The discursive construction of identity and power in the critical classroom: Implications for applied critical theories

The role of teacher identity and micro-level interaction in the construction of power relations in the critical classroom is investigated. This study took place in an American university in an English composition program that had implemented ‘critical pedagogy’, an applied critical theory that has the goal of changing the traditional power relations between teachers and students. Analysis of the institutional context and the discursive construction of teachers’ identities revealed contradictions between this goal and some of the teaching practices and suggested that power was not effectively redistributed as intended. The findings suggest that applied critical theories are often too simplistic, assuming that power can be straightforwardly transferred from the ‘powerful’ to the ‘powerless’. It is argued that proponents of such theories have under-theorized the notion of power, overlooking the paradox of ideology, which points to the role of micro-level interaction in the construction of power relations.