THE VISION OF (UN)CRITICAL PEDAGOGY AND THE CHALLENGES OF CONTEMPORARY UKRAINIAN EDUCATION

Abstract

The article defines critical pedagogy’s metatheoretical concepts (in particular, the essence, meaning, and tasks) in modern science and practice. The article presents the content of the idea of (un)critical pedagogy, which is determined by the necessity to overcome stereotypes about the organization of the educational process in an academic institution caused by oppression, humiliation, misunderstanding, and neglect of differences. A historical and philosophical excursion is made to study the phenomenon of criticism and cognition, patterns, and principles of critical pedagogy. The scientific sources of reputable foreign and domestic scholars are analyzed in the critical theory framework from a perspective on education. It is concluded that while critical pedagogy is an interdisciplinary field of scientific knowledge, it integrates the studies of philosophy, political science, sociology, psychology, pedagogy, cultural studies, and other sciences in the field of presentation of the “critical” in public life. It has been proven that the followers of Freire’s ideas on critical pedagogy emphasize the principles of equality and justice, as well as understanding/acceptance of issues that are controversial or require public criticism (repression and resistance in higher education, intolerance in inclusion, various types of bullying (physical, social, verbal), cyberbullying, cybergrooming, slander, harassment, defamation, etc.). The value imperatives, principles, and methods of its use in professional educational activities are defined, taking into account Ukrainian realities. The necessity of considering the issues of criticality in education in school (student) society, teaching, and research activities, educational management, pedagogical imageology, intercultural education, etc. is emphasized. The importance of developing students’ critical perception of the world, critical thinking, and information and media literacy is proven. It is proposed to intensify the methods of involving young people in the independent search and acquisition of new knowledge, applying them in practice; teaching them to criticize and respond adequately to constructive criticism, draw conclusions and verify them, etc. It is recommended to use the method of improvisation, problem-based, dialogic, interactive, project-based, and research-oriented learning in the educational process. The materials of the article were partially published in English in the Journal of Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University (Vol. 10, No. 1, 2023).