Degree
Master of Arts
Program
Education
Supervisor
Dr. Marianne Larsen
Abstract
This thesis uses the qualitative case study approach to investigate current strategies and skills four Ontario public secondary school teachers apply both within and outside of the classroom to enhance students’ critical consciousness. The focus is on teachers’ pedagogical work in the era of neoliberal restructuring in order to provide a rich account of how neoliberalism challenges and affects their teaching. Existing literature shows a crisis of identity and political agency among youth in many Western societies, characterized by individuals’ inability to think critically about social, political and economic issues, which is rooted in neoliberal education reforms. Adopting a critical pedagogical lens, this research highlights the power of neoliberal trends that are embedded in the Ontario education system in ways that are often invisible to teachers. The study also demonstrates the lack of critical consciousness among some teachers, and the dire need for enhancing critical consciousness among teachers in Ontario.
Recommended Citation
Shahsavari-Googhari, Rezvan, "How Do Teachers Challenge Neoliberalism Through Critical Pedagogy Within and Outside of the Classroom?" (2017). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 4760.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/4760
Included in
Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons, Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, Educational Leadership Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Epistemology Commons, Higher Education and Teaching Commons, Humane Education Commons, International and Comparative Education Commons, Other Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons, Secondary Education Commons, Secondary Education and Teaching Commons, Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education Commons