Seeing Beyond the Interests of Industry: Teaching Critical Thinking

Models of “knowledge” are produced out of specific ideological interests and socio-historical circumstances. The materials distributed by industry to schools provide an illustration of the relationship between ideology and the form and content of “knowledge” in educational materials. A procedure for analysis and subsequent identification of the “hidden curriculum” in these materials is discussed. It is argued that such a process, as an act of critical reflection, allows educators and others to practice a critical and emancipatory pedagogy aimed toward political action.