Using Critical Literacy in the Classroom
As teachers one of our goals is to encourage our students to become critical thinkers able to use what they learn in our classrooms to make good choices about their futures as they take their place in an ever-changing world. We want our students to become 21st Century learners but we are still using teaching methods that only encourage students to be good at memorizing specific bits of information. Today’s students are often lacking in problem-solving and thinking skills, key components in reading comprehension, but how can they improve in these areas if we are not teaching them to think logically, analyze and compare various information, as well as question and evaluate what they read and hear in a critical way. Critical literacy teaching strategies can help us find solutions to these deficits but what is it and how can it be used in our classrooms?
Background
Critical literacy is not a new concept. Its roots go back to the classroom of Socrates as he encouraged his students, among them Plato, to be skeptical of governmental practices and think for themselves. Language gives people a way to view and change the world around them, hopefully to the betterment of society. Language is powerful and often considered dangerous since it can be manipulated to influence our everyday lives as evidenced by attempts by different groups and governments to limit those who were taught to read and write.
Paulo Freire, one of the key theorists of modern critical literacy, proposed in his book Pedagogy of the Oppressed that the acquisition of reading and writing, key components in language, provides an oppressed group the means to lift themselves out of oppression. His book, first published in 1968, criticized what he called the “banking system” of education, a teaching method unfortunately found in many classrooms today, where students are considered blank slates to be filled with information given to them by teachers who hold the knowledge. Freire and other proponents of critical literacy see students as “funds of knowledge” that need to be exposed to experiences that give students the opportunity to use their prior knowledge and perceptions to analyze and use their conclusions to improve themselves and others. While there is no set formula for teaching critical literacy, teachers and theorists of critical literacy recognize six key components that can be utilized in various ways depending on subject areas and individual classroom and student needs.
Reading Supplementary Texts
“Why do I have to read this?” How often do teachers hear this question from their students, and how often do we just say “because it is in the curriculum”? Teachers who bring other materials that expand on the theme or lesson give their students to opportunity to see not only parallels in the materials but also in the world as it pertains to them. Supplementary texts do not have to be written. Film and other forms of media can be used to supplement traditional reading assignments, giving students the opportunity to make comparisons between characters set in the past and their modern day counterparts, as evidenced in a classroom where Homer’s Odyssey was read alongside a viewing of Mario Puzo’s The Godfather. The explosion of the Twilight series of books gives teachers the opportunity to use popular books to tap into identical themes found in classics such as Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. Students can be encouraged to pick “Team Heathcliff” or “Team Edgar” just as easily as they choose between Jacob and Edward.
Reading Multiple Texts
Students are told not to believe everything they read on the internet but how often do we encourage them to read other accounts of historical, social or cultural events. Each text is written from the perspective of the author and reading multiple texts on the same subject matter gives students the opportunity to compare, contrast, and in some cases question the validity of the original text. Often when teaching about the Holocaust students read The Diary of Anne Frank (Goodrich and Hackett, 1956); however, one classroom as part of a critical literacy unit compared this version to the Definitive Edition (Frank, 2001) giving students the opportunity to see that the true story of this young girl was much different from what has been traditionally told. Multiple texts give teachers a platform in which to teach students that literature is never neutral; that every author has a perspective that must be considered.
Reading From a Resistant Perspective
Often the only questions students are asked about their reading are those that have students recall basic facts but each author has a perspective that they are trying to encourage the audience to accept. Students are bombarded with different messages today from the commercials they see on TV to the magazine ads and articles they read. It is imperative that students learn to question what they read and see, to discover what the target audience is, and to understand what message is being conveyed. Jon Scieszka, in his children’s tale The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! By A. Wolf, shows us that everyone has a viewpoint. When students are taught to read critically, they look at not only who is speaking but also how they are speaking. Is one group or ideology the focus of the article or do the cultures and values of the reader create multiple meanings? Whose voice is being heard and why? Students who acquire and master this knowledge are better equipped to make well thought out decisions in all areas of life as well as school.
Producing Counter Texts
Students must not be just consumers of text but they must also be producers. Often the writing students do is seen only by the teacher for grading purposes, but students need to gain the necessary skills in communication needed to function in today’s world. Critical literacy learners are reading and writing for real purposes, and their audience can range from their peers in the classroom to people living in other parts of the country or even the world. Today’s technology gives students the ability to write and publish in many different mediums from the traditional essays and poetry writings to script writing and media productions, to website designs and brochures. Students are able to share their views and perspectives as well as investigate other writings and communications.
Conducting Student-Choice Research
The word research often brings to mind the traditional English research paper; however, in a critical literacy classroom research often involves topics that are of relevance to the life and future of today’s students. Students often make life changing decisions without knowing all the facts. The case of Emiliano Santiago led one classroom teacher to guide her students in researching military recruitment tactics and the fine print of contracts young recruits sign. Santiago had been honorably discharged from the Army National Guard after eight years of service, but because of the contract he had signed while in high school he was recalled to service for another twenty-seven years. Students after hearing the case began research on military recruiting tactics beginning with looking at their experience with recruiters and gathering materials pertaining to the military recruitment and policy culminating with not only looking at a copy of the actual contract new recruits sign but court documents relating to Santiago’s case. Students were able to use basic research skills to learn about something that many of them face today as well as create a plan to let their peers know how to look critically at something that could affect the rest of their lives.
Taking Social Action
When students begin to think critically they are able to view the world in a much different way. Students become empowered and instead of believing that only adults can change the world around them, they see that they can make a difference now. The students in Sandy Adams fourth grade classroom began a simple assignment-research the issue of strip mining on nearby Black Mountain in Eastern Kentucky. The research that students conducted led them to become actively involved in saving the mountain. The students using all of the components of critical literacy were not only able to save the mountain but show that students, even in elementary grades can become active participants in their community’s concerns. The Environmental Protection Agency was so impressed with the work of the students that they awarded them the EPA’s youth environmental education award.
Conclusion
When teachers incorporate the components of critical literacy in their classrooms, students as well as society will benefit. Critical literacy strategies are not designed for just the English classroom but can be used in all subject areas. Why are teachers not incorporating these ideas into their curriculum? Often they feel constrained by the often overwhelming amount of testing mandated by many state and local school districts or feel that critical literacy practices can not be worked into their lessons because of existing required curriculum. While these are valid reasons, our students are missing out on what could be the skills that will truly help them become adults who make a difference in the world. Critical literacy strategies and activities can easily fit into state course of studies and curriculum requirements as well as boost standardized test scores but most importantly when we incorporate these components into our teaching we give our students the tools they need to think critically and become active participants in their learning and future.
References
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kspector
Subversive English Teacher 
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