Given the ubiquitous state of crit philosophy and its ever-evolving corruption of language and its double-speak tactics, I thought it would be useful to identify some red flags.
They, of course, share our vocabulary; not our dictionary.
These are words and phrases that when you read or hear them, you need to understand “crit”.
If you keep in mind they presuppose revolution for the good and the mission is to create critical consciousness to drive the revolution, it’s easy. Remember-Crit only makes more crit or crit making tools.
Feel free to add your own terms, to identify them, or discuss them.
The first of course is:
Equity - equality of outcomes
“Our democracy” - the will of the critically conscious. Pelosi uses this one a lot.
Diversity - members of different identity groups, but all critically conscious. Crits of a different race, sexual preference, etc. But not critically conscious is not allowed.
Optimum student development
Transformative and derivations - An Obama favorite. Transform from capitalism to…
A critical pedagogy, then, would focus on the study of curriculum not merely as a matter of self-cultivation or the mimicry of specific forms of language and knowledge. On the contrary, it would stress forms of learning and knowledge aimed at providing a critical understanding of how social reality works, it would focus on how certain dimensions of such a reality are sustained, it would focus on the nature of its formative processes, and it would also focus on how those aspects of it that are related to the logic of domination can be changed.
Aronowitz & Giroux, 1985
I think we can see where this new sensibility is coming from. Look closely at that last clause.
“Transformative SEL” is a process whereby young people and adults build strong, respectful, and lasting, relationships that facilitate co-learning to critically examine root causes of inequity, and to develop collaborative solutions that lead to personal, community, and societal well-being.
This form of SEL is aimed at redistributing power to more fully engage young people and adults in working toward just and equitable schools and communities. It emphasizes the development of identity, agency, belonging, curiosity, and collaborative problem-solving within the CASEL framework.
Agender - people who don’t identify as any gender.
The CDC has their own socio-political language. They want Illegal immigrant and illegal alien referred to as undocumented immigrant or people with undocumented status. The person with undocumented status, just needs documentation.
