Getting beyond the mechanistic view of knowledge to a critical pedagogy holds
profound implications for not merely those who think of education in the broadest
sense but also for those who face students in elementary, secondary, and university
classrooms on an everyday basis. Indeed, the point of this book is to make the argument
that epistemological understandings are ultimately practical and can help
teachers and individuals in a variety of domains with new and better ways of
conceptualizing and implementing their professional activities. Scholarly, empowered,
and well-organized teachers can overcome the aforementioned mandated mechanistic
perspectives and the colonizing pedagogies they support. Critical teachers
informed by a critical epistemology refuse to accept standardized, externally
developed, scripted curricula that appeal to the lowest common denominator of
teacher and student ability.