In light of recent events, I figured it might be appropriate to discuss some terminology I was introduced to during my graduate program – critical consciousness.
Critical Consciousness
Paulo Freire was heavily involved in discussions and research related to social relations, and indicated that dominant social relations or statuses were more often than not directly correlated with a culture of silence, wherein individuals at a lower social relation or status feel oppressed by the the inability to speak up or be heard. This realization is classified as “critical consciousness” – the individual realizes that the dominant social relations are creating this culture of silence. Now, I don’t necessarily think this is true in today’s society – folks seem to be a lot more outspoken than they once were, but there is still oppression occurring everywhere. Most of us likely encounter at least one small inkling of it every single day.
Critical consciousness is an educational concept that involves having a critical understanding of the world around us, including the social justices and injustices (or the contradictions therein), and being able to take action based on your understanding to construct or move toward positive social change and reducing oppression.
Resources
I encourage you to research more about critical consciousness; it’s certainly a higher-level of thinking than we do most days, and I implore you to become empowered to do something within your community to move toward positive social change.
- Critical Pedagogy and the Knowledge Wars of the Twenty-First Century by J. L. Kincheloe
- Centering Love, Hope, and Trust in the Community: Transformative Urban Leadership Informed by Paulo Freire by P. M. Miller, T. Brown, and R. Hopson
- Humanism and Multiculturalism: An Evolutionary Alliance by L. Comas-Diaz
- Towards a Framework of Critical Citizenship Education by L. Johnson and P. Morris
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