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IV International Workshop on Public Policies; Citizen Participation and Democratic Praxis "PRAXIS 2025"

IV International Workshop on Public Policies; Citizen Participation and Democratic Praxis

PRAXIS 2025

Critical Didactics and Democratic Praxis: Tensions between Adaptation and Emancipation in Theodor W. Adorno
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This paper aims to problematise the role of education and, – in particular, Didactics – as a space of resistance against the dynamics of social adaptation, understanding it as a formative mediation for critical citizenship and the constitution of autonomy. To ground our analysis, we have adopted the tenets of Critical Theory of Society, since in contexts of democratic erosion, cultural alienation, and the commodification of life, it becomes urgent to revisit the foundations of education as a praxis committed to human emancipation. Drawing on a critical reading of Adorno, especially his conceptions of cultural formation (Bildung), semi-formation (Halbbildung), and his critique of administered culture, we seek to problematise the limits and possibilities of the school and teaching practice in constituting autonomous and critical subjects. In this context, Didactics is understood not merely as a set of teaching methods, but as a political and ethical field that mediates the relationship between subjects and knowledge. This study argues that the school, although permeated with contradictions, can constitute a site of resistance against heteronomous formation, but only if it is guided by pedagogical practices that foster autonomy and reflection on social reality. Thereby integrating technical training with an ethical-political dimension. It is concluded that Adorno’s critical theory offers powerful foundations for re-signifying education as integral and emancipatory human formation, contributing to the construction of a substantive democracy and the reinvention of a Didactics committed to social transformation. 

Este trabajo tiene como objetivo problematizar el papel de la educación – y, en especial, de la Didáctica – como espacio de resistencia a las dinámicas de adaptación social, comprendiéndola como mediación formativa para la participación ciudadana crítica y para la constitución de la autonomía. Para fundamentar nuestro análisis, adoptamos los presupuestos de la Teoría Crítica de la Sociedad, puesto que, en contextos de vaciamiento democrático, alienación cultural y mercantilización de la vida, se hace urgente revisitar los fundamentos de la educación en la condición de praxis comprometida con la emancipación humana. A partir de una lectura crítica de Adorno, especialmente de sus concepciones de formación cultural (Bildung), semiformación (Halbbildung), así como de su crítica a la cultura administrada, se busca problematizar los límites y las posibilidades de la escuela y de la práctica docente en la constitución de sujetos autónomos y críticos. La Didáctica, en este contexto, es comprendida no solamente como un conjunto de métodos de enseñanza, sino también como un campo político y ético que media la relación entre el sujeto y el conocimiento. El presente estudio defiende que el espacio escolar, aunque atravesado por contradicciones, puede configurarse como un lugar de enfrentamiento a la formación heterónoma, siempre que esté basado en prácticas pedagógicas que estimulen la autonomía y la reflexión sobre la realidad social, aliando la formación técnica a la dimensión ético-política. Se concluye que la teoría crítica de Adorno ofrece fundamentos potentes para resignificar la educación como formación humana integral y emancipatoria, contribuyendo a la construcción de una democracia sustantiva y a la reinvención de una Didáctica comprometida con la transformación social.

Abstract: This paper aims to problematise the role of education and, – in particular, Didactics – as a space of resistance against the dynamics of social adaptation, understanding it as a formative mediation for critical citizenship and the constitution of autonomy. To ground our analysis, we have adopted the tenets of Critical Theory of Society, since in contexts of democratic erosion, cultural alienation, and the commodification of life, it becomes urgent to revisit the foundations of education as a praxis committed to human emancipation. Drawing on a critical reading of Adorno, especially his conceptions of cultural formation (Bildung), semi-formation (Halbbildung), and his critique of administered culture, we seek to problematise the limits and possibilities of the school and teaching practice in constituting autonomous and critical subjects. In this context, Didactics is understood not merely as a set of teaching methods, but as a political and ethical field that mediates the relationship between subjects and knowledge. This study argues that the school, although permeated with contradictions, can constitute a site of resistance against heteronomous formation, but only if it is guided by pedagogical practices that foster autonomy and reflection on social reality. Thereby integrating technical training with an ethical-political dimension. It is concluded that Adorno’s critical theory offers powerful foundations for re-signifying education as integral and emancipatory human formation, contributing to the construction of a substantive democracy and the reinvention of a Didactics committed to social transformation.


About The Speaker

Glaciane Cristina Xavier Mashiba

Dra. Glaciane Cristina Xavier Mashiba

UEM Flag of Brazil

Professora Associada da Universidade Estadual de Maringá.

Discussion

Practical Info
Spanish / Español
October 22, 2025 4:6 PM
10 minutes
Hotel Grand Memories Cayo Santa María
Authors
Dra. Glaciane Cristina Xavier Mashiba
Keywords
critical theory of society; education; didactics; human emancipation; democratic praxis.
teoría crítica de la sociedad; educación; didáctica; emancipación humana; praxis democrática.
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