Pedagogical Practices and the State of Higher Education

By Krystina Faria

Henry Giroux’s discussion on the politics of disposability and the deteriorating condition of university education was illuminating and thought-provoking. I found that his discussion about education and its current trajectory to be disturbing. In Giroux’s perspective, education should and needs to be more than just preparing students for the workforce. Education, in Giroux’s articulation, should help students think critically about the institutions that shape their lives, relationships, political and moral practices. Giroux explains that as educators we must not only teach students to become critical, but teach them that they have the power to shape the society in which they live. Giroux’s vision of education involves the injection of critical pedagogy where students learn to become critical agents of change and have the knowledge and skills based on democratic principles. I think that Giroux’s discussion only reinforces and illuminates the inadequacies in current educational practices. Current pedagogy, in my opinion, does not emphasize critical thinking skills and does an inadequate job at helping students develop into intelligent, compassionate, and well-intentioned individuals. I think that Giroux’s perspective on education shows the audience that we cannot have social and economic equity when our educational institutions continue to present and perpetuate the very aspects of our culture that are socially and economically destructive.

Giroux’s discussion not only expanded my notion of education, but it also enhanced my understanding of myself as an educator. As an educator, I must help students become critically aware of themselves and their world by helping them develop a critical consciousness.