What Does Critical Literacy Reveal?

            As a future teacher, becoming literate is vital – in reference to 21^st century literacies, a teacher should be literate in each and every one. By doing this, a teacher will be capable of developing the most optimal and engaging classroom environment for their students to learn in. The reality of the situation is that becoming literate in a multitude of ways is not as simple as stating, “I want to be [insert 21st century literacy here] literate!” Instead, in order to develop into a literate teacher and be able to have an in-depth understanding of each of the literacies, you must be able to reflect on who you are, what you know, and where your beliefs stem from – you must learn to be critical.

Retrieved from East Georgia State College

Critical literacy is only one of ten 21^st century literacies, yet from my own personal view, it is one of the most important ones to be able to engage with – as both a student and a teacher. A quote that accurately describes and pinpoints the purpose of critical literacy is written by Jones (2006):

“Critical literacy allows a person to see beyond the familiar and comfortable and involves an understanding that language, practices and texts are always informed by ideologies, beliefs, and perspectives, whether conscious or otherwise.”

This quote undresses the intricacies of critical literacy – it tells us that in order to be critical, you must be capable of reflecting on who you are as a person and, within the context of this blog post, as a teacher. Every part of the world that we engage with is shrouded in certain biases, beliefs, viewpoints, and perspectives. By ignoring the underlying messages that exists within everything that is created and anything that a person does, we are doing an injustice to others and ourselves. As critically literate teachers, being able to help students unwrap the true meaning of a text provides endless opportunity – by getting students to recognize that biases exist in everything, we are giving them the chance to engage with information on an entirely new level that differs greatly from what we see at the surface.

Self-Reflection. Retrieved from The Creative Organization

            Even though critical literacy refers to being able to identify the biases that exist within text and be able to see what they are really saying, we need to take a step back and recognize what is needed in order to be critical. Being critical of the world around you first begins by being critical of yourself. By acknowledging our own privilege and/or oppression allows us to put our beliefs and values into perspective – for example, I am a white middle class woman living in Canada in university to become a teacher. All of the aspects of myself I have just listed provide me with varying privileges that I would not recognize unless I look at my life critically, such as the benefits that being white, middle class, and able to go to university provides me with. In contrast, being a woman interacts with the privileges I do have by potentially lowering the value of that privilege as a result of common sexist beliefs that exist within society. Ultimately, all of these factors influence who I am and inform my worldview, and to be critical of yourself is to first, be able to recognize this. As a teacher, it is vital to be able to recognize where my privilege lies because as someone who may one day become an authority figure to children, I will be influencing a certain generation of students and would do a disservice to their learning if I did not recognize where my weaknesses and biases lay. How are you able to teach students to be critical of different texts and literature if you are not able to be critical of yourself?

            Another aspect of critical literacy I want to delve into is the principle that being critically literate provides you with the opportunity to be able to identify varying perspectives that are apparent within a piece of information and to also recognize those who are silenced and ignored in the process. For example, when examining a book that is read in English class such as Lord of the Flies, you can view it from multiple perspectives. What is this book saying? What perspectives is it including? What voices are not being heard? What is the underlying meaning of the story? By posing problems for students to think about when reading a text beyond surface level aspects of a book such as characters and setting, students will be able to reveal the intricacies of what the book is actually saying and allow them to understand what the authors intended goal was in creating this book.

            Overall, being critically literate as a teacher provides a whole new dynamic to the classroom that has not been readily available for students for as long as education has existed. The traditional dynamic of the classroom reflects a relationship that is based off of power imbalances – the teacher knows best/everything and the students need to understand everything just as the teacher does. This view is problematic in a variety of ways, as has been discussed throughout this blog post, and by emphasizing the importance of being critical of oneself and of the information that surrounds us in this world, the traditional way of teaching can be changed to something that acknowledges the biases that each individual has and creates a form of learning that forces us to look deeper into everything we do instead of taking everything at face value.

References:
Jones, S. (2006). Girls, social class, and literacy: What teachers can do to make a difference. 
             Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.