'Youth Amplified': Using Critical Pedagogy to Stimulate Learning through Dialogue at a Youth Radio Show

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: 'Youth Amplified': Using Critical Pedagogy to Stimulate Learning through Dialogue at a Youth Radio Show
Language: English
Authors: Cooper, Adam
Source: Education as Change. 2016 20(2):44-66.
Availability: Education as Change. The Centre for Education Rights and Transformation, Faculty of Education, University of Johannesburg, PO Box 524, Auckland Park, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa. Tel: +27-11-5591148; e-mail: journal-ed@uj.ac.za; Web site: https://upjournals.co.za/index.php/EAC/index
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 23
Publication Date: 2016
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools
Secondary Education
Grade 10
Grade 11
Grade 12
Descriptors: Youth, Critical Theory, Radio, Foreign Countries, High School Students, Teaching Methods, Race, Informal Education, Case Studies, Research Methodology, Grade 10, Grade 11, Grade 12, Semi Structured Interviews, Dialogs (Language)
Geographic Terms: South Africa (Cape Town)
DOI: 10.17159/1947-9417/2016/732
ISSN: 1682-3206
Abstract: In this paper I describe and analyse how critical pedagogy, an approach to teaching and learning that encourages students to reflect on their socio-political contexts, may stimulate critical consciousness and dialogue at a youth radio show. The participants, who attended four diverse Cape Town high schools and predominantly lived in poor townships, named the show Youth Amplified. Youth Amplified dialogues were catalysed by a range of materials, including documentary films, newspapers and academic articles, which participants engaged with prior to the show. Participants then generated questions, which contributed to the dialogues that took place live on air. Two central themes emerged from the radio shows. First, the values and discourses of elite schools were transported to Youth Amplified and presented as incontestable truths that often denigrated marginalised learners. Second, participants used "race" as a marker of social difference to make sense of peers and South African society. I argue that critical pedagogy interventions also need to work with educators to reflect on inequalities and socio-political contexts, if such interventions are to be successful. The show illuminated that young South Africans want to speak about racialised and class-based forms of historical oppression, but that these kinds of discussions require skilled facilitation.
Abstractor: As Provided
Number of References: 38
Entry Date: 2016
Accession Number: EJ1121914
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:In this paper I describe and analyse how critical pedagogy, an approach to teaching and learning that encourages students to reflect on their socio-political contexts, may stimulate critical consciousness and dialogue at a youth radio show. The participants, who attended four diverse Cape Town high schools and predominantly lived in poor townships, named the show Youth Amplified. Youth Amplified dialogues were catalysed by a range of materials, including documentary films, newspapers and academic articles, which participants engaged with prior to the show. Participants then generated questions, which contributed to the dialogues that took place live on air. Two central themes emerged from the radio shows. First, the values and discourses of elite schools were transported to Youth Amplified and presented as incontestable truths that often denigrated marginalised learners. Second, participants used "race" as a marker of social difference to make sense of peers and South African society. I argue that critical pedagogy interventions also need to work with educators to reflect on inequalities and socio-political contexts, if such interventions are to be successful. The show illuminated that young South Africans want to speak about racialised and class-based forms of historical oppression, but that these kinds of discussions require skilled facilitation.
ISSN:1682-3206
DOI:10.17159/1947-9417/2016/732