Leavis and Pedagogy: Critical ‘Theory’

Abstract

Seldom can an approach to pedagogy have been encapsulated in so few and such simple words as: ‘“This is so, isn’t it?”, “Yes, but—”’. Leavis’s schematic conception of the critical judgment or exchange, as expressed in this dialogic paradigm, has been seen as a remarkably fertile one with many ramifications. It has, however, been criticised as theoretically deficient. This chapter takes a sustained look at the heart of Leavisian critical pedagogy, its form and function, the particular approach to collaborative creativity it embodies, and the sense in which it might be seen as dependent on a shared system of values and beliefs.