What Exactly Are We Doing Here? Reflections on the Role of Critical Educational Studies - Josue Lopez

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by nayy☆

Advancing social justice in education often includes anti-racist classroom praxis, yet educators and students frequently question why race is foregrounded and why only one “liberal” perspective is presented. This article clarifies what critical educational studies involves by distinguishing education and pedagogy and posing three guiding questions: what it means to study urban education, why focus on race and racism rather than only class, and why critics equate the field with left-wing propaganda.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Why Urban? Why Education? Why Urban Education?

What Exactly Are We Doing Here? Reflections on the Role of Critical Educational Studies Josue Lopez, University of Pittsburgh Abstract In advancing the struggle for social justice in education, we often advance an anti-racist praxis in our classrooms. However, students, teachers, and others trying to make sense of our praxis—oftentimes well-intentioned in their queries—will ask “why are we always talking about race?” and “why do we only present one perspective and one position (a“liberal” one) in this class?” These questions are relevant and require us to clarify what exactly are we doing in critical educational studies? As a former K-12 teacher, an instructor of Urban Education, Multicultural Education, and as a critical educational researcher, I seek to ask—and answer—three questions pertinent to critical educational studies: (1) What does it mean to study Urban Education? (2) Why do we focus on race and racism in social justice work, and why not just focus on class? (3) Why do some people attempt to equate critical educational studies with left-wing propaganda? I begin by examining the difference between education and pedagogy in order to advance a definition of critical educational studies, and then advance claims to answer the aforementioned questions. I close the piece by providing three points of consideration in our educational praxis as well as concluding reflections around responsibility, education, and our trajectory for the future. Keywords: urban education, multicultural education, critical educational studies, anti-racist education Introduction As a former elementary, middle, and high school teacher as well as instructor of Multicultural Education and Urban Education courses in teacher preparation programs, I have found that thereis sometimes a lack of clarity around what critical educational studies entails. By critical educational studies, I mean a study of both education 1 and pedagogy, of both instructional strategies as well as an orientation to the world that allow us to make informed choices in teaching and learning that work towards a humanizing future. My aim here is to provide a point of introduction to critical educational studies that tackles from the start the questions that require us to define and clarify our educational praxis. This work is intended for different, but related audiences: aspiring educators in teacher preparation programs, 1.“Education" is much broader than schooling, but in this work, I utilize it as synonymous with schooling as is implied when we discuss multicultural education and urban education. That is to say, a more accurate title for the courses would be Multicultural Schooling and Urban Schooling. in-service teachers looking to delve into deeper reflection about what it means to teach, and even doctoral students and other scholars searching for a better understanding of social justice efforts in education. Additionally, this work may be of interest to instructors of social justice and equitybased courses that seek to establish a common language and vision for the work in their courses. I hope this article can serve as an introductory course text or as an object of reflection among those thinking about critical educational studies. Specifically, I examine three questions: (1) What does it mean to study Urban Education? (2) Why do we focus on race and racism in social justice work, and why not just focus on class? (3) Why do some people attempt to equate critical educational studies with left-wing propaganda? I answer each of the following questions in their own section below. As a stylistic note, I make the decision to place references to texts in footnotes so that it may read more like a conversation than a treatise of the topic. It is possible that each individual section of this article can be read on its own, though the three sections are related and paint a broader picture that I advance as important to our work in critical educational studies. In th

FAQs

What problem does the article address about critical educational studies?

The article addresses a lack of clarity about what critical educational studies entails and how educators should understand its focus within educational praxis.

What are the three questions the author aims to answer?

They ask: what it means to study urban education, why race and racism are emphasized in social justice work rather than only class, and why some equate critical educational studies with left-wing propaganda.

How does the author define critical educational studies?

Critical educational studies is described as studying both education and pedagogy, including instructional strategies plus an orientation to the world that supports humanizing choices in teaching and learning.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by nayy☆