Missing the Point: A Rejoinder to Pearl and Knight on the Necessary Cross-Pollination of Democratic Education and Critical Pedagogy

摘要

My piece in this issue (Edwards 2010) clearly states its main purpose numerous times-even in the title, namely: to explore the potential for cross-pollination of democratic education and critical pedagogy. However, rather than engaging in fruitful dialogue about how these two related theories might productively inform one another, Pearl and Knight (2010), in their rejoinder, are content to continue with "divisive and antagonistic discourse" (which my article specifically makes a call to avoid [Edwards 2010]) instead of moving forward with the work of theorizing about how to educate youth who are oriented not just towards participating in a democracy, but towards social justice as well. Their commentary comes across as hostile, and, where they do make claims, it is clear that they make no attempt to engage with the possibility that critical pedagogy has something to offer democratic education. Instead, just as they did in their 2000 article (Knight and Pearl 2000), they rehash old criticisms of critical pedagogy rather than address the analysis or evidence provided in my paper of where and how the two educational approaches overlap and are symbiotic. Indeed, as some of their commentary would indicate, they did not even contemplate the substance of my analysis.