Stepping out of the academic brew: using critical research to break down hierarchies of knowledge production

Critical theory and critical research are undeniably useful for revealing oppressive social structures and challenging the status quo in the realm of grand theory; yet, they are also useful for creating knowledge structures when academics deploy them on the ground. This article explores how critical theory and critical research can be used to critique hierarchies of knowledge in academia and society in order to create new opportunities for learning and researching dialogically, a process that the author calls, ‘stepping out of the academic brew’. Using the concept of REDO (reveal, examine, dismantle, open) and an example of critical research done with and by urban high school students, the author offers a framework for how critical researchers (with the help of those with whom they work) might begin flattening hierarchical knowledge structures in education, in themselves, and in life.