Critical Literacy : Context, Research, and Practice in the K-12 Classroom

by Lisa P. Stevens

• ISBN13: 9781412941174
• ISBN10: 1412941172
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-01-18
• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc

Summary

'This is an excellent text. I particularly liked how the authors share examples of critical literacy throughout the book, especially with digital and multimedia texts. The concepts of deconstruction and reconstruction are especially good' - Peter McDermott, The Sage Colleges 'I have no doubt that graduate students would find the text helpful as they build understanding and fluency in the enactment of critical literacy practices. To date no text that I am aware of treats critical literacy in a way that encompasses elementary through high school practice. The authors show an awareness of the kinds of questions neophytes will ask and concepts they struggle to make sense of in the context of their classroom and their community. In an era of federal literacy mandates and fast capitalism, this is a text that offers hope. Through realistic discussion of how text shapes us and is shaped by us, the book provides its readers concrete ways to engage in critical literacy practices with children from elementary through high school' - Cheryl A. Kreutter, St. John Fisher College Critical Literacy: Context, Research, and Practice explores the theorization and implementation of critical literacy practices. As a subset of literacy pedagogy, critical literacy is distinguished by its particular emphasis upon interacting critically with texts and situating texts within broader political, cultural, historical, and economic contexts. A key focus of this text is the praxis of critical literacy; that is, theory and practice informing each other. Comprised of chapters that make use of clear explanations of the tenets of critical literacy, the context of literacy pedagogy in the United States, and classroom examples, this text focuses on what can be learned about the theory of critical literacy from implementation and what practice can learn from theory.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface

Redefining Literacy

Genealogy of the Critical: Paulo Freire

Defining Critical Literacy Mrs. CutterâÇÖs Class

Problematizing Classroom Applications of Critical Literacy

Why We Need Critical Literacy: Dynamic Texts and Identity Formation

Literacy Proficiency and New Texts: A Moving Target

Texts, Attention, and Identity?

The Transformation of Texts and ReadersâÇÖ Attention

Texts as Tools of Identity Formation

Texts: Mediating Identity and Culture

Critical Literacy and Teacher Education

Teacher Identity Risk, the Future, and Critical Literacy

Disrupting Education Discourses With Critical Literacy

Critical Media Literacy and Teacher Education

Resident Critic

Critical Literacy at the Nexus of Praxis

Maintaining Critical Literacy as a Moving Target

Essential Features of Critical Literacy

Praxis Point 1: Popular Culture, Fandom, and Boundaries

Critical Media Literacy and Social Studies

Reflection: Practice Informing Theory

Praxis Point 2: Critical Numeracy Across the Curriculum

Critical Literacy Across the Curriculum

Reflection: Practice Informing Theory

Critical Literacy and the Institutional Context

Praxis Point 3: Cycles of Deconstruction and Reconstruction

Setting the Context and Participants

Reflection: Practice Informing Theory

Assessing Critical Literacy

Reflections on Critical Literacy as Praxis

Critical Literacy and Educational Policy Texts

What Is Policy?

Critical Policy Analysis

National Discourses

Moving From National to Local: Complex Connections

Critical Policy Analysis in Local Contexts

Policy and Governmentality

Local Conversations

Transforming Policy Interactions

Educational Policy and Complexity Theory

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