This Ain’t Talk Therapy: Problematizing and Extending Anti-Oppressive Education

Abstract

Kumashiro (2001)argues that the “posts” perspectives—poststructuralism, postmodernism, and postcolonialism—are useful in furthering an anti-oppressive education in the core disciplines. This response elucidates some of the shortcomings of Kumashiro’s article, namely its misinterpretation of notions of oppression, rationality, and the individual within a “posts” perspective. A Foucauldian lens is employed to provide an alternative means by which to further a more constructive and less constrictive classroom environment. Specifically, this article suggests that a “posts” classroom must work under the construct of a “weak overcoming” that focuses on the structure of schooling and the organization of classroom practice.