Hinchey, Patricia H. (2006). Becoming a Critical Educator: Defining a Classroom Identity, Designing a Critical Pedagogy. Reviewed by Michael Ernest Sweet, Concordia University, Montreal

Hinchey, Patricia H. (2006). Becoming a Critical Educator: Defining a Classroom Identity, Designing a Critical Pedagogy. NY: Peter Lang. Pp.168         ISBN 9-780820-461496 Reviewed by Michael Ernest Sweet Concordia University, Montreal, Canada June 9, 2007 One of the most overlooked elements in teacher education is the whys of teaching and schooling. As teachers we are trained to know the hows but spend precious little meaningful time reflecting on why we become teachers. For example, why are children sent to us and what do we expect the outcome of public schooling to be? This absence of philosophical reflection and theoretical contemplation is leading to what has essentially been identified as a theory to practice divide; a circumstance which has left classroom practice in effect untouched through a century of educational reform. Educators have muddled around in a clutter of educational slogans and rhetoric buying into unexamined educational aims and philosophies; concentrating on merely how to implement ill-understood concepts of political trendy "speak" (Sweet, 2007). The result is that teaching has evolved into a relatively unreflective practice, the dire consequence of which Hinchey’s book Becoming a Critical Educator tackles, and is aptly elucidated by the opening quote from Parker Palmer: When I do not know myself, I cannot know who my students are. I will see them through a glass darkly, in the shadows of my unexamined life- and when I cannot see them clearly I cannot teach them well. (p. 1) Palmer’s words set the tone for much of the rest of the book and are followed by two ground-clearing chapters, each with fundamental questions for consideration by someone developing a pedagogical philosophy of practice. Although preparing teachers to examine both traditional as well as personal philosophies of education is an ambitious task, Patricia Hinchey offers a well founded starting place. She provides educators with an “opportunity to identify their own assumptions, to explore alternatives, and to make conscious choices about their own practice” (p. 7). As the title suggests, Hinchey unabashedly advocates developing a critical stance toward contemporary pedagogy as the desired outcome of her call for personal reflection. I happen to believe this combination of thought-probing questions prompting personal reflection, followed by a focused alternate framework for teacher practice, in this instance critical pedagogy, provides a well-grounded and logical text for aiding in the development of a classroom identity. One might imagine a book of this nature which merely poses a multiplicity of questions leaving a teacher with her hands in the air. Likewise, a book which attempts to provide too many possible teaching frameworks may very well defeat its most noble ambition—a meaningful move to a reflective teaching environment. Chapter one begins with an account of why philosophy and theory even matter in a public school milieu, a somewhat self-evident concept for many in academia, but perhaps a useful indulgence in a book attempting also to reach a large cross-section of working professionals. Hinchey gives several examples of how a failure to understand theory results in a stunted teaching practice. The example I most enjoyed is her progression through a theoretical argument as to why students rightly refuse homework assignments. A core claim coming from Strauss, 2002, holds that “simply assigning homework does not mean students will benefit from doing it” (p. 5). Hinchey maintains that if educators were aware of the theory behind such a practice they would become less obsessed with dishing it out and would be able to move beyond responses from beginning teachers such as “because that’s what teachers do” or “we have to give homework” when confronted with the question as to why homework must be a central element in teaching. Such an example raises awareness as to why we must examine the claims and beliefs which surround public schooling and which, often unknowingly, inform our own beliefs or philosophies of teaching. Beginning teacher responses such as “because that’s what teachers do” should be heard as a warning shot across our bow, a signal that all is not well in teacher education. This establishes a definite need for the type of text that Hinchey has produced as both an academic teacher education book and a practice-based text for educators in service. The first chapter proceeds to lay a solid foundation of current and historical agendas in education and education policy. An understanding of the various influences at play within the schooling environment would seem worthy of a teacher's attention in considering a classroom practice and personal philosophy of teaching. Hinchey then provides a preliminary glimpse of an alternative; the possibilities of a critical pedagogy. Her argument is that a critical educator should: Engage in an honest and detailed examination of the way existing power structures shape experience, resulting both in unearned privilege for some and unfair disadvantages for others; offer students the respectful treatment, valid voice, and relevant curriculum that is their due as human beings; embrace the role as public intellectual, taking seriously the educators opportunity and challenge to function as change agents in pursuit of a genuinely democratic society; and, accept the responsibility and need to engage in activism, no matter the discomforts and risks inherent in such work. (p. 128). This as the chosen philosophy presented in the book goes well with the partnered objective of the text, viz., moving teachers beyond unexamined hegemonic influences to a reflective, critically oriented practice. Chapter two is yet another crucial section of the book as it assists in identifying how our own thinking contributes to the prevailing paradigms of education policy. The chapter sets in motion concepts such as race, gender, class, and sexual orientation and how these might be embodied in a school milieu composed of teachers of essentially the same backgrounds. Hinchey claims that it is “particularly important for teachers to ask how their particular backgrounds have shaped their thinking because as a group, teachers are strikingly homogeneous” (p. 23). This statement near the opening of the chapter elucidates the gravity of interrogating one's sociocultural experience in the forming of a teaching philosophy. Unknowingly, we are to the highest degree influenced by our backgrounds; and given our homogeneity this baggage, left unchecked, can serve to secure the dominance of the white English speaking middle class in public schooling. I believe this confronting of personal baggage, especially with respect to class, race, and gender, is one of the most potentially beneficial outcomes of deliberately constructing a reflective teaching philosophy. Such colossal issues cannot simply be adequately addressed in an ad hoc manner while engaged in the act of teaching; it is a task which requires deliberate introspection and contemplation. It is the failure to reflect on these issues which justifiably leads minority groups to, as Hinchey states, have a significantly different perception of education. The middle three chapters of the book, unfortunately, become heavy and of moderate use in guiding a teacher in forming a personal classroom identity or creating a philosophy of teaching. One might refer to chapters 3, 4, and 5 as the "information chapters." Information and facts relating to America’s schoolchildren, educational history, policy rhetoric, manufactured crises, corporations and schooling, and privatization and high-stakes testing are the broad areas of engagement. Although I do not wish to dismiss these topics as unimportant to contemporary schooling, or even informed teaching practices, such chapters do distract from the inwardly focused nature of the opening. In other words, it is the questions in the book, not the answers, which form the significant and unique value of Hinchey’s text. The basic claim being made in these chapters, as relating to the development of a teaching philosophy, is that education is political; there is no such thing as politically neutral schooling. One must be critical of political and social hegemonies in contemplating the nature of teaching and schooling. Additionally, such chapters narrow the applicable user-base of the text as the scope becomes exclusively U.S. centered and to some extent dated. Hinchey’s writing style throughout the book remains relatively accessible while at the same time maintaining academic integrity. What becomes particularly annoying to the reader, especially in the middle of the text, is the excessive use of direct quotations. Hinchey, in 168 pages, provides more than one hundred lengthy block quotes; some of which exceed one full page. In the overwhelming majority of instances, direct quotes are unessential to the integrity of the original author’s claim. Hinchey would have been well advised to have paraphrased the bulk of this information as she is possessed of an enviably colloquial writing style. Reading the quotations, with obvious and sometimes dramatic changes in tone, becomes so labouious for the reader that one begins to skip them. In the concluding chapter, Hinchley returns to highly valuable material. Titled Critical Alternatives for Schools and Teachers, the chapter outlines, in essence, how democracy and consumerism have become entangled. She writes of how this democratic consumerism is producing citizens who fail to live up to the true aspirations of a democracy. Following a lengthy and somewhat fixated discussion of the evils of consumerism, Hinchey illustrates how a critical pedagogy might help redefine democracy and democratic goals. She maintains that a critical pedagogy may foster participatory citizenship and inform issues of social justice. Hinchey’s argument for critical education in connection to these aims is solid and well informed. Dewey, Freire, Giroux, and Kincheloe among others provide a canonized base of scholarship for her writing in this chapter. The book concludes with a useful and somewhat diverse, although exclusively American, appendix of critical education allies. Annotated organizational listings complete with addresses, contact names, phone numbers, web and email addresses are supplied for teachers who wish to pursue assistance or resources in the practical application of a critical pedagogy. In this respect, the book not only provides a sound theoretical understanding of critical pedagogy, but also provides support for helping to bridge the theory to practice divide. The foreword to the book is written by Hinchey’s daughter, a practicing teacher in New York. It is insightful and sincere, a welcome opening to the text. The preface is successful at succinctly presenting the book's overall premise and helps to focus a reader’s expectations. Regrettably the index is somewhat shallow, especially given the vast number of sources within the text that touch on a variety of topics. The bibliography is extensive by comparison and contains the expected range of scholarship to inform the text’s argument. Reservations aside, Hinchey’s book offers a useful overview of why both teachers and educators in general should continually question and examine theories, philosophies, and beliefs—a currently fashionable area of educational scholarship adding to the demand for such a text. Hinchey brings us closer to an intimate understanding of our role as educators. Becoming a Critical Educator is useful for teachers and students as an informative text on critical pedagogy and will inspire a re-energized commitment to a reflective teaching philosophy. Patricia Hinchey indeed brings us one step closer to understanding the enigmatic whys of teaching. Reference Sweet, M. E. (2007). Education and reform: The cult of crisis. Canadian Teacher, 3(2), 5. About the Reviewer Michael Ernest Sweet lives, writes and teaches in Montreal, Quebec. He has been admitted to degrees in humanities and education and is currently a graduate student in the department of education at Concordia University. He is widely published as a creative writer and journalist. His recent academic publications include "Education and Reform: The Cult of Crisis" in Canadian Teacher. His areas of scholarship include education and sexuality, poetics and imagination in citizenship education and re-imaging the literary canon.