ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book critical pedagogy is the framing tool that provides a language of critique to question the structures of the education system in general and classroom pedagogy in particular. According to Giroux and Simon, critical pedagogy refers to a deliberate attempt to influence how and what knowledge and identities are produced within and among particular sets of social relations. The American educational system performs three essential functions. It both provides information to students and functions as a means of social control. Importantly, schooling is structured as a socialization agency through which the dominant political, social, economic, and cultural norms are imposed and reenforced. The most important issue to me as a teacher and as a political activist working toward social justice and equity for all students is to foster that belief in self.
