focusing on teaching students how to reflect, to critical think, and to judge the things they
think and do. In addition, hegemony is a silent method of social dominance and
subordinate groups seem to accept it without notice it.
McLaren explains that critical pedagogy defines ideology in a way, in which we
view the world with certain values, ideas, and beliefs. This gives our social and political
life a meaning and common sense. According to McLaren, society develops this ideology
unfairly. In other words, there is favoritism towards a group and that is the dominant
group. He also explains that this is known as “ideological hegemony” since there …show more content…
He also explains how the dominant ideology is what the majority of individuals’ believe
and because of that, many people are not treat it equally.
He discusses that hegemony is consider to be the dominance of one social group
over another and that this is practice in social practices, social forms, and social
structures. Moreover, hegemony is a struggle because subordinate groups support the
idea of being oppressed without even notice it. Dominant groups secure hegemony in a
way, in which it can be hidden from the subordinate groups. In this way, dominant
classes always win the consent of the oppressed without forcing them. Furthermore,
subordinate groups are raised thinking that those ideologies are right and that they
suppose to follow them.
McLaren’s major point is that schooling has been practicing hegemony and that it
is important to teach students how to recognize those oppressive ideas that are hidden
from our society. I believed that this chapter is important for anyone who is interested in
teaching because we need to start teaching students to think, to judge, and to …show more content…
I am guessing that a lot of teachers in the field education do not know about
this and apply the “ideological hegemony” in their classrooms. As a prospective teacher,
I need to respect what my students’ beliefs are.
The concept of hegemony, in my experience, has made me think that I need to
give everyone the opportunity to think and believe on their own beliefs. My teacher
practiced hegemony in her classroom and I thought that I did not belong or fit in the
classroom just because my beliefs were different to hers. Today, I realized that I did not
deserve a D and that I would never practice this ideology in this type of situations in my
classroom. I am going to treat everyone equal and I am not going to use my power, as a
teacher, to force my students to think the same way as I do.
The first thing that I would do is to define hegemony the best way that I can to my
students. For instance, hegemony is power used by those in power to control public
perceptions to ensure that they will stay in power. In other words, rich people get poor
people to behave and to think in a way that will keep the rich even more rich and