Henry Giroux's talk was interesting, and no one can accuse him of not being passionate about what he talks about! It seemed a little ironic to hear him talk about critical pedagogy and praxis when we were stuffed in a massive lecture hall. He pointed this out in the Q&A period, and I thought it was great that he recognized that as well.

I was interested in his claim that in the education system, critical pedagogy is being increasingly replaced by disciplinary pedagogy, as youth end up "on the receiving end of a punishing society" and are under almost constant surveillance. This certainly rang of Foucault for me, and ideas of social and normative control... Not to mention Giroux's statement that the relationship between knowledge and power can be emancipatory. Certainly an example of how Foucault's conceptualization of capillary power is more of a complex web than a top-down relationship.

Did anyone else find his committment to 'democratic rights' a bit problematic? I understand his reference to them in response to racism and ageism in the school system, but I am not entirely convinced that the university should be working towards becoming a "public sphere for democratic rights." Isn't the idea in itself a bit universalizing, or totalizing? Is democracy what we want? What kind of democracy do we envision when we use the word, anyhow? Cuba has incredible constituent representation compared to Canada or the USA, but they certainly aren't represented by the media/government as a 'democracy'...

It was great that he spoke so much about what this 'critical pedagogy' for higher education should include... involvement with 'everyday life' and communities, human agency, multiple literacies (a space for narrative and visuals, perhaps?), local knowledges, and learning together. It reminded me of Friere's belief that students are knowledgable and have much to teach, not just to learn. I think it's absolutely essential that in this idea of a more critical and praxical pedagogy, students feel they have agency and knowledge. I felt that Giroux could have spoken more to students' role (seeing as there were so many students in attendance) than just the role of the academic, but his words about getting involved with student government was certainly motivating.

Giroux quoted Bauman (sp?) to illustrate his point about how we can work towards a more critical pedagogy: by "taking responsibility for our responsibility."