A more critical pedagogy: could it reduce non-completer rates of male Latino high school students? The student perspective

Abstract

This study was an inquiry to explore the notion of using a more critical pedagogy to educate young male Latino high school students of low socioeconomic status. Using the tenets of critical pedagogy as a guide, eight students who did not complete high school were asked how they might have felt about a different classroom dynamic and an environment with different ‘rules’ of engagement. Using modified grounded theory approach in which the voice of the students was privileged, this qualitative study addresses the following questions: What do the students believe caused their non-completion status, and how receptive would the students have been to the use of alternate pedagogical practices? The findings suggest that these students would have welcomed a more critical pedagogical educational environment, and it is likely that they would not be in their current non-completion circumstance had a more critical pedagogy been in place. The students spoke, and this study sets out to document their voice authentically.

Keywords:

• critical pedagogy
• Latino
• non-completer
• students
• dropouts