A critical pedagogy for native American education policy

Habermas, Freire, and emancipatory education

F. E. KnowlesLavonna L. Lovern

A Critical Pedagogy for Native American Education Policy is an application of critical pedagogical theory to historical and recent Native American educational policy. Focusing primarily on the Mvskoke (Creek), the authors provide a detailed historic timeline that is tied to the functionalist view of sociology as it is reflected in the institution of education in general. Knowles and Lovern examine the policy from the critical perspective with the application of Habermas and Freire. They argue that the functionalist mode of education has furthered the cause of colonization and its attendant cultural destruction. The emancipatory possibilities presented by the work of Habermas and Freire are mined for their application to the deficits created by the historical and continued colonization of Native Americans.