ERIC Number: EJ837361
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005-Sep
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0965-0792
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
A Balancing Act: Ethical Dilemmas of Democratic Teaching within Critical Pedagogy
McKinney, Carolyn
Educational Action Research, v13 n3 p375-392 Sep 2005
This article discusses practitioner research that focused on student resistance to teaching about the apartheid past and issues of "race" in a first year English studies course at a predominantly Afrikaans and "white" university in South Africa. The study aimed to explore the way in which students and the teacher engaged with a form of critical pedagogy moment-by-moment in the classroom. In this article, I turn the analytical spotlight onto myself, analysing the way in which my own multiple and sometimes contradictory identity positions as an educator play themselves out. In particular, I explore the tensions between my preferred "democratic" teaching style, and my moral or ethical views. I argue that this tension creates a dilemma for teaching within critical pedagogy, which is not easily resolved. I also reflect on the experience of researching my own teaching practice, and attempt to understand how my research insights were developed, linking this to the distinction between reflective practice and action research. (Contains 4 notes.)
Descriptors: Critical Theory, Teaching Styles, Teacher Characteristics, Action Research, Racial Segregation, Foreign Countries, Reflective Teaching, Ethics, Teaching Methods, Whites, Indo European Languages, Moral Values, Teacher Attitudes, English (Second Language), Literature, Undergraduate Students
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: South Africa
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A