Global Educational Research Journal

“Grades are not enough”:Critical Pedagogy, Achievement and the Self-Perception of Successful Underprivileged Students

Abstract

Accepted 2^nd  August, 2014

This paper explores the ways in which successful graduates from underprivileged backgrounds who studied at Kedma—a secular Jewish high school in Jerusalem, which was the first (and to date the only) school to adopt the principals of critical pedagogy in Israel, defined their self-perception upon completing their studies. Critical pedagogy holds great promise for promoting underprivileged students on both the educational and the personal levels and critical discourse and praxis bring together academic learning processes and personal empowerment processes.

Keywords:  Critical pedagogy,grades, underprivileged students, successful graduates, Kedma, Israel