This dissertation engages in a cultural analysis of how systems of power can be created, reinforced, and transformed in learning environments in ways that create liberatory praxis by bringing Critical Pedagogy, Cultural Studies, and Trans Pedagogy into conversation with one another. In this work, Cultural Studies offers a framework to analyze how power and culture shape classrooms. Critical Pedagogy advances this aim to analyze and propose re-structurings of the classroom that center critical engagement and lateral learning structures. Through my engagements with Critical Pedagogy and Trans Pedagogy, hierarchical learning models and binaries of “inside” and “outside” of the classroom are collapsed. To contextualize my contributions, I present the first comprehensive genealogy of the nascent field of Trans Pedagogy published to date. As an offering to the growth of the field of Trans Pedagogy, this genealogy covers the intervening texts of the field between 2008-2024. Through my research of Trans Pedagogy, I present the emerging themes and questions of this field in this genealogy. The second half of this dissertation details my contribution to Trans Pedagogy. Through an autoethnographic approach, I also develop a “Liberatory Trans Pedagogy” as my contribution to the growth of the field of Trans Pedagogy. A Liberatory Trans Pedagogy offers an “educator’s toolkit” in which I detail nine elements as to what engaging in this pedagogical praxis can entail. As evidenced by my dialectical and student-forward approaches in the classroom, education through a Liberatory Trans Pedagogy becomes a praxis that is critical, meaningful, and generative for both instructors and students. Together, my students and I pedagogically collapse hierarchical structurings of the classroom to instead be rooted in lateral frameworks of engagement. By inviting my students into the process of the co-construction of understandings and class engagement, students become active agents in our course, their educations, and beyond. A Liberatory Trans Pedagogy attends to students’ needs and interests while simultaneously preparing them to be critically engaged citizens beyond the classroom. Liberatory in this work is a critical pedagogical praxis in which students are invited to foster their understandings of power, norms, and strengthen their community collaboration, advocacy, and intellectual interdependence. In this work, “trans” embodies multiplicity as a crossing between disciplines, transformation of classroom dynamics, and transcendence from traditional academic norms and pedagogical hierarchies through engagements with a Liberatory Trans Pedagogy.
Despite decades of research demonstrating the learning benefits of dialogic pedagogy, its implementation in K-12 classrooms remains rare. Three structural challenges account for the difficulties of initiating and sustaining dialogic space in classrooms: managing face-threatening conflicts, equalizing power relations, and accommodating the inherent unpredictability of genuine dialogue. These challenges are not incidental to dialogue; I argue that they are the same obstacles that prevent critical and creative thinking from taking root across educational settings. This paper examines how studio pedagogy addresses all three through project-based learning, drawing on ethnographic observations across four studio courses at a premier arts and design institution. I show how treating student projects as active participants in the learning interaction creates a triangulated dialogic space, a three-way relationship between teacher, student, and project, that redirects face-threatening conflict toward project-centered problem-solving, redistributes power without undermining teacher authority, and institutionalizes productive ambiguity as a pedagogical principle. These findings expand the theory of dialogic pedagogy by revealing how material objects can function as mediating actors in dialogue, and they offer practical implications for educators seeking to create sustainable conditions for critical and creative thinking across educational contexts.
This study examines the transformation of theological pedagogy within digital learning environments, focusing on the shift from a transmission-oriented model to a dialogical, reflective, and transformative paradigm. Employing a literature-based approach that engages theories of theological pedagogy, reflective didactics, and digital learning practices, the conceptual synthesis suggests that digital spaces foster new forms of active learner engagement in constructing theological meaning. The analysis identifies three core conceptual transformations: (1) a paradigmatic shift toward participatory learning; (2) a theological reinterpretation of presence and incarnation beyond physical proximity; and (3) the emergence of digital space as a legitimate locus theologicus for experiencing and articulating faith. The discussion further highlights the relevance of Groome’s shared praxis and Klafki’s reflective didactics as foundational frameworks for designing pedagogical models that are both contextually grounded and transformative. Overall, this study contributes to contemporary discussions on theological education by emphasizing the need to reconstruct pedagogical goals, processes, and relational dynamics for the digital age.
Paulus Tnunay, Thomas Pentury, Wilson Rajagukguk· Greenation International Jou...· 0 citations
This paper examines the critical role of classroom discourse in shaping the social and linguistic identities of students within the Singaporean Tamil education landscape. Drawing on the framework of classroom discourse analysis proposed by Rymes (2016), this study explores how teacher-student interaction and the utilization of Standard Spoken Tamil (SST) facilitate a supportive environment for language acquisition and the development of student confidence. The research highlights the challenges faced by minority-community students in navigating diglossic language demands and emphasizes the importance of the teacher's role in creating a pedagogical space that bridges home and school language practices. By reviewing historical and contemporary perspectives on SST, the paper argues that integrating SST into classroom pedagogy is essential for fostering a positive linguistic identity, enabling students to communicate with assurance both within and beyond the classroom. The findings suggest that when teachers provide scaffolded opportunities for oral engagement through varied pedagogical tasks, students are better equipped to overcome linguistic anxiety, ultimately ensuring the vitality of the Tamil language in Singapore.
முனைவர் உமையாளம்பிகை இராமகிருஷ்ணன்· KALANJIYAM - International J...· 0 citations
The proposed framework demonstrates how drama pedagogy, integrated with the underlying social constructivist principles and VT routines, can stimulate collaboration, creative and reflective thinking and thus engagement amongst learners.
Zaamah Mohd Nor, Laura Dass, Jebakumari Selvarani· Quantum Journal of Social Sc...· 0 citations
This study aims to analyze how the triad of Digital Culture, Computational Thinking, and the Digital World (CPM) influences the construction of teacher identity, seeking to understand the challenges and opportunities arising from the implementation of these dimensions in pedagogical practice. The research is based on a qualitative, bibliographic approach, grounded in the analysis of scientific literature and official documents addressing the integration of digital technologies into education and their implications for teaching. In this context, the study examines how these transformations affect teachers' professional education, practice, and identity in contemporary society. The findings indicate that the incorporation of digital culture and computational thinking creates new demands for teacher education, requiring educators to develop broader competencies for the critical, ethical, and pedagogical use of digital technologies. At the same time, the results highlight challenges related to initial and continuing teacher education, working conditions, and the adaptation of pedagogical practices. It is concluded that the CPM triad represents a structuring element of contemporary education while reshaping teacher identity and requiring new knowledge and practices for teaching in the digital society.
Lídia dos Santos Alves, Dayanne Leite Souza Belfort, Vinícius Kennedy Carlos Santana et al.· Revista de Estudos Interdisc...· 0 citations
