Renewing a radical pedagogy of hope as a ‘hope-inclassroom- praxis’: an insight from Germany
FORUM - Print ISSN 1474-7685 - Online ISSN 2047-7171
Volume 68 Number 1 (2026)
Renewing a radical pedagogy of hope as a ‘hope-inclassroom- praxis’: an insight from Germany
Anna Myunghee Kim pages 127‑143
DOI: 10.3898/forum.2026.68.1.11
Abstract
The article revisits ‘hope’ as the central goal of everyday schooling for both teachers and pupils. Hope is understood as a critically informed doing-and-living hope. The paper calls for reckoning with the radical pedagogy of hope as a proactive classroom practice. I propose a teacher-led, proactive classroom exercise, facilitated by a ‘hope-doing questioning’ approach. That approach is designed to encourage young learners to recognise and believe in the potential and possibilities they have not previously been able to reckon with. Drawing on my experience as a parent of a neurodivergent minority child in key stages 2 and 3 in both public and private schools in East Berlin between 2020 and 2025, I shed light on the perils of a German functionary pedagogy. A functionary and deterministic pedagogy centred on teacher authority, disciplinary sanctioning and exclusion inevitably undermines genuine human dialogue and change. To counteract this, a simple but radical shift of focus in the everyday classroom environment is required – from one that focuses on curriculum delivery and quick disciplinary fixes, often involving the dismissal of children with difficulties, to the conscious practice of a ‘hopeful dialogue’ between teachers and pupils.
SORRY - you are not registered as being permitted online access to the full text of this article
You have the following options:
- If you are viewing this via an institution or academic library you can ask that your institution takes out a Subscription to this journal.
- If you already have a Personal Subscription please login below
Forgotten your username / password? Click here to locate
- Purchase an annual Personal Subscription
PRINT + DIGITAL personal subscription (£45 / year)
DIGITAL personal subscription (£35 / year)
A Personal Subscription provides immediate access not only to the single article you are seeking, but also to all past and future articles in this journal up to the expiry of your annual (calendar year) subscription. - Purchase immediate access to this single article (UK£7.00) - Buy article Coming Soon
To cite this article
Anna Myunghee Kim (2026) Renewing a radical pedagogy of hope as a ‘hope-inclassroom- praxis’: an insight from Germany, FORUM, 68(1), 127-143 . https://doi.org/10.3898/forum.2026.68.1.11