Reading Class : Investigations in Critical Phenomenology and Critical Pedagogy

Abstract

The following thesis is a collection of papers investigating the interrelation between two theoretical and methodological frameworks: critical phenomenology and critical pedagogy. Critical phenomenology is a discipline which offers a detailed account of the structures of perception in which power dynamics are taken into account. To reach this understanding of lived experience, critical phenomenology relies on first-person investigations – either first-hand or through testimonies. Critical pedagogy relies on a variety of critical theories to reflect on power dynamics within a learning environment. At the core of critical pedagogy is the tenet that learners can make knowledge arise from and for themselves. In this conception of learning, the educator is a facilitator. Bridging the two disciplines together, critical pedagogy could offer critical phenomenology with a collective methodological framework to steer away from first-person investigations. Reciprocally, critical phenomenology could offer critical pedagogy with a renewed overarching theoretical framework within which power is read as a complex set of dynamics which settle into perception and praxis. To reach these conclusions, I explain the theoretical and historical frameworks with which I work (chapters 2 and 6). I work through one of my own personal narratives (chapter 1), through other’s testimonies (chapter 3), and a narrative of a collective pedagogical experience (chapter 4). A set of reflections explores the criticism which can be made of these accounts and testimonies (chapter 5). Finally, I offer a framework within which one could lead an empirical investigation to bridge the two disciplines (chapter 7). While each part of this thesis can stand alone in its format, the combination of sections forms a unified argument. I suggest the two disciplines should lean into their potential reciprocal influence, which are seldom highlighted.