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32 Rethinking Models of Collaboration in Critical Pedagogy: A Response to Stonebanks 383

swapping a newer colonialist model for an older one – one clothed in the rhetoric
of critical thinking and liberation.
Some ways of steering clear of the western model and rhetoric of being
“critical” when faced with the challenges of getting to know another cultural
group might include the use of generative words for discussion and the framing of
issues (a Freirian notion), as well as a deeper understanding of social, physical, and
economic forces, as critical factors shaping a region’s history. I think Stonebanks
would be well served to consider the work of ecojustice theorists such as Chet
Bowers and Rebecca Martusewicz – particularly their belief that local and tradi-
tional knowledge is undervalued by many western educational theorists (2001,
2009). Their work, along with that of other ecojustice writers, has an important
potential to extend and enrich the perspectives of critical educators such as Apple,
Kincheloe, and Steinberg.
In conclusion, I would suggest that those of us who teach teachers, whatever
their, or our, cultural backgrounds, need to carefully observe and listen to them. We
need to understand their worldview, their insights, their limitations, and their wisdom.
We need to learn from them and through our interaction with them, grow and develop
a more complete understanding of the world in which we are immersed (so as to
avoid prematurely changing it). We need to collaborate with our teachers in the
development of meaningful curricula that go beyond traditional models of domina-
tion, as well as our own naïve and sometimes self-righteous perspectives. Focusing
on traditional wisdom and knowledge, learning through discovery, and understanding
our own assumptions can serve as a starting point. In so doing, we can better
achieve the valued task of being truly “critical educators.”

References

Bowers, C. A. (2001). Educating for eco-justice and community. Athens: University of Georgia
Press.
Bowers, C. A., & Martusewicz, R. (2009). Ecojustice and social justice. In E. Provenzo Jr. (Ed.),
Encyclopedia of the social and cultural foundations of education (I, pp. 272–279). Thousand
Oaks/London: Sage.
Buxton, C. (2006). Creating contextually authentic science education in a “low performing” urban
elementary school context. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 43, 695–721.
Freire, P. (2007). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum.
Goodman, S. (2003). Teaching youth media: A critical guide to literacy, video production, and
social change. New York: Teachers College Press.
Kincheloe, J. (2007). Critical pedagogy in the twenty-first century: Evolution for survival. In P.
McLaren & J. Kincheloe (Eds.), Critical pedagogy: Where are we now? (pp. 9–42). New York:
Peter Lang.