Critical literacy. For me, it was one of those terms that I knew I had heard of before but I couldn't quite remember what it meant. I knew it was important because it had been spoken about in my previous education courses and I knew I had read about it somewhere before. But for the life of me, I could not remember what critical literacy was. I was anxious to read about it and re-learn what critical literacy was all about.
From the readings and class discussion, critical literacy can be defined as empowering students to change their world. It is not reading a text and summarizing what it said; it involves much more than that. It takes comprehension one step further and requires students to critically analyze a text and the social constructs found within the pages. It requires students to ask questions about the author, the context, the biases found within the text. Critical literacy is closely related to Vygotsky's social constructivist theory of learning in which all knowldege and meaning are socailly constructed as we interact with others and with the world around us. It is also closely linked to reader-response theory in which readers respond to text aesthetically and efferently. In the Behrman article, the author gave practical ways in which to implement critical literacy into the classroom. The first approach is supplemental texts in which additional texts are provided to supplement the traditional text. Multiple texts that portray a variety of different viewpoints is a second approach. Having students read from a resistant perspective or different identity than their own is a third approach. The fourth approach is producing countertexts or having students re-write a text from a different perspective. The fifth approach is conducting student choice research projects in which students use issues from their own lives to form research projects on social issues. The sixth approach is an extension of the previous approach and entails social action.
Perhaps the most significant benefit of critical literacy is that it can be applied to any subject matter. It can be used in ELA, social studies, science, math, music, and art classrooms. It is important for students to practice critical literacy skills and ask critical quesitons as they read and the more disciplines this theory is integrated into, the better they will be become. Despite critical literacy's numerous benefits, there are criticims and concerns surrounding this theory. One of my concerns is the amount of time spent in planning and implementing critical literacy activities and lessons. Although I understand that it is time well spent, how can you simultaneously teach literacy skills and basic comprehension strategies in order to meet the content standards?
Any insights into this issue regarding critical literacy would be very much appreciated. I look forward to reading your blogs and learning about your personal thoughts about critical literacy!
Thank you for reading my blog post!
Courtney B.
Courtney, I'm glad you brought up the point that critical literacy can be used in any subject matter. I think it is especially important to remember in social studies, where students tend to passively receive any history as concrete fact. However, do you think critically literacy is more easily implemented in some subjects over others? For example, in a math classroom, it can be difficult to empower students to change their world or take social action because teachers have to teach, well, math. I guess I am mirroring a similar question you asked: How do you balance content standards (like math's) with critical literacy? As an elementary teacher, you have the opportunity of compromising and possibly implementing critical literacy into one or two subject areas during the day. Would you agree?
ReplyDeleteCourtney:
ReplyDeleteYour final question is a very good one! Of all that we have to do as educators, how are we expected to teach ANOTHER thing? This initially concerned me and still concerns me. The best input I can say is this: Do not fret. Many of the standards you need to teach to are just going to happen. In other words, you may teach to a specific standard and not even know about it. As educators we cannot guarantee and rely on this practice, but I think it can and will happen. Who knows, you may be teaching a reading lesson one day and you may stumble upon a class discussion dealing with author and reader point of view.
I am there with you. Don't worry. I think it will all work out.