Investigating the place of critical pedagogy in the Algerian secondary school EFL classes.

Abstract

Critical Pedagogy is commonly defined as a philosophy of education and social movement that stems from critical theory and the field of education. It advocates for social justice and democracy and argues that both cannot be separated from the acts of teaching and learning. In this thesis, we explored the place that critical pedagogy holds within English as Foreign language Algerian secondary school textbooks, “At the Crossroads”, “Getting Through”, and “New Prospects” respectively. To achieve this, the place and principles of critical Pedagogy were explored in the three aforementioned textbooks through a specifically created checklist. In addition to that, the views of teachers regarding critical pedagogy were investigated. For this aim, a questionnaire was administered to a sample of 60 teachers at the Wilaya of Oum El Bouaghi-Algeria. It focused on the teachers' familiarity with critical pedagogy, its main elements, and principles as well as exploring their daily classroom activities and habits in order to better understand the obstacles they face every day. The findings of the checklist highlight the rigid structure and format that Algerian secondary textbooks follow. The textbooks follow a competency based approach with an element of project based learning. Themes are set prior to the start of teaching and by an external higher authority (the Ministry of Education). Thus, any room for adaptation is lost since the teacher is forced to remain relevant in terms of theme and language points. On the same line of thought, the marginalization of the learners is exposed and highlighted in the findings by the exclusion of their needs when designing lessons or setting aims. The goals of learning a foreign language are set by the ministry of education, and are limited to acquiring the ability to master the target language to communicate effectively. The analysis of the questionnaire has revealed major insights into the practices of the Algerian secondary school teachers. First, most of teachers follow the aims set in the textbook to the letter. Consequently, the needs of the learners are neglected or minimally considered at best. Most teachers are more concerned with students achieving language skills than for them to be active agents who can lead social change movements. It all boils down to how teachers see themselves: the authority in class, the knower, the knowledge transmitter, unlike students who are delegated to secondary roles. Furthermore, the findings in this thesis provide pedagogical implications for both the need of critical pedagogy in textbooks as well as the need for teachers training to better include its principles in their teaching. These implications will be useful for critical pedagogy researchers and teachers who find themselves inspired and want to contribute to its theory and practice.