This is an incisive analysis of how Critical Pedagogy can be a force for positive change in schools around the world, helping the most disadvantaged students. We live in a time when those who wield unrestrained power believe they have the inalienable right to determine the destiny, nature and shape of social institutions like schools. "Critical Pedagogy for Social Justice" challenges this arrogance by showing how teachers, students, parents, communities, and researchers can develop narratives that amount to working with and for those who are increasingly being silenced, marginalised and excluded. John Smyth sets out to revisit critical pedagogy from a number of key leverage points. The overarching aim of the book is to unmask the deforming and distorting way power operates, while at the same time revealing how a commitment to a more socially just world can exist in the everyday lives and narratives of people who have a passion for transformative possibilities. This clear, concise, and persuasive book is ideal for those who are dissatisfied with the current turn in education and who are seeking an alternative set of views that emerge from the grounded experiences and practices in schools struggling with the most disadvantaged circumstances. Series blurb: Commemorating the 40th anniversary of "Pedagogy of the Oppressed", the new series "Critical Pedagogy Today" provides a range of incisive overviews and applications of Critical Pedagogy across fields and disciplines. Building on the work of Paulo Freire, the series reinvigorates his legacy and provides educators with an array of tools for questioning contemporary practices and forging new pedagogical methods.

Author Biography

John Smyth is Research Professor of Education at the University of Ballarat, Australia. He previously held the Foundation Chair of Teacher Education and was Associate Dean of Research, School of Education, Flinders University, and was Director of the Flinders Institute for the Study of Teaching for 13 years. His books include Teachers in the Middle and Critical Discourses in Teacher Development.