Design principles as cultural artifacts: Pedagogical improvisation and the bridging of critical theory and teaching practice

ABSTRACT The apparent disconnect between the theoretical breadth of critical pedagogies and practice-based research creates challenges for educators wanting to implement critical pedagogy frameworks. I offer a case-study of a critical arts after school program, Hip-Hop Learners, to explore the ways design principles functioned as cultural artifacts, mediating the relationship between critical theory and pedagogical practice. Drawing upon ethnographic and theories of action methodologies, the primary design principles of Hip-Hop Learners were apprenticing youth in domain practices and dispositions, supporting heterogeneity in learning pathways and interests, and fostering youth agency in shaping their learning trajectories. These design principles were most salient when educators responded to students’ needs in the moment, reflecting a practice called pedagogical improvisation. Pedagogical improvisation helped connect the theoretical value of the design principles to their pedagogical actuality, demonstrating how design principles were not static theoretical constructs but fluid and pedagogically contextual artifacts for expanding learning opportunities. These findings offer insights for supporting critical educators by interrogating 1) the exogenous and endogenous nature of design principles as cultural artifacts, 2) pedagogical improvisation to support critical reflection and praxis, and 3) the risks of replicating teacher-centered pedagogies.