Teaching and Learning Anthropology

This commentary advocates for an understanding of critical pedagogy as an application of anthropological praxis. I reflect on how my implementation of a version the assessment strategy broadly known as “ungrading” emerged from fundamentally anthropological concerns, including a consideration of grades as a social construct. The specific transformative context of the COVID-19 pandemic created a well-documented set of challenges to teaching and learning and ultimately led to my decision to stop using the hegemonic framework of standard grading in most of my courses. Drawing on my personal experiences, I argue that critical pedagogical approaches are opportunities not only to transmit anthropological concepts, but also to apply them.