Emancipatory Education and the Challenge of Indoctrination: The Case of Internal Critique

This theoretical article examines whether critical political education—understood as education that critiques society from within—can avoid the challenge of indoctrination. To this end, the article reconstructs the premises of critical political education, the concept of internal critique, Michael Walzer’s theory of internal critique, Hermann Giesecke’s conflict analysis model, and key criteria for identifying indoctrination in political education. It then develops a model of internal critique for political education and evaluates whether this model constitutes indoctrination. The conclusion offers a theoretical account of the indoctrination challenge in political education that operates through internal critique. The study argues that internal critique can function either as indoctrination or as a safeguard against it, depending on how effectively teachers implement the didactic principles of self-reflectivity, controversy, and dialogic teaching. When applied successfully, these principles allow the challenge to be avoided.