This was another interesting article with some great ideas of utilizing critical pedagogy in a classroom setting. The teachers, working together, had some great insights on how to create a meaningful and productive project for their urban/diverse students.
The first thing I really liked about what they did in their classroom was to recognize the fact that students are all participating in a culture that is very different from the culture that had been imposed on them. They were very creative in attempting to bring together the "hip-hop" culture and the "Shakespeare" culture through the lens of poetry and literature. They were attempting to prepare the students for AP standardized testing but allowing them to explore the skills needed to read/interact critically with a piece. I think this was a very good idea because it exposes them to classic writing and letting them read that, but also drawing connections between their current culture, and that of 400 years ago.
These teachers did not allow the curriculum to take-away the skills needed to be critical readers. They helped them bridge the gap between the "language of power" and the language of the oppressed. This also helped them to each to multiple cultures w/ "canonical" texts because they drew connections to many different cultures. "The more we study the cultural practices of others, the more these practices seem logical to us and the more they help us to understand our own practices as equally unique and equally meaningful" was a good way to promote the students looking past their own windows to try and appreciate what they had in front of them..
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