Abstract
In this paper, some of my experiences and reflections of teaching undergraduate social psychology and critical social psychology courses at an institution of higher learning are shared. The orientation is a critical social psychology pedagogy that has entailed an active engagement in teaching practices that both disturb common sense and taken-for-granted assumptions and analysis of the social world. In keeping with Bell hooks and Paulo Freire’s notions around a pedagogy of hope, the possibilities for learning, re-engaging the social in the classroom as a way of training students to question both the composition and re-enactments of this social world are discussed. And yet, these possibilities for engaging socially just pedagogy are also fraught with tensions, challenges and constraint. Most notably, how do we engage the, often, affective disturbances that accompany moments/practices of disturbance? It is argued that socially just pedagogies must, in the end, strive to incorporate the affective domain, both in the formative and summative processes of teaching and learning. In this paper, I discuss some of my experiences and reflections of teaching undergraduate and postgraduate courses in critical diversity literacy and psychology at an institution of higher learning. My orientation in a critical social psychology pedagogy has entailed an active engagement in teaching practices that both disturb common sense and taken-for-granted assumptions and analysis of the social world. In keeping with Bell hooks and Paulo Freire’s notions around a pedagogy of hope, I discuss the possibilities for learning, re-engaging the social in the classroom as a way of training students to question both the composition and re-enactments of this social world. And yet, these possibilities for engaging socially just pedagogy are also fraught with tensions, challenges, and constraint. Most notably, how do we engage the often-affective disturbances that accompany moments/practices of disturbance? It is my contention that socially just pedagogies must, in the end, strive to incorporate the affective domain, both in the formative and summative processes of teaching and learning.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Albrecht-Crane, C. (2005). Pedagogy as friendship: Identity and affect in the conservative classroom. Cultural Studies, 19(4), 491–514.
Bourdieu, P., & Wacquant, L. J. D. (1992). An invitation to reflexive sociology. Polity Press: Oxford.
Bozalek, V., Carolissen, R., & Leibowitz, B. (2013a). A pedagogy of critical hope in South African higher education. Discerning Critical Hope in Educational Practices, 42, 40–55.
Boler, M., & Zembylas, M. (2003). Discomforting truths: The emotional terrain of understanding difference. Pedagogies of difference: Rethinking education for social change, 110–136.
Cooper, R. (1998). Assemblage notes. In R. Chia (Ed.), Organised worlds: Explorations in technology and organisation (pp. 108–120). London: Routledge.
Dell, P., & Anderson, I. (2005). Practising critical psychology: politics, power and psychology departments. Critical Psychology, 13, 14–32.
Fanon, F. (1967). Black skin, white masks. (C. Markmann, Trans.). New York: Grove Press.
Freire, P. (1994). Pedagogy of hope (R. R. Barr, Trans.). New York: Continuum.
Freire, P. (1996). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Revised. New York: Continuum.
Freire, P. (1998). Pedagogy of freedom. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
Gewirtz, S. (1998). Conceptualizing social justice in education: Mapping the territory. Journal of Education Policy, 13(4), 469–484.
Hackman, H. W. (2005). Five essential components for social justice education. Equity & Excellence in Education, 38(2), 103–109.
Hemmings, C. (2005). Invoking affect: Cultural theory and the ontological turn. Cultural Studies, 19(5), 548–567.
Hickey-Moody, A., & Crowley, V. (Eds.). (2014). Disability matters: Pedagogy, media and affect. New York: Routledge.
Hook, D. (2005). A critical psychology of the postcolonial. Theory & Psychology, 15(4), 475–503.
hooks, B. (2003). Teaching community: A pedagogy of hope (Vol. 36). New York: Psychology Press.
Jacobs, D. (2005). What’s hope got to do with it? Toward a theory of hope and pedagogy. Journal of Rhetoric, Culture and Politics, 25(4), 783–802.
Kiguwa, P., & Langa, M. (2015). Rethinking social cohesion and its relationship to exclusion. Psychology in Society, (49), 1–6.
Leibowitz, B., Bozalek, V., Carolissen, R., Nicholls, L., Rohleder, P., & Swartz, L. (2010). Bringing the social into pedagogy: Unsafe learning in an uncertain world. Teaching in Higher Education, 15(2), 123–133.
Lovat, T. (2010). Synergies and balance between values education and quality teaching. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 42, 489–500.
Lorde, A. (1984). Sister outsider: Essays and speeches. New York: Crossing Press.
Macleod, C. (2004). South African psychology and “relevance”: Continuing challenges. South African Journal of Psychology, 34(4), 613–629.
Macleod, C., & Howell, S. (2013). Reflecting on South African psychology: Published research, “relevance”, and social issues. South African Journal of Psychology, 43(2), 222–237.
MacLure, M. (2010). The offence of theory. Journal of Education Policy, 25(2), 277–286.
Massumi, B. (1995). The autonomy of affect. Cultural Critique, (31), 83–109.
Mbembe, A. (2015). The state of South African political life. http://historymatters.co.za/content/state-south-african-political-life-achille-mbembe-19-september-2015. Accessed 07 May 2016.
Merrett, C. (2000). Teaching social justice: Reviving geography’s neglected tradition. Journal of Geography, 99(5), 207–218.
Merrett, C. D. (2004). Social justice: What is it? Why teach it?. Journal of Geography, 103(3), 93–101.
Moje, E. B. (2007). Developing socially just subject-matter instruction: A review of the literature on disciplinary literacy teaching. Review of Research in Education, 31(1), 1–44.
Mulcahy, D. (2012). Affective assemblages: Body matters in the pedagogic practices of contemporary school classrooms. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 20(1), 9–27.
Nel, W. N. W. (2011). Teaching about social justice: Black lecturer, white students. Acta Academica, 43(2), 193–213.
Pratt, M. L. (1991). Arts of the contact zone. Profession, 33–40.
Probyn, E. (2004). Teaching bodies: Affects in the classroom. Body & Society, 10(4), 21–43.
Puwar, N. (2004). Space invaders: Race, gender and bodies out of place. Berg: Oxford.
Ratele, K. (2003). Introduction: A psychology of a society. In K. Ratele & N. Duncan (Eds.), Social psychology: Identities and relationships (pp. 3–23). Lansdowne: UCT Press.
Segalo, P. (2016). Decolonizing social psychology in South Africa. In S. J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni & S. Zondi (Eds.), (2016). Decolonizing the university in Africa: Knowledge systems and disciplines. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.
Sellar, S. (2009). The responsible uncertainty of pedagogy. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 30(3), 347–360.
Sher, D., & Long, W. (2012). Historicising the relevance debate: South African and American psychology in context. South African Journal of Psychology, 42(4), 564–575.
Simmonds, F. N. (1999). My body, myself: How does a black woman do sociology? In J. Price & M. Shildrick. (Eds.), Feminist theory and the Body: A Reader (pp. 50–64). Routledge: New York.
Stevens, G., Franchi, V., & Swart, T. (Eds.). (2006). A race against time: Psychology and challenges to deracialisation in South Africa. Pretoria: Unisa Press.
Wetherell, M. (2012). Affect and emotion: A new social science understanding. London: Sage Publications.
Wise, J. M. (2005). Assemblage. In C. J. Stivale (Ed.), Gilles Deleuze: Key concepts (pp. 77–87). Chesham, UK: Acumen.
Witcomb, A. (2013). Understanding the role of affect in producing a critical pedagogy for history museums. Museum Management and Curatorship, 28(3), 255–271.
Zembylas, M. (2007). The specters of bodies and affects in the classroom: A rhizo‐ethological approach. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 15(1), 19–35.
Zembylas, M. (2015). Rethinking race and racism as technologies of affect: Theorizing the implications for anti-racist politics and practice in education. Race Ethnicity and Education, 18(2), 145–162.
Zembylas, M., & Bekerman, Z. (2008). Dilemmas of justice in peace/coexistence education: Affect and the politics of identity. The Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, 30(5), 399–419.
Acknowledgements
Jill Bradbury, Hugo Canham, Ronelle Carolissen, Zimitri Erasmus and Puleng Segalo continue to be critical partners in my reflection on critical scholarship and have provided much-needed dialogical spaces for this process, and in thinking through some of the ideas in this chapter. I also thank the guest lecturers that have given their time and expertise in my different lectures.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kiguwa, P. (2017). How and Why do We Disturb? Challenges and Possibilities of Pedagogy of Hope in Socially Just Pedagogies. In: Osman, R., Hornsby, D. (eds) Transforming Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Palgrave Critical University Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46176-2_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46176-2_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-46175-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-46176-2
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)