Conceptualizing a Radical Visible Pedagogy

Abstract

This paper contributes to the theorization of radical visible pedagogy by building upon Basil Bernstein’s initial conceptualization and previous efforts to develop it. Alongside Bernstein’s “classification” and “framing” we suggest that incorporating the concepts of “semantic gravity” and “semantic density” from Legitimation Code Theory (LCT)—concepts that were not available to those engaged in earlier efforts to theorize radical visible pedagogy—adds an important dimension to this theorization. Outlining the principles of radical visible pedagogy has the potential to inform equitable classroom practice in a manner that eschews the tendency toward dichotomous conceptions of pedagogy as either “traditional” or “progressive.”