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

by Lisa P. Stevens

• ISBN13: 9781412941181
• ISBN10: 1412941180
• Format: Paperback
• 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	p. vii
Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xxi
Redefining Literacy	p. 1
Genealogy of the Critical: Paulo Freire	p. 4
Defining Critical Literacy	p. 5
Mrs. Cutter's Class	p. 8
Problematizing Classroom Applications of Critical Literacy	p. 10
Why We Need Critical Literacy: Dynamic Texts and Identity Formation	p. 15
Literacy Proficiency and New Texts: A Moving Target	p. 16
Texts, Attention, and Identity?	p. 20
The Transformation of Texts and Readers' Attention	p. 21
Texts as Tools of Identity Formation	p. 25
Texts: Mediating Identity and Culture	p. 27
Critical Literacy and Teacher Education	p. 37
Teacher Identity	p. 39
Risk, the Future, and Critical Literacy	p. 41
Disrupting Education Discourses With Critical Literacy	p. 43
Critical Media Literacy and Teacher Education	p. 50
Resident Critic	p. 51
Critical Literacy at the Nexus of Praxis	p. 61
Maintaining Critical Literacy as a Moving Target	p. 62
Essential Features of Critical Literacy	p. 64
Praxis Point 1: Popular Culture, Fandom, and Boundaries	p. 69
Critical Media Literacy and Social Studies	p. 69
Reflection: Practice Informing Theory	p. 72
Praxis Point 2: Critical Numeracy Across the Curriculum	p. 77
Critical Literacy Across the Curriculum	p. 77
Reflection: Practice Informing Theory	p. 81
Critical Literacy and the Institutional Context	p. 81
Praxis Point 3: Cycles of Deconstruction and Reconstruction	p. 85
Setting the Context and Participants	p. 85
Reflection: Practice Informing Theory	p. 89
Assessing Critical Literacy	p. 90
Reflections on Critical Literacy as Praxis	p. 91
Critical Literacy and Educational Policy Texts	p. 95
What Is Policy?	p. 95
Critical Policy Analysis	p. 96
National Discourses	p. 98
Moving From National to Local: Complex Connections	p. 106
Critical Policy Analysis in Local Contexts	p. 111
Policy and Governmentality	p. 113
Local Conversations	p. 114
Transforming Policy Interactions	p. 119
Educational Policy and Complexity Theory	p. 120
Glossary	p. 123
Index	p. 127
About the Authors	p. 133
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