In the final chapter, “Teaching Against the Grain: Contradictions and Possibilities,” Roxana Ng draws from her experiences as a woman, an ethnic minority and a professor to address “trials and tribulations in implementing alternative classroom practices that are both contradictory and exciting” (p.129). A major aim, she argues is to develop critical consciousness among the students and to empower them through various pedagogical practices with the long term goal that the classroom experiences will result in more democratic social structures. “Power” within an interaction is a dynamic that teachers can change, as contrasted with “authority” which is invested in the teaching role.

Ng also encourages teachers and students to examine the normal, “taken-for-granted ways of doing things” to determine whether they contain racist and sexist biases. She illustrates the point using an example from one of her university classes in which a male student complained to the department head about the number of times “women” were mentioned in a course on multicultural education (p.137). His estimate was 50% and the department chair supported his complaint, even though it was the only one forwarded

Also there is danger in adhering too rigidly to radical pedagogical approaches. After presenting several alternative teaching strategies, Ng warns “these critical approaches can and do becomes new forms of orthodoxy that are themselves oppressive” (p.147). The possibilities of critical teaching might result in the development of lobby groups but more importantly, Ng proposes, in an engagement in critical learning by both student and teacher, a commitment that should liberate minds.

Reading critical pedagogy is hard work. Not only is the language difficult but the issues exposed are not usually comfortable to consider. For readers who like to be challenged and who appreciate reading critically, this monograph is an invitation to an intellectual engagement.

E.L. (Betty) Donaldson is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education, University of Calgary, where she teaches a graduate course, Educating Girls and Women; her research interests include student transitions from the educational systems. She is also the new Alberta network director for CCLOW. Email: edonalds@acs.ucalgary.ca.

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