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Drawing on scholarship in Critical Pedagogy, this article speaks to the debate about pedagogical approaches within social justice education (SJE). The article addresses itself to privileged positionality within the context of university-based SJE, with a specific focus on race and whiteness. As a conceptual piece, it addresses some key considerations when working with liberatory pedagogies towards conscientising people from dominant positionalities, challenging some pedagogical assumptions that have achieved virtual common sense status. It indicates that we should reframe student resistance, cautions about uncritical use of dialogue and student experience in methodologies, and problematizes the advocacy of safety as a prerequisite for SJE. We end by outlining the reasons why firmly challenging students, though uncomfortable and controversial, may be necessary.
Key Words: Social justice education, whiteness, pedagogy, critical pedagogy, resistance, dialogue, student experience, race, safety, discomfort
As in other parts the world where societies are redressing entrenched inequity and historical injustice, the context of post-apartheid South Africa is an important site for engaging with the pedagogical challenges of educating young people to develop subjectivities that embrace the principles of a just society (Fuentes, Chanthongthip & Rios, 2010; Nagda, Gurin & Lopez, 2003). While many educators would agree with such a contention, contestation surrounds questions of how to achieve this goal. This article addresses itself to the difficult question of developing a social justice orientation among those of privileged positionality in university-based social justice education (SJE).1 With a specific focus on race and whiteness, the article problematizes some widely held pedagogical assumptions in SJE, suggesting that, if we take the systemic nature of social injustice seriously, we may need a clearer stance on positioning's that benefit from oppression. This, in turn, indicates that we should reframe student resistance, the uncritical use of dialogue and student experience in methodologies, and rethink our virtually taken-for-granted espousal of the notion of 'safety' as a prerequisite for SJE - at least in the way it currently plays itself out in reports of teaching practice. We end by outlining the reasons why firmly challenging students, though uncomfortable and controversial, may be necessary.
Conceptual foundations
This article speaks to this debate about pedagogical approaches within SJE. As a conceptual piece, it addresses some key considerations when working with liberatory pedagogies towards conscientising...