Navigating the concept of critical pedagogy in Latin American language education: A systematic review, 2015–2025

Miguel Martínez-Luengas; Deisy Lorena Caviedes Cadena

doi:10.30827/portalin.vi46.35165

Authors

Miguel Martínez-Luengas Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Corresponding author) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0456-2604
Deisy Lorena Caviedes Cadena Universidad Nacional de Colombia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6459-5275

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30827/portalin.vi46.35165

Keywords:

critical pedagogy, Language Education, Systematic Review, Latin America, Southern Epistemologies

Agencies: This article is part of the Literature Review of a Posdoctoral research conducted by Miguel Martínez-Luengas at Universidade do São Pablo entitled: "The influence of Critical landscapes on Pedagogical Practices in South American ELT Contexts." Supervisor, Dr. Lynn Mario Menezes de Souza.

Abstract

Generally speaking, a solid grasp of critical pedagogy in language teaching contexts provides a solid foundation for addressing inequality and promoting social justice inside the classrooms. In a territory such as Latin America, which has been historically perpetuated by violence and aggression against indigenous peoples and other minority communities, the need to recognize and validate diverse identities and knowledges is latent. Subsequently, the following systematic literature review presents a comprehensive, open, and unbiased examination of research reports that explore the implications of applying and implementing Critical Pedagogy in language classrooms from Latin American countries. To achieve said goal, a total of 50 articles from 2015 to 2025 were identified across five databases and proceeded to be analyzed through a rigorous process to identify, evaluate, and synthesize pertinent studies, ensuring that the findings are supported by solid evidence. The results offer a picture of the Critical Pedagogy in the onto-epistemic notion, methodological/procedural methods (Literacy), and sociocultural/political position. In the same light, this review affords a critical and analytical discussion of the concept of Critical Pedagogy in Latin America as essential for contextual relevance, political resistance, epistemic justice, and transformative education.

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Author Biographies

Miguel Martínez-Luengas, Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Corresponding author)

Miguel Martínez-Luengas has a B.Ed. in Teaching English and a Master’s in teaching English as a Foreign Language. Doctor in Education, majoring in ELT. He is a full-time professor at Universidad Nacional de Colombia. He is currently part of the research group PROFILE, and his research areas focus on Subject Positioning, Criticality, Teacher Education, and Narrative Studies.

Deisy Lorena Caviedes Cadena, Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Deisy Lorena Caviedes Cadena holds an M.A. in Applied Linguistics to TEFL and a B.Ed. in Philology and Languages - English. She is a full-time professor for the Philology and languages program from Universidad Nacional de Colombia, and is an active member of the PROFILE research group from the same institution. Her research interests are focused on phenomena related to social justice, interculturality, and gender in multilingual educational contexts.

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