Critical Pedagogy and Educational Philosophy
Summary
Critical pedagogy is an emancipatory approach that situates education as a site of social transformation. Rooted in the work of Paulo Freire, it emphasises the development of critical consciousness, whereby learners interrogate the socio-political conditions that shape their lives. In this framework, teaching and learning become dialogic processes in which students and educators co-construct knowledge through reflection and action. Educational philosophy underpins this praxis by offering conceptual lenses—such as critical theory, pragmatism and postcolonial thought—that inform curricula, assessment and classroom dynamics. Contemporary scholarship extends these ideas globally, exploring how power, identity and inequality intersect in diverse cultural contexts. For instance, debates on epistemic injustice draw attention to whose knowledges are legitimised in formal settings. The field also intersects with discussions of subjectification, the process by which individuals come into being as autonomous agents, and qualification, understood as the acquisition of skills and capacities. Over the last decade, there has been growing interest in regenerative and sustainability-centred approaches, foregrounding ecological interdependence alongside social justice. Together, critical pedagogy and educational philosophy articulate both a normative vision of democratic schooling and a set of practical strategies—dialogue, problem-posing education and reflective practice—aimed at cultivating agency, equity and ethical engagement with the world.
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Critical Pedagogy and Educational Philosophy publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in critical pedagogy and educational philosophy across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Critical consciousness: The learner’s ability to recognise and challenge oppressive social structures through reflection and action.
Praxis: The iterative cycle of theory-informed practice and reflective analysis that drives transformational learning.
Epistemic injustice: The unfair marginalisation or dismissal of certain forms of knowledge and the people who produce them.
Subjectification: The process by which individuals develop autonomy and the capacity to act as ethical subjects in their own lives.
Regenerative education: An approach that integrates ecological, social and cultural renewal through experiential, emergent and participatory pedagogies.
References
- Immunitas and (un)desirable teacher knowledge in teacher education. European Journal of Education (2023).
- Fulfilling the Regenerative Potential of Higher Education: A Collaborative Auto-Ethnography. Education Sciences (2023).
- Risking Ourselves in Education: Qualification, Socialization, and Subjectification Revisited. Educational Theory (2020).
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