A pedagogy of resistance : reflections on a critical approach to teaching in comparative and international education

Abstract

We always share our research but rarely share our teaching. Doing so is just as important. In this paper, I focus on three courses I teach regularly in Comparative and International Education, two for the past ten years and one for almost forty years at two universities in the USA: political economy of education and development; alternative education, alternative development; and modes of inquiry. I reflect on why I like what I have done with them, as well as areas of dissatisfaction. My approach to education in these courses is shaped by three basic principles: fair debate, understanding different viewpoints, and creating a safe space and climate in the classroom. My goal is to try to develop courses that resist simplistic explanations of individual failure and the triumph of the market system and, instead, offer students the opportunity to explore alternative explanations and discourses.