Toward a critical pedagogy of engagement for alienated youth: insights from Freire and school‐based research

Abstract

Although alienation is widely recognized as a barrier to educational success for many students, prevailing explanations tend to focus on psychological traits and individual deficits, rather than the oppressive economic and social structures bearing down on young people. This paper addresses the issues of youth alienation and student engagement from a critical/sociological perspective. Informed by Paulo Freire's philosophy and praxis, I argue that any meaningful response to the phenomenon requires a critique of the dehumanizing forces that operate within and outside schools and the development of a renewed project for a critical pedagogy that is more attuned to the influences of globalization and popular culture on young people's lives. The practical possibilities, limitations and potential development of such a pedagogy is discussed with reference to a cluster of Australian high schools serving low socioeconomic communities.

Keywords:

• alienation
• critical pedagogy
• Freire
• student engagement

Acknowledgement

Research undertaken in this paper was funded by the Australian Research Council (Linkage Project) and the Western Australian Department of Education and Training.