by Henry A. Giroux
Palgrave MacMillan Press (2006)
280 pages  ISBN 1-4039-7160-9
Paperback $22.95

Review by Larry W. Emerson

Giroux is concerned with the “interlocking relations between material structures of power and the pedagogical force of cultural politics” and with how a pedagogy of domination works inside and outside schools.

Since pedagogy is about how we understand our world and how social change takes place, Giroux describes how pedagogy is embedded in schooling processes that influence children, parents, and communities.

A pedagogy of domination can unfairly socialize children through an oppressor – oppressed paradigm and educate children away from democratic principles. Giroux counters and resists such schooling by expressing the need for democracy itself and by advocating multiple literacies that are functional, cultural, and critical.

Native educators could use such frameworks to understand how such pedagogy influences Native youth, parents, and communities. These frameworks also can be used as a context for educational policy development.

Larry W. Emerson (Diné Nation), Ph.D., is an artist, educator, researcher, activist, and writer who works for cultural restoration for healthy Indian nations.

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