Published Resources Details Thesis

Author
McInnes, S.
Title
An experiment with radical pedagogy
Type of Work
MEd thesis
Imprint
University of Canberra, Belconnen ACT, 1990
Url
http://webpac.canberra.edu.au/record=b1109668~S4
Subject
Australian Capital Territory
Abstract

This thesis is an analysis of some research undertaken with students in a unit on human sexuality. It is a critical account of an experiment with 'radical' pedagogy which deliberately forsakes the pessimistic determinism of social reproduction theory in education and assumes the fundamental optimism of resistance theory, wherein human actors are capable of penetrating oppressive ideology and practice and working towards emancipation and social change. The experiment is an attempt to implement radical pedagogy in a particular classroom, and the body of the thesis consists of a critique of data collected from participants' notes and transcriptions of video and audio-tapes of thirteen, two-hour class sessions. The first chapter of the thesis outlines the nature of a pedagogical style which could be described as counter-hegemonic, non- reproductive, or liberatory, and it specifies the elements of a ' radical' approach to classroom process and content, which is distinguished from a 'traditional' one. Subsequent chapters present a critical analysis of actual classroom 'content' and 'process', which is based on a study of reconstructed sessional data, and the final chapter discusses the factors which limited the 'success' of the experiment, and attempts to draw some conclusions about the liberatory possibilities of radical pedagogy.