Pedagogy as a Form of Praxis and Commitment

Abstract

This chapter responds to a rising interest in re-imagining graduate school classrooms as a space for transforming social injustice. The authors situate the exploration of this issue in the context of teaching graduate-level research methodology courses. The chapter brings forth a student-centered and praxis-oriented approach to teaching graduate-level research methodology courses, which is grounded in the guiding principles of dialogue, relationality, and critical consciousness-raising. Through committing to these principles and to our students, the authors demonstrate profound connections between teaching and being. They argue that cultivating student-centered and critical teaching is not the work of creating a set of tools, but instead an engagement with being and becoming through praxis and commitment. Throughout this chapter, we draw on our teaching experiences and collaborative scholarship to illustrate what it means to connect teaching with praxis and commitments.