ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces vocational education to the world of social and educational theory, thereby connecting the theoretical with the everyday work life of millions of Americans. Critical theory is especially concerned with how domination takes place, the way human relations are shaped in the workplace, the schools, and everyday life. A critical vocational pedagogy builds upon Deweyan progressivism, challenging comfortable assumptions about work and work training. Empowerment occurs when students gain the power of self-direction. A critical pedagogy of empowerment cultivates cognitive, intrapersonal, and motivational changes that enable students to gain greater control as concerns the quality of their present and future lives. As critical researchers attempt to restructure social relations of domination, they search for insights into an ever-evolving notion of social theory and the understanding it brings to their struggle for self-location in the net of larger and overlapping social, cultural, and economic contexts.
