Critical Literacy: An Exploration

What does critical literacy look like in an intermediate classroom?

• Critical literacy is established in an environment where students feel safe and participate fully in all
aspects of classroom life. To be effective, a respectful environment must be established, which
celebrates difference and promotes divergent thinking. Emphasis must be placed on, expressing
opinions, considering/sharing alternative views, and asking questions.

• Evidence of learning must be documented on anchor charts that have been co-created with students.
They should be posted around the room and easily accessible.

Researchers Katie Van Sluys, Mitzi Lewison, and Amy Seely (2006) suggest that critical literacy consists
of four possible dimensions:

1. Disrupting the Commonplace: Refusing to take information at face value. The act of questioning the
way we see the world and exploring why things are they way they are.

2. Considering Multiple Viewpoints: Seeking out alternate ways of seeing, conveying, or constructing an
issue. Exploring unheard or marginalized points of view.

3. Focusing on Sociopolitical: Reflecting upon how a text may depict power relationships, stereotypes,
and/or biased thinking.

4. Taking Action: Using a text as a way to instigate change and promote social justice.

Curriculum Services Canada, 2007

Below the surface is where the real learning begins

Assessment

Real World Application

The 3 R's
What is Critical Literacy?

Problem Posing

Promoting critical literacy shows students how to become active participants in our society, rather than
passively accepting information at face value. It empowers them to challenge long held assumptions and
ask questions while they learn.

Teaching with a critical literacy focus highlights the importance of equality and will lead students to
advocate for those who are most vulnerable within their classroom and society.

Critical Literacy in an intermediate classroom can be taught through the 3 R’s:

• Review: Examine and investigate the content of the message.

• Reflect: Consider the content and format of the message. Students should contemplate their own
personal beliefs, opinions, and stances at this time.

• React: Take a stand and choose how to respond.

According to the Ontario English Curriculum Document (2007), critical literacy is defined as:

“The capacity for a particular type of critical thinking that involves looking beyond the literal meaning of
texts to observe what is present and what is missing, in order to analyse and evaluate the text’s
complete meaning and the author’s intent. Critical literacy goes beyond conventional critical thinking in
focusing on issues related to fairness, equity, and social justice. Critically literate students adopt a critical
stance, asking what view of the world the text advances and whether they find this view acceptable.”

Critical Pedagogy: Notes from the Real World, 2010

This strategy allows teachers to foster a critical perspective through carefully crafted questions. Use
questions like the ones listed below to help students begin to think critically about a text:

How might others understand the text differently?

How has the message of the text been constructed or crafted?

Who is the intended audience?

Who created this text and why?

What lifestyles, values and points of view are represented or have been omitted?

Who benefits if this “message” is accepted? Who might be disadvantaged?

Critical Literacy EDUC 5765, 2013

Capacity Building Series: Critical Literacy, 2009

• Teaching Strategies

• Instructional Considerations

• Time for conversations: Allow students to build onto the ideas of others. Show them it is acceptable to
agree or disagree with their peers and push them to deepen their understanding.

• Balanced Literacy: Lessons should provide scaffolding with a gradual release of responsibility to the
student to promote independence and personal reflection.

Critical Literacy EDUC 5765, 2013

• Switching

• Instructional Considerations Continued

• This strategy will help students identify alternative perspectives and identify voices that are heard and
absent within a text.

• A teacher could have students switch various components such as gender (replace key characters with
characters of the opposite gender); setting (alter the time or location that the story takes place); and
emotion (have characters display a different emotional tone).

• Focus on higher-order thinking skills: Students should be challenged to analyze, evaluate, and question
the status quo. Teachers should promote skills that help students move beyond a literal understanding.

• Text Variety: Text types such as novels, magazines, blogs, advertisements, among many others, should
be incorporated into lessons when possible. Texts in today’s classroom must be relevant, interesting,
age appropriate, and cross-curricular.

• Media Stations

(Critical Literacy EDUC 5765, 2013)

Capacity Building Series: Critical Literacy, 2009

Teaching critical literacy provides students with the tools necessary to look beyond what they see and
read each day, and view the world with a critical lens. This framework can assist students when
responding to different mediums, such as written, spoken, visual, and multimedia texts.

As students learn about and explore social issues, a critical mindset will help them identify important
topics, and will also promote student engagement and a desire to converse about what they have read.

Why is Critical Literacy Important?

Ask students to bring in samples of everyday text (posters, video games, advertisements, food
packaging, etc) and create a media station for each sample with “table talk” questions to promote
discussion.

Questions like the ones listed below can be used as a guide for students:

What is appealing about this video game cover?

Why do you think this brand of food is so popular?

What techniques do designers use to grab your attention?

In our media saturated environment, biased information continuously bombards all facets of our lives
and the lives of our students. With so much information to analyze and interpret each day, it has
become crucial for teachers to not only teach literacy basics, but also the importance of critical thought
and reflection.

Educators must be prepared to show their students how to be a critical consumer and user of
information, as this will increase their opportunities for success in the classroom and beyond.

Capacity Building Series: Critical Literacy, 2009

Curriculum Services Canada, 2007

Taking on Critical Literacy: The Journey of Newcomers and Novices, 2002

Curriculum Services Canada, 2007

What does assessment look like?

Questions for educators to reflect upon when creating a critical literacy assessment tool:
1. Does this tool encourage students to consider issues of inclusion, exclusion and/or representation?

2. Does this tool encourage students to draw on their knowledge and experiences, or “funds of
knowledge”?

3. Does this tool support students to construct multiple meanings of the text?

4. Does this tool encourage students to consider how their analysis of the text has affected their
thoughts and/or actions?

5. How does this tool position students and the teacher (expert, novice, deficit, etc)?

When moving towards a critical literacy approach, educators will need to explore new methods of
assessment, as many traditional tools will no longer be appropriate due to their reliance on
standardization and inflexibility.

Consequently, educators will need to use a critical lens to analyze the assessment tools they develop in
order to support critical literacy within their classrooms.

What Do They Know? A Strategy for Assessing Critical Literacy, 2007

Resources to Help Educators Get Started

A Final Thought

Curriculum Services Canada: An excellent database that offers a wide range of support for educators.
Simply type “critical literacy” into the search bar to gain access to instructional webcasts and classroom
resources. (Online at http://www.curriculum.org/content/home)

Council of Ontario Drama and Dance Educators (CODE): This website shows educators how to explore
critical literacy concepts through drama and dance. It provides many strategies, activities and resources
to help support the linking of critical literacy and drama and dance. It is an excellent tool to explore
cross-curricular connections for critical literacy. (Online at http://code.on.ca/resource/critical-literacy-
drama-and-dance)

Critical literacy must be at the forefront of a modern classroom if we are to prepare students for what
lies ahead. While it is hard to predict what life will be like in the future, instilling students with the ability
to think critically will prepare them for any experiences they may encounter. In teaching critical literacy,
we come to understand others, our world, and ourselves more deeply. (Critical Pedagogy: Notes from
the Real World, 2010)
References

References Continued

Curriculum Services Canada. (2007). Critical Literacy. Retrieved from Curriculum Services Canada
Website: http://resources.curriculum.org/secretariat/november29.shtml

Lewison M., Flint, A.S., Van Sluys, K. (2002). Taking on critical literacy: the journey of newcomers and
novices. Language Arts. 79(5), 382-392.

Ministry of Education Ontario. (2007). The Ontario Curriculum: Grades 9 and 10 English. Retrieved
March 2, 2013 from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/secondary/english910currb.pdf

Morrissette, R. (2007) What do they know? A strategy for assessing critical literacy. Knowledge Quest.
35(5), 14-17.

The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat (2009). Critical Literacy. Capacity Building Series. Retrieved
March 2, 2013 from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?
q=cache:Kpdp8lfo2u8J:www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/
critical_literacy.pdf+capacity+building+series+critical+literacy&hl=en&gl=ca

Wink, J. (2010). Critical Pedagogy: Notes from the Real World. Retrieved from Joan Wink’s website:
http://www.joanwink.com/scheditems/CP-050911-Part1.pdf

What does critical literacy look like in the classroom? Retrieved from Critical Literacy EDUC 5765
Website: https://sites.google.com/site/criticalliteracyeduc5765/what-does-critical-literacy-look-like-in-
the-classroom

Van Sluys, K., Lewison, M., Flint, A.S. (2006). Researching critical literacy: a critical study of analysis of
classroom discourse. Journal of Literacy Research. 38(2), 197-233.

Link: https://prezi.com/obs1-kmygwbo/critical-literacy-presentation/