Stepping out of the academic brew: using critical research to break down hierarchies of knowledge production

Abstract

Critical theory and critical research are undeniably useful for revealing oppressive social structures and challenging the status quo in the realm of grand theory; yet, they are also useful for creating knowledge structures when academics deploy them on the ground. This article explores how critical theory and critical research can be used to critique hierarchies of knowledge in academia and society in order to create new opportunities for learning and researching dialogically, a process that the author calls, ‘stepping out of the academic brew’. Using the concept of REDO (reveal, examine, dismantle, open) and an example of critical research done with and by urban high school students, the author offers a framework for how critical researchers (with the help of those with whom they work) might begin flattening hierarchical knowledge structures in education, in themselves, and in life.

Keywords:

• knowledge hierarchies
• critical research
• critical theory
• official knowledge

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Carolyne Ali‐Kahn who coined the phrase ‘stepping out of the academic brew’ in a conversation with me as I was conceptualizing this special edition. Thanks to the Young Researchers, who have taught me more about knowledge hierarchies than academic texts ever could.

Notes

1. All names have been changed to preserve confidentiality. The students who participated in the Young Researchers Club, which appears later, actually selected their own names; they opted to use characters from the television show Star Trek.

2. Black is the racial category used by the city; however, the population of Black students is heterogeneous, consisting of various ethnic groups. Cape Verdean and Haitian are the two largest groups that comprise the Black population in the school, although there are others as well.