 578-590). Routledge.
Rigney, L.-I. (2023). On the need for new culturally responsive pedagogies. In L.-I. Rigney (Ed.), Global perspectives and new challenges in culturally responsive pedagogies: Super-diversity and teaching practice (pp. 3-10). Routledge.
Schulz, S., Blanch, F. R., Buckskin, J., Corrie, S., & Morrison, A. (2023). Improving schooling and outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners in South Australian Catholic schools and centres: A narrative review of the literature. T. U. o. A. a. F. University