In order to contribute to these discourses, it is the purpose of this study to explore, from the perspectives of the participants, the instructional experience in a higher education ethnic literature course taught through the lens of radical pedagogy. In response to the continual unveiling of social disparities, radical pedagogy has burgeoned forth. As the term is used herein, this pedagogical theory contains the distinct but overlapping strands of critical pedagogy, feminist pedagogy and some of the more radical strands of multicultural education. Aiming at producing a pedagogy of liberation, critical pedagogy focuses on educating the subject to think, reflect, and to act in order to create a more democratic, egalitarian society. As poststructural thought has seeped into these discourses, the multiple dimensionality of truth, positionality and difference have been forefronted.
Multicultural education is primarily concerned with equity and diversity.
This study is an attempt to fill this void. An ethnographic case study was chosen for this research project. The selection of this class was based on the criterion that the theoretical and practical framework of the instructor be founded in critical pedagogy. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the instructor, the five members of the Borderlands group, and four other students chosen for the disparate localities they appeared to locate. Documents were also analyzed.