Critical Theory as Metatheory of Education

Synonyms

Critical pedagogy; Cultural theory; Frankfurt School; Marxism

Introduction

Critical theory of educationcan be understood as essentially a specific kind of philosophical project, in which the question of the conditions of the possibility of knowledge is taken as at once conceptual and social. Whereas pedagogy or educational theory focuses on the actual acquisition of knowledge and inculcation of certain desired or desirable dispositions (i.e., the conditions for teaching and learning), a philosophical or “critical” project is to examine the conditions of possibility for such a systematic knowledge as that which educational theories claim for themselves. In other words, the aim is to examine the very premises upon which educational theory and practice are based. While educational theories, however abstract, belong broadly to the empirical sciences and, more specifically, the social sciences, the critical project is “metatheoretical,” to the extent that it addresses the very...