Critical Pedagogy in an Urban High School English Classroom

Jeff Duncan-Andrae's and Ernest Morrell's essay, "Critical Pedagogy in an Urban High School English Classroom," helps the reader understand how to use make students who are in an urban high school English class succeed. Our schools are becoming more diverse with each passing decade. Thus it is important for teachers, especially English teachers, to find a way to connect with the students. I liked how the authors pointed out that by trying to make minority students connected, we actually disconnect them. Students of color can feel disempowered by so-called multicultural texts. I liked the quote: “An oppressive rendering of culturally diverse text is still oppressive.” I agree that as teachers we need to make sure our students are getting the multicultural experience. However, we need to make sure that the multicultural texts we are using don’t alienate our students even more. I know that I had classes where the teacher tried to make the class cultrally relevant. However, just the opposite was achieved.

 

While the authors did acknowledge teaching diverse texts, they did mention not “shying” away from traditional tests. After all, some of the traditional texts are of extreme benefit to students. I know that as a future English teacher. I want my students to be exposed to an array of different literature. But, I also want to make sure—like the article mentioned—not to forget to use texts that connect to everyday life of my students. Students need to see the relevance of what we are teaching them. I know that when I was in high school I always appreciated the teachers who tried to connect with our everyday reality. Helping students see this is I believe vital for them to succeed as English students. All in all, I found this article to be informative and a great help on how to teach urban high school English students.