TECHNOLOGY IS NOT A TOOL: CONTRIBUTIONS OF CRITICAL PEDAGOGY TO UNDERSTANDING THE NON-NEUTRALITY OF TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION

Abstract

The conception of technology as a neutral tool—a mere means serving human ends—is among the most widespread yet problematic ideas in contemporary educational debate. This article argues that this instrumentalist view is insufficient and pedagogically dangerous, as it obscures the fact that all technology embodies values, choices, power relations, and cultural conditioning that transform the practices, individuals, and institutions adopting it. While acknowledging legitimate perspectives emphasizing the emancipatory potential of technologies—such as those of Pierre Lévy and Seymour Papert—this article does not deny the possibilities opened up by technological innovation; rather, it critically examines the lack of reflection that often accompanies its adoption in schools. Drawing on the work of thinkers such as Langdon Winner, Andrew Feenberg, Neil Postman, Vani Kenski, Álvaro Vieira Pinto, and Paulo Freire—the latter serving as the central pedagogical anchor—the article analyzes the non-neutral nature of digital technologies and their implications for education. A specific section is dedicated to generative artificial intelligence—the defining technological phenomenon of our time—examining how systems like ChatGPT urgently place the question of neutrality back at the heart of pedagogical debate. This is a theoretical-bibliographical essay that draws upon sources from the philosophy of technology, critical pedagogy, and educational technology. It concludes that understanding the non-neutrality of technology is an indispensable condition for genuinely emancipatory pedagogical practice.