(Un) critical pedagogy: current priorities and prospects of development

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(Un) critical pedagogy: current priorities and prospects of development

Olena Budnyk

Abstract

The article highlights the relevance of the problems of critical pedagogy, associated with the name of the Brazilian scientist Paulo Freire (60s of the XX century), who promotes problem- oriented learning, anthropological interpretation of culture, and concepts of humanity. The main content of the concept of critical pedagogy is highlighted due to the necessity to overcome stereotypes regarding the organization of pedagogical education and teaching in an educational institution based on oppression, humiliation, and (non) recognition of differences, in particular linguistic and cultural. It has been revealed that followers of Freire's ideas regarding critical pedagogy emphasize the principles of equality and justice, understanding/acceptance of various issues that are debatable or in need of public criticism (repression and resistance in higher education, teaching, and consumerism, issues of transsexuality and transgenderism, etc.). The author extrapolates the main principles of critical pedagogy to the subject of their use in modern conditions, when slightly different forms of bullying (violence) take place in educational institutions (or outside them) or the virtual world - a negative attitude towards persons with special needs, various types of bullying (physical, social, verbal), cyberbullying, cyber grooming, flaming, harassment, denigration, etc. It is substantiated that various forms of discrimination often arise in the educational setting due to the social or material status of the child's parents, and his/her racial or religious affiliation, that is, they are associated with the rejection of diversity and have an impact on the educational process and personal self-expression in society. The issue of criticality in education must be considered in the modern dimension: in school and student society, teaching and scientific activities, educational management, pedagogical imageology, intercultural education, etc. The theoretical analysis of the content and structure of the concept of "critical pedagogy" was carried out, the necessity to develop students' critical perception of the world, critical thinking, and info media literacy. To motivate young people to search for and acquire new knowledge independently, to be active in applying it in practice, to teach them to criticize and respond adequately to constructive criticism, to draw conclusions and check them, etc. In a practical context, it is recommended to use the improvisation method to develop students' critical thinking, as well as Problem Based Learning, Project Based Learning, Inquiry Based Learning, Flipped Learning, Interactive or Dialogic Learning, etc.

Keywords; philosophy of education, critical pedagogy, critical thinking, radical approach, educational criticism, pedagogical activity, critical consciousness, methods of critical pedagogy.

Будник Олена. (Без) критична педагогіка: сучасні пріоритети та перспективи розвитку

У статті висвітлено актуальність дослідження проблем критичної педагогіки, появу якої пов'язують з іменем бразильського вченого Пауло Фрейре (60-х роки ХХ століття), котрий пропагує проблемно-орієнтовану освіту, антропологічне тлумачення культури, концепції людської гуманності. Висвітлено основний зміст критичного в освіті через необхідність подолання стереотипів щодо організації педагогічної освіти і викладання у навчальному закладі на засадах пригноблення, приниження та (не)визнання відмінностей, зокрема мовних і культурних. Досліджено, що послідовники ідей Фрейре у руслі критичної педагогіки акцентують на принципах рівності та справедливості, розуміння / прийняття різних питань, які є дискусійними чи потребують громадської критики (репресії та спротив у вищій освіті, викладання і споживацтво, питання транссексуальності та трансґендерності та ін.). Автор екстраполює основні принципи критичної педагогіки на предмет їх використання в сучасних умовах, де мають місце дещо інші форми цькування (насильства) у закладах освіти (чи поза ними) або ж віртуальному світі - негативне ставлення до осіб з особливими потребами, різні види булінгу (фізичний, соціальний, вербальний), кібербулінг, кібергрумінг, флеймінг, харасмент, відчуження та ін. Обґрунтовано, що різні форми дискримінації в освітньому середовищі часто виникають через соціальний чи матеріальний статус батьків дитини, її расову чи релігійну приналежність, тобто пов'язані із неприйняттям різноманітності і мають вплив на освітній процес та особистісне самовираження у соціумі. З'ясовано, що питання критичного в освіті необхідно розглядати у сучасному вимірі: у шкільному і студентському соціумі, викладацькій і науковій діяльності, освітньому менеджменті, педагогічній іміджології, міжкультурній освіті і т.п. Здійснено теоретичний аналіз змісту і структури поняття «критична педагогіка», наголошено на необхідності розвивати у студентів критичне сприйняття світу, критичне мислення, інфомедійну грамотність, мотивувати їх до пошуку й самостійного здобуття нового знання та активності щодо його застосування у практиці, вчити критикувати та адекватно реагувати на конструктивну критику з боку інших, робити висновки та перевіряти їх і т.п. У практичному контексті рекомендовано використовувати метод імпровізації для розвитку критичного мислення студентів, а також - проблемне навчання, проєктне навчання, дослідницько-орієнтоване навчання, «перевернуте» навчання, інтерактивне чи діалогічне навчання та ін.

Ключові слова: філософія освіти, критична педагогіка, критичне мислення, радикальний підхід, освітній критицизм, педагогічна діяльність, критична свідомість, методи критичної педагогіки.

"...Dubito, ergo sum, vel, quod idem est, cogito, ergo sum" ("I doubt, therefore I am - or what is the same -1 think, therefore I am").

Descartes ("The Search for Truth by Natural Light") Hintikka, Jaakko (1962). Cogito, ergo sum: Inference or performance?. The Philosophical Review, 71(1), 3-32. ^{https://doi.org/10.2307/2183678}

Introduction

In the modern conditions of the information society development, the propagation of mass culture, the transformation of spiritual values, as well as the losing of a sense of security and protection of mankind from natural cataclysms and other global threats, an important innovative challenge is the study of classical methods of scientific knowledge of reality, methodology, and practice of critical pedagogy. After all, it is not about only awareness, analysis, and argumentation obtained by a rational way of knowledge, but also critical differentiation of information, and emotional processing for qualitative, primarily axiological, evaluation, and practical application in educational activities. Considerable attention is paid to the problems of the identity of one's selfconcept "I" (national, social, cultural, religious, etc.) based on the recognition of the differences of "others". Awareness of such differences in the pedagogical context is often gained with the help of a critical understanding of the realities of the socio-cultural environment. After all "[...] no society is made up of a single, monolithic culture; rather, different communities reflect different values and beliefs and encourage and discourage different behaviors. Political, social, and educational systems tend to reflect the dominant culture, and over time the values, behaviors, and beliefs associated with that culture become so ingrained as to be invisible" (Saunders & Wong, 2020).

In modern science, there are conflicting opinions regarding the generalizations of critical thinking, the specifics of its development in various areas, "[...] over alleged bias in critical thinking theories and instruction, and the relationship of critical thinking to other types of thinking " (Hitchcock, 2022), overcoming the so-called "crisis of critical thinking" in education (Bishop, 2010, p. 48). Critical (radical) approaches to the perception of reality and the appropriate organization of the education system are gaining more and more popularity in the world. Hejnicka-Bezwihska (1993) emphasizes the relevance of the study of the "identity of pedagogy" and poses a debatable question: "Is it the crisis of pedagogy or the crisis of educators?". Therefore, the following questions also arise: Are modern education and pedagogical staff ready to implement the ideas of critical pedagogy? Who should be primarily interested in overcoming discrimination in education? What kind of society needs critical young people?

Kumashiro's (2002) book "Troubling Education", devoted to issues related to identifying and recognizing inequalities in the educational environment, was published two decades ago. As the Ukrainian researcher Olga Plahotnik points out, " the world is unfair and full of multidimensional inequalities, some groups in it are privileged according to certain characteristics, and others are disadvantaged, [...] overcoming injustice in radical pedagogies is not considered a result of improving life or raising the status of subordinate groups, [...] and through social criticism of the system and its institutions" to motivate students to activities for the sake of creating a fair society, to form their “critical view of society and social institutions, to teach them to recognize inequalities hidden behind science, common sense, traditions, morality..." (Plahotnik, 2014, p. 177). Not without reason, the Polish scientist Bogusiaw Sliwerski, based on the analysis of the ideas of Ewa Bilihska-Suchanek's critical social theory in the pedagogy, argues: "The individual's awareness of the dialectic of freedom and force can create greater opportunities for empowerment and emancipation. School is one of those settings of social life in which the phenomena of domination, as well as liberation and empowerment, take place" (Sliwerski, 2011, p. 227).

In the 21st century, even in the civilized world, we face various forms of bullying or violence in educational institutions (or outside them) or in the virtual world - negative attitudes towards persons with disabilities, various types of bullying (physical, social, verbal), cyberbullying, cyber grooming, flaming, harassment, denigration, etc. Such types of bullying in the educational setting often occur due to the social or material status of the child's parents, i.e. in a certain way related to "rejection of diversity", which means, as Saunders and Wong (2020) note, "differences have a profound impact on education".

Therefore, critical issues not only in school or student society but also in teaching and scientific activity (Hanaba, 2017), educational management (Nikolaesku et al., 2021), formation of the pedagogical image of an educational institution (Budnyk et al., 2021), intercultural education (Rembierz, 2017), etc., are updated and gain new content.

The term "critical pedagogy" is not new and is used along with the concepts of "radical pedagogy", "feminist pedagogy", "post-colonial pedagogy", "pedagogy of resistance", "anarchic pedagogy", "resource pedagogies", "culturally relevant pedagogy" and others, which aim to depart from the standards of normativity, understanding, accepting (rejecting) differences regarding the peculiarities of psychophysical development, religion or race, cultural or linguistic diversity, discussions about anti-homophobic education, etc.

The task of this study is to: (1) outline the general theoretical concepts of critical pedagogy and its tasks in modern conditions, (2) define and discuss value imperatives, principles, and methods of its use in professional educational activities.

Analysis and discussion

1. Several facts about the historical and philosophical aspects of the problem

Even in ancient Greek philosophy, the thesis that any thought should have a clear scientific basis, and interpretation dominated: "For how could a reasoning, which cannot even get off to a start without evidence, be trustworthy, if it rails against the evidence..." (Miller, 2013). Democritus, the founder of the atomistic hypothesis of the explanation of the world, considered the possibility of the existence of an infinite number of unique worlds. He is the author of the already banal expression: "Criticism is a great teacher of people", because, considering a joyful mood (euthymia) as the goal of life, a person always reacts positively to critical things. critical pedagogy freire

“Purveyors of moral wisdom ancient and modern are often accused of incoherence and/or banality - not without reason since making generic normative statements about something as particular and indeterminate as everyday human life exposes would-be moral instructors to notable risks: on the one hand, their advice may be overly particular, mistaking inconsequential details of a specific circumstance for universally meaningful information; on the other, it be may be too general and universal to be particularly useful - a very common vice in ancient wisdom literature" (Miller, 2013, p. 308).

In the process of real world perception, and discovering something unknown previously, the truth criteria are important, requiring a critical understanding of the nature of knowledge and the possibilities of its implementation. "... For the development of cognition, it is necessa ry to establish a hierarchy of things, or it is quite enough to criticize comprehensively the cognitive process..." which, according to Przemyslaw Parszutowicz, is characterized by "the Kantian and later neo - Kantian opposition between the notions of quidi iuris and quid facti". Based on this he describes the differences between dogmatism and criticism in the book "Philosophy as Criticism of Knowledge: An Introduction to Ernst Cassirer's Transcendentalism" (Parszutowicz, 2013, p. 45-59). The philosopher emphasizes the fact that "Criticism, unlike dogmatism, defines its problem area precisely by examining the logical possibilities of formulating problems - in other words, their legitimacy." [...] The main question of critical philosophy is no longer: what is a substance - that is, what are fundamentals of being, nowadays it is: what cognitive functions are enabled by experience, and consequently also by its objects" (Parszutowicz, 2013, p.58-59).

Dewey (1910) emphasized the activation of the individual's thinki ng in education as a key to the development of his/her knowledge, curiosity, interest in experiments, and reflection, although the concept of "critical pedagogy" was not mentioned at that time.

Critical pedagogy is usually associated with the name of the former Minister of Education of Brazil, Paulo Freire, who in the 60s of the 20th century proposed an appropriate concept of education based on freedom and critical thinking in this sphere. Freire's critical pedagogy promotes problem-oriented education, anthropological interpretation of culture, concepts of humanity, critical consciousness, and modeling of the educator's ideal (Haydenko, 2006, p. 92). This theory was quickly spread in different countries of the world, because in the middle of the 20th century, the active movement for social equality, and freedom from various types of oppression, oppression due to political, economic, or social factors began in the world. In Europe, in particular, it meant the struggle against the dictatorship of fascism and Stalinism, and this, in a way, gave rise to critical trends in science and education. As noted by Uddin (2019), "Critical Pedagogy developed from Critical Theory as thinkers sought to understand better the existence of social dominance and to give students a voice to challenge oppression. Critical knowledge is also helpful for the privileged group, which can use it to realize that they are violating the rights of others."

Considering the current political conflicts, and revolutionary movements of anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist direction, Paulo Freire's critical pedagogy combined elements of existentialism, phenomenology, Hegelian dialectics, and historical materialism. His followers, Henry Giroux, Peter McLaren, Donald Macedo, Bell Hooks, Stanley Aronowitz, etc. emphasized that, like philosophy, pedagogy should focus on a free, not oppressed person. It is noteworthy that Freire opposes the stereotyping of approaches to pedagogical education and teaching in an educational institution. Despite the processes of globalization, the scientist suggests ethnic minorities not to forget their native language; demonstrate its beauty consistently, to be proud of their national traditions and cultural differences. This is a kind of "legitimate" way of self -expression and at the same time a method of fighting for liberation.

McLaren (1995) substantiates the radical concepts of culture, identity, and the politics of school education and its prospects. Considerable attention is paid to the future teacher training: "Critical pedagogy as a form of cultural politics attempts to redress the ideological shortcomings of current analyses of schooling and mainstream discussions of pedagogy, particularly as found in teacher education programs... [...] Student teachers often encounter schooling as a set of rules and regulative practices that have been laundered of ambiguity, contradiction, paradox, and resistance" (p. 35). The American scientist researches the issue of "critical or resistance postmodernist perspective to bear on the issue of multiculturalism", challenges critical teachers to create a "multicultural curriculum" and pedagogy, which is oriented to take into account peculiarities and differences (McLaren, 1995, p. 210).

Inrelation to this, alongside existing concepts of "resource pedagogies" (Moll & Gonzalez, 1994), and "culturally relevant pedagogy" (Ladson-Billings, 1995) - Paris (2012) suggested the concept of "culturally sustaining pedagogy" (CSP) as an alternative that embodies some of the best past and present research and practice in the resource pedagogy tradition and as a term that supports the value of our multiethnic and multilingual present and future". Therefore, it is about the democratization of education, and support of cultural and linguistic diversity of students. The American pedagogue singles out CRP not in line with the philosophy of education, but as a methodology of critical pedagogy, which focuses on cultural minorities, and therefore, students' origin, their cultural values, and linguistic features, to save them from assimilation and "dissolution" in the mass culture. In practice, the implementation of CRP involves interaction with the community, and criticism of power structures regarding taking into account / not taking into account cultural and linguistic differences in public life, including in education.

Often in scientific publications related to critical pedagogy, we come across theses about its political direction, identification of "oppressed" social groups, improvement of political edu cation, etc. "Critical pedagogy offers a way out of the discourse of difference and offers a new type of subjectivity - "postcolonial subjectivity", the essence of which is manifested in the active denial of oppression. This denial will be manifested in a conscious subjective act, as well as in collective political practice" (Radionova, 2013). Of course, "democratic politics requires an audience capable of questioning and criticizing elected officials and their laws - and changing them when necessary" (Giroux & Searls-Giroux, 2004, p. 4), therefore, young people should be politically aware to consciously and actively express their civic position, to analyze critically certain democratic processes. However, this is not a direct call to change the political situation in the country or its government, and critical education does not pursue such a goal. It is only important to form active, critically thinking young people with the help of traditional/innovative pedagogical methods and techniques.

Modern Chinese researcher Peter Mclaren (Freire's follower) understands the future of critical pedagogy this way:

"So far critical pedagogy has shown itself to be durable and enduring. It will survive and continue to develop in the coming years, as the struggle for democratic socialism becomes more fierce and fraught with danger. In this, one of the darkest hours of our national life, critical educators take no pleasure in censuring the most desperate and loathsome designs of neoliberal administrations, designs fueled by the political bloodlust of a bourgeoisie in crisis, designs that can only be described as a tryst with the devil. What defeats we have experienced recently are not irremediable, and are not inevitable. Critical educators have come to recognize that only by sheltering the persecuted and only by creating the conditions of possibility for new and emancipatory forms of praxis in all spaces of human sociability can we obtain as a people a new birth of freedom." (McLaren, 2020).

Pedagogy as a science and educational discipline cannot be separated from the political situation in which a personality and its moral qualities are formed. It is not by chance that nowadays in scientific circles, it is more and more common to talk about the value approach in education and immorality.

An example of a critical thinker was Karol Wojtyla, who criticized totalitarianism and communism and called, above all, the youth, to build a democratic society, peace, and prayer. In his speech at the meeting with young Ukrainian people in Lviv, John Paul II (2001) called to "face boldly all the challenges of today", not to be afraid to "go against the flow", and to make "your contribution to the improvement of social, cultural, economic and political conditions in the country".

"[...] Your country is going through a difficult and complex transition from the totalitarian regime which oppressed it for so many years to a society at last free and democratic. Freedom however needs strong, responsible, and mature consciences. [...] The path that often seems wide and easy later shows itself to be deceptive and false. Do not go from the slavery of the Communist regime to the slavery of consumerism, another form of materialism, which, without explicitly rejecting God, actually does deny him by excluding him from life. Without God, you will not be able to do anything well. With his help, however, you will be able to face all the challenges of the present moment" (John Paul II, 2001).

At the same time, John Paul II was also often criticized for the diversity of his views. Pope Francis' (2014) ideas of criticism were expressed in his speech at the European Parliament when, according to Marian Nowak (2015), he critically pointed to "the idea of a scared and introverted Europe", technical bureaucracy in institutions (p. 45-46), emphasized the necessity to realize one's identity, because many peoples still "suffer from internal conflicts, the pressure of religious fundamentalism and the reality of global terrorism". "Despite a larger and stronger Union, Europe seems to give the impression of being somewhat elderly and haggard, feeling less and less a protagonist in a world which frequently regards it with aloofness, mistrust and even, at times, suspicion" (Pope Francis, 2014).

Modern students are well aware of the essence of social justice, European solidarity, democracy, freedom, independence, etc. In addition, this fact in a certain way serves as a means of conscious reflection of the world, understanding, the reflection of personal values, and the development of individuality. Educational system has a greater or lesser impact on the young person's political orientation. Therefore, we support the opinion of scientists that pedagogy cannot be completely abstracted from politics. For example, Russian military aggression in Ukraine (which was especially intensified with the beginning of a full-scale invasion in February 2022) is the subject of careful discussion in the educational environment, deep experience, and empathy, while students develop feelings of patriotism along with hostility and rejection of the aggressor who commits violence on native land.

From the point of view of critical pedagogy, such experience contributes to the fact that, in the near future students will be able to form certain beliefs that will later help build a democratic civil society based on the principles of justice and humanism. It is first about critical thinking skills, communicative activity, creativity, emancipation, etc., because "critical pedagogy contrasts the narrative of the global crisis with the program of humanization of education in the 21st century. The concept of perpetual pedagogy corresponds to the existence of youth in complicated sociocultural settings" (Radionova, 2013).

Approaching the analysis of the essence of critical pedagogy, it is worth analyzing modern Polish philosophers' opinions: "The pedagogy for pedagogy [...] is a manifestation of its egocentrism, which has its source in infantilism or neurasthenia (Schulz, 1994, p. 100) or reflections on "the criticality or uncriticality of pedagogy towards itself" (M. Rembierz, L. Witkowski).

“The discussion on critical pedagogy must be critical by nature. In addition, more broad than concerning some closed entity. I would not like us to repeat mistakes here, or at least habits with the approach to other labels, such as alternative pedagogy, postmodern pedagogy, emancipatory pedagogy, critical pedagogy wants to be pedagogy as is, and not some marginal or exotic variant, proud of its distinctiveness and generously recognizing the right to equal functioning of currents unaware of their handicap [...]. In particular, it is an opportunity to reflect on the state of pedagogy as a whole [...] and its parts, such as general pedagogy, social pedagogy, comparative pedagogy, and to design tasks for each and recognize their shallows or backwardness..."(Witkowski, 2012, p. 19).

In Ukrainian science, the term "critical pedagogy" is relatively new, as it is used mostl y in the field of philosophy of education, history of pedagogy, and comparative pedagogy. Concerning other branches of pedagogy - general pedagogy, age pedagogy, primary school pedagogy, military pedagogy, social pedagogy, professional pedagogy, special pedagogy, and others - traditional canons and conservatism usually dominate here, despite some innovative development trends (digitalization, Europeanization, etc.). Namely, they consider bipolarity as a perspective for the development of pedagogical science: "An important aspect of the criticality of pedagogy as a whole of discourse and practice is the recognition everywhere, finally, of the 2-EDGED nature of the means we must use, the DUALITY of the situation of action, which condemns us to tensions and irreducible dilemmas, constantly threatening to make one-sided choices" (Witkowski, 2012, p. 34).

2. The essence and tasks of critical pedagogy

In modern science, there is no universally accepted interpretation of the category "critical pedagogy". As Hanaba (2017) notes, "this term in the scientific discourse has rather a general name for those research strategies that scientists use in the explanation and critical rethinking of discriminatory social and cultural practices in the field of education" (p. 91). "The task of criticism is to deal with the conditions of the possibility of the emergence of a diversity of cognitive positions - and, consequently, the conditions of the possibility of a diversity of theories of knowledge, and thus the determination of their mutual relationship and the extraction of the root question, the root need of the spirit, what is the foundation of this diversity" (Parszutowicz, 2013, p. 145).

In the United States, a variety of communicative criticism - Rhetorical criticism, which develops in several thematic and methodological versions (historical, feminist and thematic criticism), is widely popularized. It becomes of great important when it comes to the classic standards of retro and modern art regarding the improvement of speech, "to interpret the documents against a pervasive perspective of antiquity" (Walton, 1996).

The Polish scientist Lech Witkowski's (2012) methodological reflections on the essence of critical pedagogy (like his American predecessors) are worth attention. The researcher calls it "radical" pedagogy (p. 13). The Ukrainian researcher Olga Plahotnik's opinion on the radical approach in teaching is similar as the subject of criticism in the educational process can be political power, university teaching methods, problems of bullying or cyberbullying, gender or sexuality, globalization and nationalization, race, privatization, etc. The author relies on the fact that since 1975 in the magazine "Radical Teacher" (the USA) various research on the issues that are debatable or in need of public criticism (repression and resistance in higher education, teaching, and consumerism, the issue of transsexuality and transgenderism, etc.) have been published (Plahotnik, 2014, pp. 176-177). Such a public interdisciplinary discussion of the outlined problems, in our opinion, is quite productive.

Reflecting on the essence of critical pedagogy, we support Bogusiaw Sliwerski's critical approach in this context (Sliwerski, 2011). The author doubts Bilinskiej-Suchanek's (2010) opinion regarding her identification of three relatively independent pedagogies, namely: pedagogy of resistance, critical pedagogy, and radical pedagogy. He raises a question: "[...] what is the difference between the cognitive attractiveness and the different application approach to the category of resistance in these three trends? How do they relate to the research issues of the new sociology of education, whose representatives took over the research problems of educators and put forward postulates of a non-hierarchical form of school pedagogy?". Therefore, he proves the relevance of their [pedagogical] association (critical, radical, and resistance). After all, critical pedagogy integrates the above-mentioned scientific theories or research directions (Sliwerski, 2011, p. 229)

We completely agree with Lech Witkowski's (2012) opinion on the necessity to create a dictionary of critical pedagogy that would have its own categorical specificity ("[...] the empowerment or attitude of a “transformative intellectual" or the task of deconstructing canons, and on the other hand, the specific meaning of traditional categories in pedagogy..." (p. 29) and global orientation.

"Critical pedagogy is a vital teaching strategy, one designed to strengthen the awareness of learners about justice and social equality, while improving their knowledge" (Uddin, 2019). Based on the analysis of scientific research, it is worth highlighting the task of critical pedagogy - to develop students' critical and reflective thinking skills, as well as to form a sense of dignity, honesty, conscience, equality, justice, tolerance, etc., that is, a system of value orientations characteristic of a democratic society (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. The Principles, Aims, and Approachers of Critical Pedagogy (Adapted from Seal & Smith, 2021) Sourse: (Rollins School of Public Health. (n.d.)).

In the context of the theory of criticism, Rembierz (2022) emphasizes the issues of human dignity, honor, tolerance, humanity, and other spiritual values. Because in the educational environment, a person is influenced by various factors, including negative ones, the author suggests, "liberating from the shackles of confusion and enslaving dependence, which takes the form of addiction", and can cause a threat to human dignity (pp. 250-251). Sometimes the humiliation of the student for non-fulfillment of certain educator (teacher)'s requirements, results in "the protest and divination of the child [...] because it is important for a person to preserve her/his sense of self-worth, to treat somebody with respect" (Bekh, 2015, p. 41). Faced with a number of misunderstandings, the student realizes that in the educational process, protest is generally inadmissible, because it is directed against teachers, who control the results of his/her studies in a certain way. Under such conditions, as noted by Ukrainian academician Ivan Bekh, "the need for self-respect, which prompts protest, get into an insoluble contradiction between the need for respect and the educator's approval, without which self-preservation is impossible. This is how an internal motivational conflict is formed, for which the motive of hostility is constantly restrained" (Bekh, 2015). After all, systematic "rejection" of the child ultimately results in anxiety, psychological disharmony, and self-rejection, because of which a "pseudo-I" is created and supported (Bekh, 2015, p. 61). In line with the theory of educational criticism, Radionova (2013) attracts attention to the moment when students not only "involuntarily agree to the relationship of subordination-dominance, but sometimes even find the form and content through which this dominance manifests".

A critical attitude to reality also takes place here, for example, in the understanding of dignity and respect for each participant in the educational process (student, teacher, manager). After all, there is often "fake" respect, the so-called demonstration of understanding and acceptance of a person. Therefore, as Rembierz (2022) points out, "these misleading (abuse) uses of the word "dignity" that can degrade the proper sense o f dignity must be carefully avoided so that the word "dignity" does not turn into an "empty ritual" or, even worse, into hypocrisy." (p. 257).

“The slogan “criticism as an affirmation of values" expresses the idea that thanks to a critical attitude one can discover, purify, expose, multiply, and improve positive qualities. Without a proper critique, values are not highlighted, human activities and products languish, and beliefs and attitudes become marked by a degenerating indolence" (Rembierz, 2022).

Personally oriented education should serve as a means of realizing the essential nature of the subject in the educational process and the ability to go beyond the limits of his/her actual capabilities. Therefore, the "philosophy of personally oriented education", aimed at free and creative personal self-expression, should become an "alternative to the directive approach" in education (Bekh, 2015, p. 41), when teachers would stimulate students' interest in constructive criticism, an adequate response to it and self-criticism for improvement.

"Critical pedagogy embraces the belief that educators should encourage learners to examine power structures and patterns of inequality through an awakening of critical consciousness in pursuit of emancipation from oppression. A central tenet of Freire's critical pedagogy is “conscientization" or critical awareness that precedes action" (Rollins School of Public Health. (n.d.)).

The concept of critical pedagogy consists of the following components: critical consciousness, critical thinking, critical culture, critical media culture, etc. (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2. Critical pedagogy thesaurus

Critical consciousness serves as the central concept of critical pedagogy because it reflects the ability to perceive the surrounding reality and transform it (Freire, 2003). These are usually a person's first impressions, existing myths, traditional perceptions, official statements, etc., to understand certain root causes or personal-social contexts of any issue. It is consciousness that reflects the objective content in a subjective form (through concepts, and judgments), and the result of the acquisition of critical consciousness by an individual or community is knowledge. In our context, it is the perception of social, cultural, or political and other processes, contradictions, and injustice, which motivates possible activity, and search for positive solutions.

Paulo Freire (1982) singles out three stages of development of critical consciousness: 1) non- transitional (dominance of fatalism and passivity); 2) semi-transitional (attempts to change something); 3) critical (clear focus on social transformations).

Critical consciousness is the sphere of reflection of human thoughts, feelings, and spiritual values. A person's spiritual world is his/her ability to think critically based on spiritual meanings, because thinking involves operating certain categories, knowledge, in other words - "organization of knowledge" for their application in practical activities. Critical thinking, like other categories of critical pedagogy, is interdisciplinary. Thus, from the point of view of philosophy, it is considered "a set of means of finding the truth and is oriented towards learning the methods of rational reasoning" (Kozachenko, 2021, p. 255), while in the context of the pedagogical approach, critical thinking is a manifestation of personality traits that testify to the level of its education.

The purpose of critical thinking is to convince an individual to analyze a certain problem from the point of view of, for example, representatives of materially and ethnically different social groups, as well as to serve a true and broader perception of the surrounding world, allowing to achieve real judgments and its objective vision. Therefore, it is not by chance that science operates with the concept of "intellectual culture", and its task is "the development of a creatively thinking personality whose interests are directed towards humanistic goals" (Salova & Fikhtner, 2021); it [culture] is elitist by nature.

In "The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy" Hitchcock (2022) states: "The person engaged in the thinking is trying to fulfill standards of adequa cy and accuracy appropriate to the thinking." Accordingly, the scientist interprets the essence of critical thinking as " careful goal-directed thinking" .Theorists of critical thinking believe that he/she has appropriate skills (Halpern, 1998), abilities (Ennis, 1991), competencies (Fisher, 1997), or the ability to apply the acquired knowledge in practical activities, the ability to analyze, synthesize, evaluate information and verify it from various sources (according to Bloom's taxonomy) (Bloom et al., 1956).

At the same time, critical thinking depends on the level of a person's intellectual culture: "[...] intellectual culture is a development of intelligence that enables a person to consciously and purposefully master spiritual values that are not only necessary for their professional work but also develop their intellect, their spiritual wealth" (Salova & Fikhtner, 2021). Therefore, it can be argued that critical pedagogy needs, first, intellectual teachers who are able to think critically and investigate critical issues of education, ideology, and culture, as well as encourage students to demonstrate their subjectivity in their own opinion publicly for the sake of democracy and freedom.

Rembierz (2017) proves the necessity to improve the new concept of the culture of selfawareness and acceptance of others, considering meta-reflection, these studies should also take into account the conditions in which they take place, and among them, in particular, a person's cognitive state (p. 44). In the course of the analysis of human intellectual culture, which is considered in the context of critical pedagogy, the scientist notes:

"The issue of the practical usefulness of meta-theoretical and methodological research can be framed in accordance with the dictum: there is nothing more practical than a well-formulated theory (metatheory) and there is nothing more harmful to practical activities than the lack of an appropriate theory (metatheory) because without working it out, people live in the darkness and without a deep awareness of what is actually going on. At the same time, one should also take into account the educational [...] dimension of methodological analysis and meta-theoretical reflection, which, accompanying the practice of a given field of science, allow you to perceive it "from inside" and thanks to this perception, keep it open to new - cognitively or practically significant - controversial issues" (Rembierz, 2017, p. 45).

After all, controversial issues are the subject of discussion in the process of problem-based learning, which in a way enables the development of students' critical thinking. At the same time, the author appeals to Karl R. Popper's opinion based on critical rationalism - although people have different amount of knowledge (gained and assimilated), in their limitless ignorance, they are all equal. This epistemic situation forces us to properly and carefully distinguish the infinity of ignorance from the infinity of stupidity, so as not to accidentally confuse ignorance (especially the increase in ignorance and questions as a result of a critically thought-out increase in knowledge) with stupidity and thus not to multiply stupidity (Rembierz, 2021, p. 265).

Thus, only critically analyzed knowledge is of value to a person. Therefore, it can be argued that in the process of gaining knowledge, a person's critical thinking develops, and during this process, he/she acquires new information, experience, and knowledge. In philosophy, the term "criticism of knowledge" is used, which differs from Immanuel Kant's "critique of pure reason" and the philosophical theory of knowledge (its nature, regularities, cognitive abilities, and capabilities of a person). "The transformation of the critique of reason into the critique of cognition is one of the basic determinants of transcendentalism in its Marburg form and determines the character of research conducted in the entire Cohen school" (Parszutowicz, 2013, p. 109); “[...] The task of the critical knowledge is not a simple generalization of individual theories of knowledge and “squeezing them into a “metaphysical unity" or linking them on the basis of aggregation with the power of some “metatheory of knowledge", but their systematics - designating each of them as a whole, determined by a logical function" (Parszutowicz, 2013, p. 149).

According to Nadia Kozachenko, the philosophical and pedagogical approach refers to different levels of critical thinking, in particular: (1) philosophical - focuses on the theoretical, fundamental level, exploring the conditions and possibilities of critical thinking; (2) pedagogical - aimed at the social need for the development of critical thinking and its concrete practical implementation (Kozachenko, 2021, p. 262). Therefore, obviously, the pedagogical component of critical thinking involves the use of adequate methods for its development in the educational process, depending on the specific situation, and focused on its identification and contextualization. At the same time, "both approaches are characterized by a certain interpenetration and correlation", and their relationship is "the ratio of theoretical and empirical in the functioning of scientific knowledge" (Kozachenko, 2021, p. 262). In this context, it is necessary to transform the traditional education system, which would encourage students to engage in constructive criticism, stimulate "questioning" of existing information, and promote teaching methods for the transformation of values and existing educational practices.

3. Methods of critical pedagogy

It is obvious that the methods of critical pedagogy combine participants' activity, partnership, and collaboration in the education institution setting.

For the development of critical thinking, which is considered "a set of certain qualities that must be formed in a socially active person, capable of making decisions that can become the basis for positive social results" (Kozachenko, 2021, p. 256), educational dialogue is considered an effective method. Actually, the founder of critical pedagogy, Freire (2005), noted: "only dialogue, which requires critical thinking, is also capable of generating critical thinking. Without dialogue, there is no communication, and without communication, there can be no true education".

The scientist is convinced that, according to the concept of critical pedagogy, contradictions that must be resolved in the format "teacher-student", "student-student" are at the center of teaching process, that is, gaining knowledge takes place "in a situation in which both address their act of cognition to the object by which they are mediated". Accordingly, education based on pedagogical interaction, educational dialogue "as the practice of freedom does not begin when the teacher-student meets with the student teachers in a pedagogical situation, but rather when the former first asks herself or himself what she or he will dialogue with the later about" (Freire, 2005, p. 97).

“Authentic education is not carried on by “A" for “B" or by “A" about “B," but rather by “A" with “B," mediated by the world - a world which impresses and challenges both parties, giving rise to views or opinions about it. These views, impregnated with anxieties, doubts, hopes, or hopelessness, imply significant themes based on which the program content of education can be built. In its desire to create an ideal model of the “good man," a naively conceived humanism often overlooks the concrete, existential, present situation of real people." (Freire, 2005, p. 93).

Analyzing the reasons for the lack of educational dialogue and partnership between teachers and students, perhaps for the first time in modern pedagogical science, Sliwerski (2011), claims that school youth often show internal resistance to pedagogical influences because "he/she experiences not so much his/her own identity crisis as their teachers' identity crisis a nd their lack of communication skills" (pp. 228-229). This confirms the low level of educators' readiness to collaborate based on critical pedagogy. Therefore, in an educational institution, it is extremely important to develop students/graduate students' critical attitude to existing beliefs, to encourage them to participate in the discussion and confidently argue their opinions. Moreover "[...] critically means not only the denial of uncriticality but also the denial of superficiality, the lack of strong inspirations, the ability to reveal clues worth following further" (Witkowski, 2012, p. 22). Therefore, criticism should be clear, convincing, analytical, and honest. Under such conditions, in-depth knowledge of the surrounding world and self-awareness, self-knowledge, self-learning, and self-improvement are carried out. Actually, in the process of active learning, it is worth stimulating the development and identification of a young person. Often, the lack of "critical self-reflection and dignity, which allows one to believe in own powerful (including intellectual) potential, [...] is combined with a constant inability to recognize and ignore the limits of one's own abilities" (Rembierz, 2021, p. 254).

An important task of critical pedagogy is the development of a creative personality capable of producing new knowledge. Among the effective methods, improvisation is singled out, which should be used primarily in the process of future specialist training. "Improvisation is not just making it up on the spot. It is about drawing on a vast vocabulary and applying it to the moment, and at that moment creating something new, one of the aims of Critical pedagogy - developing critical thinkers who create new knowledge" (Smith, 2021).

Armitage et al. (2015) research theoretical, philosophical, pedagogical, and aesthetical aspects of the contradictions and interactions between the collective and the individual in creative learning processes. After all, there are challenges regarding the development of a student's creative individuality and criticality. Involving him/her in collective, partnership interaction, group work to find solutions to common problem tasks in the process of Problem-Based Learning, the authors encourage discussion: "[...] in the design process there are always many ways and solutions to solve the same problem, so how can we be sure that we choose the right concept to finding the optimum solution to practical problems? What is the role of PBL in this context?" (Armitage et al., 2015). Obviously, the search for individual creative perspectives requires educational strategies adequate to the specific goals of developing critical thinking and an appropriate educational setting that would stimulate students to constructive, collaborative, and contextual learning and self-improvement.

Equally important, as Ali Kushki notes in his research "...Immediacy and Comparison to be employed as tools to select and gradate the content of critical materials" (Kushki et al., 2015). In addition, young people should be involved in the critical analysis of media resources, especially in the era of information wars, fake news spread, etc., which serves as a means of developing information media literacy and culture.

Info media literacy is considered a "skill set that promotes critical engagement with messages produced by the media" (Bulger & Davison, 2018). This category refers to the culture of behavior and attitude to information, in particular, conscious perceiving and critical interpretation, checking in various media, separating reality from its virtual simulation, making sense of political myths and recognizing manipulations, etc. "Reflective and metacognitive thinking is a key dimension of media literacy and this practice continues to be essential today." (Hobbs & McGee, 2014), media information on the topic under study can be the subject of discussion in an educational institution. This is necessary for developing soft skills, as well as the ability to distinguish propaganda from facts, to understand the importance of information security and its difference from censorship, which means subjecting everything to critical analysis.