Conscientization, also known as “critical consciousness” is a popular education and social concept developed by Brazilian pedagogue and educational theorist, Paulo Freire (1970). Research shows that higher critical consciousness is associated with higher self-esteem, higher political engagement, higher professional aspirations, academic engagement and even higher academic achievement.
Dr. Victor Lozada is currently using Freire’s concept of conscientization in his elementary music classroom to discuss the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. He uses many children’s books and music to discuss social change.
In this webinar, participants learned about Freire’s concept of conscientization and how to use books and music to teach critical consciousness in the classroom.
In addition to teaching music at a Denton ISD elementary school, Dr. Victor Lozada is an adjunct faculty member at the University of North Texas at Dallas and a graduate research associate at Texas Woman’s University.