Critical Consciousness: A Measurement Tool For English To Speakers Of Other Languages (esol) Teachers In U.S. K-12 Education

Abstract

Critical consciousness is an increasingly important component of pedagogy. However, the measurement of critical consciousness among teachers remains underdeveloped, partly because of the absence of psychometric testing of appropriate scales. In this study, the researcher adapted and tested Diemer et al.’s Critical Consciousness Scale, which was developed for students, with a sample of 178 ESOL teachers. The theoretical context for the study was pedagogical social justice theory, particularly as developed by Freire, which suggests that critical consciousness is likely to be highly developed in educators who, like ESOL teachers, are well-situated to understand the relationships between power, knowledge, and practice. Psychometric testing revealed that the Critical Consciousness Scale as adapted for teachers (a) possessed an internal reliability of .91; (b) consisted of three factors (each with an eigenvalue greater than 1), corresponding to critical reflection on perceived inequality, critical reflection on commitment to egalitarianism, and sociopolitical participation; and (c) was highly right-skewed, indicating that most ESOL teachers had a high level of critical consciousness. The findings were interpreted in light of pedagogical social justice theory, which predicts that the nature of ESOL teaching develops critical consciousness in educators. The study findings confirmed that the Critical Consciousness Scale can be utilized with teachers, thereby supporting future empirical research on critical consciousness.