ABSTRACT
This chapter explores an insight into Paulo Freire's critical pedagogy and the subsequent critical revolutionary pedagogy that has developed from both Freire's critical pedagogy and the philosophy of Karl Marx. The work of Freire shows that education can be at the heart of any change. Peter McLaren's work has emerged against claims that Freire's original concept of critical pedagogy has become 'conceptually impoverished and politically domesticated' and reduced to a type of theory-empty student-centred learning devoid of any social analysis or ambition for revolutionary change. Giroux claims there has been no intellectual to match Freire's 'theoretical rigour or his moral courage' standing up against the dominant forces of neoliberal capitalism. Critical revolutionary pedagogy raises important questions for education in terms of its ongoing role as a vehicle to facilitate the aims of capitalism and its possible future role in achieving social goals, like the eradication of poverty and increasing paid employment.
