Incorporating Critical Literacy In the Classroom

After learning about the different literacies in class I was happy to have a lecture that somewhat went into examples of how you could actually teach critical literacy in a classroom. Throughout the beginning of our class while learning what the different 21st literacies were I consistently wondered how exactly they are taught in a classroom.

Critical Literacy [Image]. (2009). Retrieved from: http://partners.hpedsb.on.ca/bagfullofbooks/?paged=2

In lecture on Februrary 3rd it was discussed that critical literacy can be taught in four simple strategies that can be incorporated in a number of different lessons.
First we learned about Problem Posing, which involved asking students questions to get them critically thinking about the topics they were learning about. Questions like "How might someone else view this differently?" allows students to think from different perspectives that are opposite of their own. I like this strategy because it seems like a simple way that in any lesson on any given day this can be used to help create critically literate students.

The second strategy was Juxtaposing, which is when you compare two similar topics to one another to gain different perspectives and views on the topic. This strategy was my favourite from all of them because I think it would be very powerful, even for young students. It maybe difficult even when using problem posing to get younger children to really see different perspectives, but when you are showing two similar topics they can see the different views more clearly. An example that this strategy made me think of in class was the movie Maleficent compared to the original Sleeping Beauty. In Maleficent it gives you the perspective of the "evil witch" from Sleeping Beauty and teaches you that she is not all that evil after all. In the end I think it teaches viewers that there is always another side of every story, and that everything is not so black and white, or good and evil.

Maleficent [Image]. (2014). Retrieved from: http://pop.inquirer.net/2014/04/sleeping-beauty-fable-comes-full-circle-with-maleficent/

The third strategy explained in class was Reimagining, which is when you have a class rethink the ending of a story. By allowing students to think of alternate endings it allows them to think more in depth about the story and consider how it might have gone differently from a different perspective. I think this strategy is a good way for students to not just accept what happens in stories and to participate in changing them to solve issues or problems they see while reading.

Lastly, a strategy covered in class was Making Connections, which involves having students make connection from texts to other texts, themselves, and to the world. Again by having students do this I think it helps think deeper and critically about what they are learning. I have seen this done in classes during placements and to me it seemed like it benefited students to make connections and see what the writer is really saying by possibly making connections to the world. Also, it allows them to explore what the texts make readers feel when they connect it to themselves.

Making Connections [Image]. (2011). Retrieved from: http://wardswayofteaching.blogspot.ca/2011/11/text-connections.html

Furthermore, beyond lecture in the textbook by Drake, Reid, and Kolohon (2014) it gives examples of actual teachers implementing critical literacy in their classrooms. One teacher named Cara Zurzolo taught critical literacy in her Grade 8 and 9 classes by participating in the Holocaust and Human Rights Education (Drake, Reid, & Kolohon, 2014). The students learned about the Holocaust and by doing this students got to critically think about important issues. Zurzolo also taught about First Nations people in her classes to teach critical literacy to have students see the perspective of a group of people that are often overshadowed and not heard (Drake, Reid, & Kolohon, 2014). This teacher is able to teach her classes about important social justice issues that have happened, and are still happening to get her students to critically think and see issues with power. By doing this her students are gaining critical literacy and will be more active in trying to challenge these power imbalances in the world. The way this teacher is able to teach her students critical literacy is a great example for future educators to use in their own classes. By bringing in important social justice issues it engages students in critical thinking and gets them to view things from the perspective of others.

In addition, this is a link that further gives some ideas on how to use critical literacy in the classroom through text and viewing things from a marginalized perspective.

All of these many different strategies of teaching critical literacy in the classroom are extremely beneficial to me as a future educator. I am glad to have this new knowledge that I will actually be able to incorporate in my classes to help engage students in critical thinking. As a student in teaching it is sometimes difficult to really see how you will be able to use the things we learn in actual practice. However, after this lecture and reading I can say that I would feel more confident in actually incorporating critical literacy into my classes. The strategies I have learned seem like they are all very easily done to help encourage critical literacy in any given lesson at any grade level.

References

Drake, S. M., Reid, J. L. & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving curriculum and assessment: Engaging 21st Century Learners. Toronto, ON: Oxford University Press.