CRITICAL

LITERACY
Building & Enhancing New Literacies
Sy: 2022-2023
Objectives
At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

• Characterize critical literacy:

• Discuss a brief background of critical literacy theory; and

• Apply principles of critical literacy in designing lessons and classroom activities.

The concept of critical literacy is theoretically diverse and
combines ideas from various critical theories, such as critical
linguistics, feminist theory, critical race theory, as well as reader
response theory and cultural and media studies (Luke et al., 2009).
Critical literacy is a central thinking skill that involves the
questioning and examination of ideas, and requires one to
synthesize, analyze, interpret, evaluate, and respond to the texts read
or listened to (University of Melbourne, 2018).
Critical literacy uses texts and print skills in ways that enable
students to examine the politics of daily life within contemporary
society with a view to understanding what it means to locate and
actively seek out contradictions within modes of life, theories, and
substantive intellectual positions (Bishop, 2014).
Rather than promoting any particular reading of any particular group
or text, critical literacy seeks to examine the historical and
contemporaneous privileging of and exclusion of groups of people
and ideas from mainstream narratives (Lankshear & McLaren, 1993).
It is a kind of literacy about structures, structural violence, and power
systems.

Since the 1990s, critical literacy theorists have outlined emancipatory

theories of learning (Freire & Macedo, 1987) that addressed the
complex relations of language and power through social critique,
advocacy, and cultural transformation (Knoblauch & Brannon, 1993).
Educational researchers discuss critical literacy as a theory of social
practice, as the negotiation of and the creation of meaning for social
justice (Greene, 2008).
While there is no single model of critical literacy (as there is no single
model of youth organizing). the emphasis on Freire's (1970) action-
reflection cycle of "praxis" has offered participants a concept through
which to construct meanings that support their literacy for civic
engagement (Lankshear & McClaren, 1993).
 History of
Critical Literacy Theory
 FREIRE AND MACEDO (1987)
In 1997, Freire and Macedo Published the
Expansive Volume on Literacy and Critical
Pedagogy
In Expansive volume and Critical Pedagogy
of Freire and Macedo, argued, that those who
are critically literate can understand not only
how meaning is socially constructed within
texts were created and embedded.
LANKSHEAR AND MACEDO (1993)
In 1993, Lankshear and Macedo stated that
literacy is more complex than the traditional
skills of reading and writing
They argued that such a traditional definition
of literacy is ideologically aligned with
particular postures of normative socio –
political consciousness that are inherently
exploitative.

By contrast, Critical Literacy emphasized the social constructions

of reading, writing and text production within political context of
inequitable economic, cultural, political and institutional structure...
The 3 forms of educational practice that critical literacy can take on varying by
their commitment to inquiry and action...
1. Liberal Education – An approach to disciplinary Example:
knowledge where intellectual freedom exist and where
disparate interpretations are considered, but inevitably 1. Humanities
contradiction is avoided and rational argumentation wins literature, history, philosophy
out. 2. Arts
theatre, painting, music 
3. Social sciences
economics, psychology, sociology

2. Pluralism – There is an emphasize on reading to Example:

3 Forms of evaluate principles that support a loose conception of
Educationa tolerance. 1. Different cultures in a society
2. School System
l Practice Pluralism is defined as a society where multiple people, 3. The role that interest groups play in political
groups or entities share political power. decisions today.

3. Transformative Praxis – Takes the radical potential of Example:

critical literacy direct emancipatory action in the world.
1. Questioning
Transformative praxis is a product of multidimensional 2. Describing
critical consciousness, which is informed by the notion of 3. Explaining
education as a practice of freedom and praxis, which 4. Connecting
Freire explained as "reflection and action upon the 5. Case writing and bringing values
world in order to transform it"  6. Lived experience
7. Moral commitment to improving the human
condition and imagining new perspectives
Before 2001 the re-authorization of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as the
controversial NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT
(NCLB), Janks 2000 posited four possible
orientations for future approaches to critical
literacy education based on different perspectives
on the relationship between language and power:

a.) To understand how language maintains social

and political forms of domination;
b.) To provide access to dominant forms of
language without compromising the integrity of
non-dominant forms;
c.) To promote a diversity which requires attention
to the way that uses of language create social
identities;
d.) To bring a design perspective that emphasizes
the need to use and select from a wide range of
available cultural sign systems
CRITICAL LITERACY
AND
THE ARTS
The creation of artistic product by individual and the perception and rejection
upon others’ artworks showcase the power of critical literacies at work within
Arts context. Luke (2000) argues that it is the primary aim of critical literacy to:

1. allow students to see how texts work to construct

their worlds, their cultures, and their identities in power,
often overtly ideological way; and

2. understand how they use texts as social tools in ways

that allow for a reconstruction of these same worlds.
The arts, literacies, and reality are dynamically linked and the
understanding attained by critically reading aesthetic texts
involves perceiving the relationship between the arts, its
creator, and its context. Both the practice and understanding
of art forms, and being critically literate are interconnected.
Indeed, critical literacy makes possible a more adequate
‘reading’ of the world, on the basis of which people can enter
into ‘rewriting’ the world into formation in which their interest,
identities, and legitimate aspirations are more fully present
and present more equally (Lankshear & McLaren, 1993, cited
in Morgan,2000, p. 6).
Freebody and Luke (cited in Luke, 2000) developed a four-tiered approach to
early reading instruction that has now been widely adapted across
Australian school. These approaches are necessary but not sufficient sets of
social practices requisite for critical literacy. A recent version of the model
offered the following descriptions (Freebody, 1992; Luke & Freebody, 1997):

•Coding Practices: Developing Resources as a Code Beaker - How do I crack

this text? How does it work? What are its patterns and conventions? How do the
sounds and the marks relate, singly and in Combinations?
•Text-Meaning Practices: Developing Resources as a Text Participant - How
do the ideas represented in the text string together? What cultural resources
can be brought to bear on the text? What are the-cultural meanings and
possible readings that can be constructed from this text?
•Pragmatic Practices: Developing Resources as Text User -
How do the Uses of this text shape its composition? What do I
do with this text, here and now? What will others do with it?
What are myoptions and alternatives?

•Critical Practices: Developing Resources as Text Analyst

and Critic What kind of person, with what interests and values,
could both write and read this naively and without any
problem with it? What is this text trying to do to me? In whose
interests? Which positions, voices, and interests are at play?
Which are silent and absent?
Textual Analysis
Textual analysis can be guided by asking the learners to make their way
systematically through a list of questions:

 what is the subject or topic of this text ?

 why might the author have written it ?
 who is the written for? how do you know?
 what values does the author assume the reader holds? how do you know?
 what knowledge does the reader need to bring to the text in order to
understand it ?
 who would feel ‘left out’ in the text and why?
 who would feel that the claims made in the text clash with their own values ,
beliefs , or experience?
 how is the reader ‘ positioned’ i relation to the author ?
Another approach for analyzing texts is to use a checklist such CARS
( Credibility, Accuracy , Reasonableness, Support ) , which was originally developed
for in evaluating web sites.

CREDIBILITY
Evidence of authentically and reliability is important .The reader judge the credibility of the text
include examining the author credentials and the quality of the content . It necessary to look for
biographical details on their education , training , or experience in an area relevant to the
information by asking such.

 Do they provide contact information ( email , or post address, phome

number)?
 What do you know about the author ‘s reputation or previous publications?

Information text should pass through review process, where several readers
examine and approve the content before it puslished.
 ACCURACY
Information needs to be up to date , factual , detailed , exact , and
comprehensive. Things to bear in mind when judging accuracy include timeliness
and comprehensiveness. Indicators that a text inaccurate ,either whole or in
part, include the absence of a date or an date on information known change
rapidly ; vague or sweeping generalizations; and the failure tacknowledge
opposing views.
 REASONABLENESS
Involves examining the information for fairness., objectivity , and moderateness.
Fairness requires the writer to offered a balanced argument, and consider to
claims made by made by people opposing view. A good information text well
have a calm , reasoned tone, arguing or presenting material thoughtfully . Like
comprehensiveness , objectivity is difficult to achieve. Good writers, however ,
try to minimize bias.
 SUPPORT
Support for the writer’s argument from other sources strengthens their credibility.
It can take various form such as writing bibliography and references and
corroboration . It is a good idea to triangulate information , that is to find at least
three text that agree. If other text do not agree , further research into the range of
opinion or disagreement is needed. Readers should be careful when statistics are
presented without identifying the source or when they cannot find any other texts
that present or acknowledge the same information .
 TEXT CLUSTERING
Involves confronting students with texts which obviously contradict each
other. The task is to use whatever evidence they can find to try to make
judgement about where truth actually lies. Sometimes these judgements
are relatively easy. News reports, fairy tales, everyday texts are good
materials for text clustering.
THANK YOU   