daily interactions between teachers and students. Critical pedagogy itself evolved from the idea of radical pedagogy and has been influenced also by postmodem theory, post-Marxist theory, feminist theory, postcolonial theory, literary theory, popular (Latin American) education, liberation (Latin American) theology, political theology and political-liberatory struggles. There is also the need to distinguish between academic critical pedagogy and the critical pedagogy engaged with by the oppressed groups working under oppressive conditions in urban settings and rural areas throughout the world.
Winant (2000) then, in the new century any convincing theory on race needs to address the persistent racial classification, stratification and discrimination. Minimal requirements for any theoretical response on race must include the following three dimensions viz:
• Recognition of the comparative/historical dimension of race;
• To range over and (if possible) to link the micro and macro-aspects of racial signification and racialized social structure; and
• The recognition of the newly pervasive forms of politics in recent times / a racially conscious conception of action/agency
These themes/dimensions have been and continue to be developed in a body of theoretical work by Winant (2000) known as theracial formation theory. This theory, although as yet incomplete and still dealing with lack of consensus, begins to meet requirements towards an account of race. The racial formation approach:
• Views the meaning of race and the content of racial identities as unstable and politically contested;
• Understands racial formation as the intersection/conflict of racial "projects" that combine representational/discursive elements with structurallinstitutional ones; and
• Sees these intersections as iterative sequences of interpretations (articulations) of the meaning of race that are open to many types of agency, from the individual to the organisational, from the local to the global.
Goldberg (McLaren and Torres, 1999) speaks of a 'racial modality' which refers to a'fragile structure o/racist exclusions at a space-time conjuncture that is sustained by the power o/socio- economic interests and the intersection
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discursivefield and strategies ofrepresentation ,(p62)- this similar to Winant's idea of racial formation.In the field of psychology in education Carter (2000) speaks of aRacial Identity Theorywhere , "Racial Identity" refers to one's psychological response to one's own race; it reflects the extent to which one identifies with a particular racial group and how that identification influences
perceptions, emotions and behaviours towards people/rom other groups' (p875) - a lens and filter for racial and cultural knowledge, experience, behaviour and emotion. The three separate models of racial identity in psychological literature speak of White, Black and People of Colour with each model comprising several distinct racial identity ego statuses that operate as emotional/cognitive schemas that process and interpret information and experiences and guide thought and behaviour.
For Black and People of Colour the racial identity model is made up of five statuses viz.: pre- encounter (Black) or conformity (People of Colour); encounter (Black) or Dissonance (People of Colour); immersion-emersion; internalisation; and internalisation - commitment (Blacks) or integrative awareness (people of Colour). The White racial identity model comprises six racial identity statuses viz.: contact; disintegration; reintegration; pseudo-independence; immersion- emersion; and autonomy. While statuses are similar for each racial group, variations exist because of the social positioning of the racial groups such as the socio-political history that affects the expression of each status. Statuses do not operate independently of each other but together and it is believed that each person has all of the statuses available to him/her in his/her own personality structure. The racial identity ego status variations provide a view of both individual development and group participation; shed light on self-understanding, affect, perceptions, ideas and behaviours towards those who belong to the same or different racial groups. Psychological racial identity constructs highlight that skin colour and physical features are not the only aspects to racial identity but also provide an understanding into culture, gender, social class, ethnicity, religion and other reference group memberships and therefore be used to explore and understand how socio-political systems and institutional practices and policies operate. Racial identity theory reveals that White, as the preferred group, benefit from educational, social, economic and political rewards whereas Black and People of Colour have less access to educational, social, economic and political rewards and benefits. Racial identity models include members of all racial groups in the process of developing a racial consciousness and all racial groups are equally valued - it is this that provides the possibility for the abandoning of doctrines based on racial assimilation and superiority through a Race-Based approach premised on racial identity theory and practice.
Lynn (1999) also distinguishes between a Critical Pedagogy of Race and Critical Race Pedagogy.
According to Lynn a Critical Pedagogy of Race derives from a class racialist perspective and
provides a Neo-Marxist analysis of race and racism in late capitalist society. Here class is privileged over race. A Critical Race Pedagogy, on the other hand, could be defined as an analysis of racial, ethnic, and gender subordination in education that relies mostly on perceptions, experiences and counter hegemonic practices of educators of colour. Critical Race Pedagogy is multidimensional in its focus and takes into account all facets of our multilayered identities while arguing that race should be utilized as the primary unit of analysis in critical discussions of schooling. This perhaps needs to be extended to include educators committed to and working towards social justice - not only educators of colour. Lynn's proposed theory also uses identity politics grounded in fixed positions with regard to race and supports a form of authority garnered from membership of the
subordinated Black group. As recognised by Kincheloe (1999) this privilege derived from
oppression assumes that only individuals who share a specific identity can speak of particular forms of analysis.
The defining elements ofCritical Race Theory (Ladson-Billings, 1999) include: first that racism exists and is normal, not aberrant or rare, a fact of daily life of society and the assumptions of White superiority are so ingrained in our political and legal structures so as to almost be unrecognisable.
Critical race theory challenges the experience of Whites as the normative standard and grounds its conceptual framework in the distinct experiences of people of colour. This call to context or racial realism insists that the social/experiential context of racial oppression is crucial for understanding racial dynamics. Critical race theory embraces the subjectivity of perspective and openly
acknowledges that perceptions of truth, fairness, and justice reflect the mind-set (the shared stereotypes, beliefs and understandings), status, and experience of the knower. Critical race theory notes that colour-blindness makes no sense in a society in which people, on the basis of group membership alone, have historically been, and continue to be treated differently. The danger of colour-blindness is that it allows us to ignore the racial construction of Whiteness and reinforces its privileged and oppressive position. Thus Whiteness remains a normative standard and Blackness remains different, other and marginal.
Secondly, critical race theory uses naming your own reality through
storytelling/narrative/autobiography/personal history as a way to engage and contest the negative stereotyping. Thirdly, a central tenet of critical race is a critique of liberalism. This critique highlights the notion of interest convergence in liberalism where Whites promote advances for Blacks only when they also promote White interests. Fourth, critical race theory argues that Whites have been the primary beneficiaries of civil rights legislation.
The usefulness of a Critical Race Theory for Lynn (1999) lies in its providing a framework that comprises a set of basic perspectives, methods and pedagogy through which the structural, cultural and interpersonal aspects of education that continue to marginalize and subordinate students can be identified and analysed. The identification and analysis emerges through questioning the role played by the school, school processes and school structures in maintaining the various subordinations such as those located in race, ethnicity, gender, language, religion etc. Transformational possibilities directed to social justice within these aspects can then be worked towards.