Exploring the Perceptions of Secondary School Teachers about Critical Pedagogy at Secondary School Level

Abstract

Critical teaching combines learning with reflective thinking. It allows students to understand the relationship between ideas, encourages questioning and challenges all forms of injustice and social disorientation. One principle of critical pedagogy is problem-solving education, which is an alternative to the banking model education in which the teacher is active, and the student is inactive in the learning process. Teachers in critical pedagogy are concerned about society and allow students to think critically and act within society. The present study examines critical teaching (CP) methods at the secondary school level. The aim of this study was to explore the perception of secondary school teachers about critical pedagogy, to examine the practices of critical pedagogy adopted by secondary school teachers. In the present study, mixed methods were adopted, which included both quantitative and qualitative methods. The design of this study was descriptive and survey type. The population for this study consisted of teachers from all public sector secondary schools (male) working in Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and teaching English, Urdu, Pakistan studies, and Islamic studies subjects. There are a total of 380 secondary level schools for both boys in Hazara Division (KP), where 6408 teachers are working. Four out of eight districts (50%) were selected as a sample of study. Further, researcher used cluster sampling technique. Questionnaire was used as research tool. Then, according to the suggestions and recommendations of experts and based on evidence of piloting, necessary changes were made in the instrument. The reliability of this study was determined by Cronbach Alpha. The researcher visited personally to sample institutions to collect data. Quantitative data obtained from teacher’s questionnaires were compiled and tabulated. Percentages and mean scores were calculated to obtain results from quantitative data, and it was analysed and interpreted with the help of descriptive statistics, chi square (c²).