The Use of Critical Consciousness for Gender Equality in Pre-Service Teacher Education: A New Perception for an Egalitarian World

Depending upon Paulo Freire’s notion of critical consciousness (CC), this study investigates how the comparative analysis of traditional and non-traditional European fairy tales could impact the development of critical consciousness in pre-service English teachers and how they can use this skill for social change in their professional lives. Data were collected using narrative frames and semi-structured interviews at a university in the west of Türkiye as tools to investigate the experiences of 22 pre-service teachers taking the Discourse Analysis and Language Teaching course during the fall 2022 to 2023 semester. The thematic analysis of the qualitative data revealed an overarching theme, development of critical consciousness, and three sub-themes: development of critical thinking and reading skills, development of social awareness for gender equality through socio-political development, and an awareness of using gender-sensitive language. The results rest on the assumption that the development of critical consciousness through literary texts empowers the process of becoming a critical teacher who can liberate his/her students from social injustices by taking critical actions for a more egalitarian world.