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Critical Pedagogy: Our Educational Approach

Critical pedagogy is an approach to education that is student-centered, discovery-oriented, and anchored in the life experiences of the learner. It encourages critical reflection and believes that effective education transforms all of us into both teachers and learners.

youTHink is anchored in critical pedagogy and provides an effective model to help students think critically about social issues and the ways that their lives are interconnected with the wider world. The focus is on empowering students to read, interpret, analyze, and evaluate not just the word (text) but also the world (their experiences and the ways they intersect with the wider world).

The following are examples of typical questions that come up in discussion that reflect this model:

Name
  • “Describe a concern you have about your school or your community. Do you think it is specific to you, or do others feel the same way? Do you think it might be true for others outside of your school or community, too?”


Reflect
  • “What are some of the causes of this problem? Why does it exist?”
  • “Why or how is it meaningful or important to you?”
  • “How does this issue affect others in your school or community?”


Act
  • “How do you cope with this concern?”
  • “Do you know anyone who is trying to make a difference? What are they doing?”
  • “What is one step you can take to begin to make a difference about this issue?”
  • “If you were to build a student group to address that issue, how would you start? What would you address first?”
This site was made possible by the generous support of Jennifer and Curtis Cohen.
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