Volume 8, Issue 2 (6-2026)
kurmanj 2026, 8(2): 13-24 |
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Balash F, Amiri H, Gheidari A. Anti-Education as a Critical Framework: Structural Barriers, Dialectical Learning, and the Reclamation of Emancipation. kurmanj 2026; 8 (2) :13-24
URL: http://kurmanj.srpub.org/article-2-299-en.html
URL: http://kurmanj.srpub.org/article-2-299-en.html
1- Faculty Member, Iman Mobin International Research Center , Efarhaddevelopment@gmail.com
2- Department of Clinical Psychology, Medicine Faculty, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
3- PhD Candidate in Educational Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran
2- Department of Clinical Psychology, Medicine Faculty, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
3- PhD Candidate in Educational Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran
Abstract: (5 Views)
This article explores the concept of anti-education as a critical framework for analyzing the structural barriers that obstruct authentic learning. Building on Illich’s critique of institutionalized schooling, Freire’s dialogical pedagogy, and Giroux’s critical pedagogy, the study situates anti-education not as a rejection of teaching but as a theoretical tool for exposing systemic suppression of dialectical learning. Using a behaviorological perspective, education is approached as a structural mechanism that regulates behavior, reproduces cultural norms, and sustains existing power relations.
The article identifies three interrelated mechanisms of suppression: (1) the imposition of predetermined curricula and standardized assessments; (2) the reproduction of social hierarchies through teacher–student power asymmetries; and (3) the normalization of conformity via hidden curricula and disciplinary practices. Through this analysis, anti-education emerges as a conceptual lens that unmasks the systemic reproduction of authority within educational institutions.
The innovative contribution of this article lies in synthesizing critical realism, dialectics, and behaviorology into a unified framework. Critical realism provides ontological depth by analyzing how structures generate inequalities. Dialectics reveals the contradictions within education, where the promise of emancipation is continually obstructed by reproduction. Behaviorology adds empirical precision, demonstrating how reinforcement and punishment regulate conduct at the micro-level. Together, these perspectives reconstruct anti-education as a rigorous critical framework capable of diagnosing suppression while envisioning emancipatory alternatives.
By integrating structural critique with philosophical rigor and empirical clarity, this article contributes to critical educational theory and offers a pathway for reimagining education beyond institutional control. The findings underscore the necessity of dismantling structural barriers to reclaim learning as a dialectical and transformative process.
The article identifies three interrelated mechanisms of suppression: (1) the imposition of predetermined curricula and standardized assessments; (2) the reproduction of social hierarchies through teacher–student power asymmetries; and (3) the normalization of conformity via hidden curricula and disciplinary practices. Through this analysis, anti-education emerges as a conceptual lens that unmasks the systemic reproduction of authority within educational institutions.
The innovative contribution of this article lies in synthesizing critical realism, dialectics, and behaviorology into a unified framework. Critical realism provides ontological depth by analyzing how structures generate inequalities. Dialectics reveals the contradictions within education, where the promise of emancipation is continually obstructed by reproduction. Behaviorology adds empirical precision, demonstrating how reinforcement and punishment regulate conduct at the micro-level. Together, these perspectives reconstruct anti-education as a rigorous critical framework capable of diagnosing suppression while envisioning emancipatory alternatives.
By integrating structural critique with philosophical rigor and empirical clarity, this article contributes to critical educational theory and offers a pathway for reimagining education beyond institutional control. The findings underscore the necessity of dismantling structural barriers to reclaim learning as a dialectical and transformative process.
Keywords: Counter-education, dialectical learning, structural barriers, hidden curriculum, reproduction of power
Humanities: Research |
Subject:
Arts and Humanities (General)
Received: 2025/11/25 | Revised: 2026/01/22 | Accepted: 2026/03/15 | Published: 2026/03/27
Received: 2025/11/25 | Revised: 2026/01/22 | Accepted: 2026/03/15 | Published: 2026/03/27
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