What is critical literacy? What is its history?

What are its practices in society and the

classroom?

From Heather Coffey’s “Resistant Perspective Producing

Counter Texts” Taken from LEARN NC
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/4437

Critical literacy is the ability to read texts in an active, reflective manner in order
to better understand power, inequality, and injustice in human relationships. For
the purposes of critical literacy, text is defined as a “vehicle through which
individuals communicate with one another using the codes and conventions of
society”.1 Accordingly, songs, novels, conversations, pictures, movies, etc. are all
considered texts.
The development of critical literacy skills enables people to interpret messages
in the modern world through a critical lens and challenge the power relations
within those messages. Teachers who facilitate the development of critical
literacy encourage students to interrogate societal issues and institutions like
family, poverty, education, equity, and equality in order to critique the structures
that serve as norms as well as to demonstrate how these norms are not
experienced by all members of society.
History and theory of critical literacy
The term “critical literacy” was developed by social critical theorists
concerned with dismantling social injustice and inequalities. These
critical theorists contend that unequal power relationships are prevalent,
and those in power are the ones who generally choose what truths are to
be privileged. Through institutions like schooling and government, these
ideologies are supported, thereby perpetuating the status quo. Within schools,
only particular knowledge is legitimized, thus excluding groups who are unable
to contribute to the process of the authentication of that knowledge. According
to Ann Beck, “Critical educational theory or critical pedagogy applies the
tenets of critical social theory to the educational arena and takes on the

1
task of examining how schools reproduce inequality and justice.” 2.
Critical social theorists are concerned with oppressive and unjust
relationships produced by traditional forms of schooling and critique the
traditional models of education, which typically place the teacher at the front of
the classroom possessing and transmitting the knowledge to students who sit idly
“learning” or receiving the information.3
In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire provides an example of how
critical literacy is developed in an educational context. Freire proposes a system
in which students become more socially aware through critique of multiple forms
of injustice. This awareness cannot be achieved if students are not given the
opportunity to explore and construct knowledge. Freire describes a traditional
type of education as the “banking concept of education.” This model of
education is characterized by instruction that “turns [students] into
‘containers,’ into ‘receptacles’ to be ‘filled’ by the teacher.” In these
classrooms, “knowledge is a gift bestowed by those who consider
themselves knowledgeable upon those whom they consider to know
nothing,” and the teachers separate themselves as being the possessors
of knowledge.4 In this role, the teacher does not necessarily challenge the
students to think authentically or value students’ own “funds of
knowledge.”
In opposition to the banking model, teachers who recognize the possible
value of developing critical literacy do not view their students as vessels
to be filled, and instead create experiences that offer students
opportunities to actively construct knowledge. In this model, schools
become spaces where students interrogate social conditions through
dialogue about issues significant to their lives. Teachers engaged in critical
literacy serve less as instructors and more

2
as facilitators of conversations that question traditional power relations.
“Knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention, through
the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry human beings pursue
in the world, with the world and with each other”.5 Using critical
pedagogical methods, teachers create spaces where they can be learners and
students can be teachers, thus providing a context for everyone to construct and
interrogate theories of knowledge.
Critical literacy in practice
The development of critical literacy encourages students to question issues of
power — explicitly disparities within social contexts like socio-economic status,
race, class, gender, sexual orientation, etc. 6 Becoming critically literate means
that students have mastered the ability to read and critique messages in texts in
order to better understand whose knowledge is being privileged. Essentially,
teachers using critical pedagogy demonstrate how to evaluate the function
language plays in the social construction of the self. Michele Knobel and Colin
Lankshear suggest that when students become critically literate, they can
examine ongoing development, the parts they play in the world, and how they
make sense of experiences.7
Facilitating the development of critical literacy promotes the examination
and reform of social situations and exposes students to the biases and hidden
agendas within texts.8 Thus, in order to become critically literate, one must learn
to “read” in a reflective manner; “read” in this connotation means to give
meaning to messages of all kinds, instead of just looking at the words on a page
and comprehending the meaning of those words. Instruction that encourages
critical literacy development comes as a response to the marginalization of a
growing number of American students who are not members of the culturally
dominant group of white, middle- class youths. Furthermore, according to Adrian
Blackledge, critical literacy emphasizes the potential of written language “to be a
tool for people to analyze the division of power and resources in their society and
transform discriminatory structures.”9
Critical literacy and social action
There is often an activist component to critical literacy education, where the
3
teacher serves as the facilitator of social change. Joseph Kretovics suggests that
in addition to teaching students functional skills, the teacher must also provide
“conceptual tools necessary to critique and
engage society along with its inequalities and injustices.” 10 Furthermore, with
the activist potential in critical literacy education, students will learn how to
envision a world in which all people have access and opportunity.11 When
students learn to use the tools of critical literacy, they can expose, discuss, and
attempt to solve social injustices within their own lives.
When engaging in the development of critical literacy skills, students learn to
acknowledge the unfair privileging of certain dominant discourses in which
society engages. Students participate in conversations about the injustices of
privileging one group or ideal over another because of skin color or socio-
economic status, and teachers can help to empower students by providing
opportunities for them to find their voices. Teachers engaged in methods that
support critical literacy can, as Lisa Delpit suggests, “let our students know they
can resist a
system that seeks to limit them to the bottom rung of the social and
economic ladder.”12 By developing lessons based on dialogue with students
about their needs and interests,
educators can invite students to take part in a larger community discourse that
attempts to solve problems and create alternatives to oppressive situations.
Linda Christensen suggests connecting the curriculum to the outside world in a
tangible way. By participating in social action projects or creating a public
discourse, students may see the relation between curriculum and the world
beyond the walls of the school. Essentially, students learn to

4
restructure their knowledge base and challenge accepted societal norms in order
to transform all institutions that oppress.13
Critical literacy in the classroom
Because critical literacy theory focuses on the relationships between language,
power, social practice, and access to social goods and services, there are
numerous methods of engaging students in becoming critical members of their
society. Within the frame of critical literacy, it is important to look at texts, like
novels, magazine articles, short stories, films, etc., through a lens that challenges
societal norms. Students can evaluate whose knowledge is being privileged in
texts and de-construct the message of those meanings. As readers, students must
also evaluate the social construction of a text and question the factors that may
have influenced the author to create the text in a specific manner. Moreover,
using critical literacy, teachers encourage students to look at texts from other
perspectives and re-create them from the standpoint of marginalized groups in
order to analyze the power relations and social inequities promoted by the texts.
Edward Behrman explains that the development of critical literacy
encourages social justice and exploration of language and literature in many
forms. Behrman suggests that the specific types of lessons examine power
relationships that are found in language and literature and that these practices
show students that language is never neutral. Because critical literacy looks
different in every classroom, based on the subject matter and the population of
students, there is no formula for how teachers engage students in mastery of
critical literacy; however, there are some practices that appear in lessons more
commonly. Behrman maintains that developing a pedagogy that includes critical
literacy is an organic process that continually needs to be revisited and refined. 14
Behrman reviewed articles, published between 1999 and 2003 in The Journal
of Adolescent and Adult Literacy that focused on lessons and units emphasizing
critical literacy pedagogy in middle and high school grades. Behrman’s
methodology included searching electronic databases for the keyword ‘critical
literacy.’ After refining his search to include articles that contained classroom
applications only, Behrman found 36 articles that presented “lessons or units
intended to support critical literacy at the upper primary or secondary levels
5
(grades 4-12).”15
Behrman’s search revealed that the most commonly used practices that
support critical literacy included: reading supplementary texts; reading multiple
texts; reading from a resistant perspective; producing counter-texts; having
students conduct research about topics of personal interest; and challenging
students to take social action.16
Reading Supplemental Texts
Reading supplementary texts representative of today’s changing media and
technology allows students to make connections with the literature or content
being studied. Supplementary texts also provide the context for students to
confront social issues that are often avoided by canonical works and/or are not
covered in dated textbooks. Students have the opportunity to critique themes and
issues similar to those found in traditional texts, but they can also look at other
mediums. Furthermore, teachers who use supplementary texts can encourage
conversations about social issues that may not be covered in the typical sterile
required reading curriculum of schools. According to Morrell, by offering students
the opportunity to review appropriate Internet resources, songs, television
programming, and advertisements, as well as many other visual mediums,
students have exposure to popular texts they can analyze outside of school as
well.17

6
 Classroom application
Practitioners can use lyrics from popular music as supplementary texts in order
to engage students in discussion about race, gender, religion, politics, etc. In an
article published
in Reading Online, Carol Lloyd suggests using popular songs to show students
how to make connections between the popular media and political issues. For
example, Lloyd recommends using the lyrics of “Buffalo Soldier,” written by Bob
Marley, as a supplementary text that mentions the freed slaves who fought as
soldiers in America during the 19th century; their stories rarely appear in a
traditional textbook. An examination of the lyrics can lead to a discussion about
the exclusion of this group of Americans from the history books. Similarly, Lloyd
shows how teachers can use the lyrics of popular songs to initiate discussion
about economic and political issues faced by Americans. This type of engagement
with texts appeals to students’ interests, exposes them to new forms of text and
also challenges the dominant ideology of the textbook — all of which are
essential components of critical literacy.18
Reading Multiple Texts
Incorporating multiple texts based on similar literary themes offers students the
opportunity to critique the values or voices that are being promoted.
Furthermore, this practice challenges the idea that meaning is fixed and
encourages students to use evidence to support their interpretation. 19 Students
can evaluate the social, cultural, and historical frameworks of texts by analyzing
differing perspectives of a single event.
Classroom application
An example of this practice would be offering students the choice of reading To
Kill a Mockingbird, an American novel written by a white, southern female; Wolf
Whistle, a novel with a similar theme of racial discrimination written by Lewis
Nordan, a white, southern man; A Lesson Before Dyingby Ernest J. Gaines, a
southern African-American man; or the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine
Hansberry, an African-American woman from the Midwest. All of these authors
wrote about similar topics and themes during the same time period and were
born in the pre-Civil Rights Era. By reading the diverse perspectives of
7
analogous themes and evaluating the voices of these authors, students can
assess the
perspective of the authors in order to better understand their value systems and
why characters were portrayed in a certain manner. A comparative study of these
four authors and novels would offer students the opportunity to explore how race,
gender, and socio-economic status are portrayed by authors with dissimilar
backgrounds.
Reading from a Resistant Perspective
Behrman suggests that the practice of reading from the perspective of resistance
involves students in the interpretation of a text from the viewpoint of the world
and not just the common Euro-centric ideology often found in standard texts. 20
By considering how people from different backgrounds (i.e., racial, cultural,
gender, religious, socio-economic status, sexual orientation) would read the same
text, students can gain a better understanding of how the representative group
would be affected by a reading of a text. 21 This type of reading would be
particularly effective and beneficial in social studies classes because it would
offer students multiple perspectives of the same event. By providing the stories of
people whose voices
typically aren’t heard, teachers offer students the opportunity to participate in
dialogue about why certain perspectives are normally privileged while others are
silenced.
Classroom application
Behrman’s search revealed that some teachers used the resistant-perspective
approach and students learned to read a text using a functional grammar
(dialectical) or by critiquing the word choice of an author in a song or news
report. In learning to read from a resistant

8
perspective, students can confront certain stereotypes promoted by a text and
deconstruct the meaning or value being privileged.
Producing Counter Texts
Another common practice found in classrooms that promote a critical literacy
involves having students produce counter-texts. Essentially, this involves having
students generate narratives or other texts, including multi-media creations,
from a non-mainstream perspective. “Producing counter-texts can serve to
validate the thoughts, observations, and feelings of students and other
underrepresented groups.”22 This approach to curriculum offers students
occasions to speak from the point of view of those voices that are often silenced
or marginalized, thereby empowering them.
Classroom application
Practitioners recommended that counter-texts may be produced in reading logs,
journals, weblogs, personal narratives, and student-created videos. 23 When
students produce counter- texts and evaluate the process they used in order to
construct the text, they validate their own perspectives.
Providing Opportunities for Student Choice
Student choice in any type of research has long been touted by constructivists
and critical pedagogues like John Dewey and Howard Gardner as an effective
way to involve, encourage, and empower students to actively participate in the
construction of knowledge.24 Similarly, proponents of critical literacy theory in
classrooms suggest that by allowing student choice, teachers legitimize interests
and knowledge of their students.25Choosing a topic for research, however, is not
considered critical unless students evaluate the problems involved in society and
how the conditions of society created this problem.
Classroom application
An example of providing student choice in assignments is participation in
literature circles or book clubs. Students select books based on interest and then
conduct research based on a theme or the context of the novel. While reading
chosen novels and discussing the historical or political context of the novel,
students can evaluate why the author chose to write in a particular manner and
hypothesize why the author may have privileged certain themes.
9
Literature circles not only provide students with choices about reading material,
but this practice also involves students in discussion about the novel, thus
opening dialogue for diverse perspectives.
Taking Social Action
Moving students to social action is also a practice characteristic of critical
literacy; students engaging in social action projects can improve the conditions of
their communities.26 By taking research outside of the classroom, students can
actually participate in society based on the information they discover. Once
students research and better understand aspects of their school or community,
they may engage in projects to improve an area that is lacking. Behrman
contends that by following this framework, teachers can help students learn how
literacy can be used as a “vehicle for social change.”27
Other Methods
Incorporating media and technology is another popular strategy for including
critical literacy in the classroom. The internet, popular media, and technology
play an increasingly larger function in American society. The Annenberg Public
Policy Center reports that 99 percent of American households have televisions28,
and Gentile and Walsh found that children ages 2–17 watch an average of 25
hours of television per week. 29According to research completed by the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration, 68 percent of children ages
9-

1
0
17 used the Internet in September 2001.30 Text messaging, blogging, creating
identity profiles on social networking websites, and countless other activities are
altering the way ideas are represented and communicated in society. As a result
of the ways texts are constantly
changing, classroom instruction also has to be altered to keep up with students’
needs. Thus, it is imperative that teachers demonstrate to students how to both
navigate and interrogate the impact media and technology has on their lives.
According to Myriam Torres and Maria Mercado, teachers must show
students how to “read between the lines of the media messages, question the
interests behind them, and learn how to look for alternative ways to be informed
and/or entertained”.31 Furthermore, because students have “free” access to an
astonishing amount of information, they must be prepared to evaluate the
credibility of sources so that they are not completely vulnerable to fraudulent
information. Thus, teachers must demonstrate how the media and the Internet
can misinform and provide messages that are harmful if taken as fact.
In addition to the curricular demands of a critical classroom, Behrman notes
that in all the cases he found, the dynamics between students and teachers are
also important.32 Similar to
Freire’s notion that teachers should be learners and learners should be teachers,
a classroom that acknowledges the critical literacy theory must also challenge
traditional hierarchical relationships between the students and teacher.

Notes
1. Robinson, E., & Robinson, S. (2003). What does it mean? Discourse, Text,
Culture: An Introduction. Sydney: McGraw-Hill Book Company, p. 3.
2. Beck, A. (2005). "A place for critical literacy." Journal of Adolescent and Adult
Literacy 48:5 (2005), p. 393.
3. Freire, P. (1970) Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum; Giroux, H.
(1987). "Literacy and the pedagogy of empowerment." In P. Freire & D. Macedo (Eds.),
Literacy: Reading the word and the world, pp. 1-29. Westport, CT: Heinemann; and
McLaren, P. (1988). Life in schools: An introduction to critical pedagogy and the politics
of literacy. New York: Longman.
4. Freire (1970), p. 72.
1
1
5. Freire (1970), p. 72.
6. Cervetti, G., Pardales, M.J., & Damico, J.S. (2001). "A tale of differences: Comparing
the traditions, perspectives, and educational goals of critical reading and critical
literacy." Reading Online 4(9); and Beck (2005).
7. Knobel, M., and Lankshear, C. (2002). "Critical cyberliteracies: What young people
can teach us about reading and writing in the world." Keynote address delivered to the
National Council of Teachers of English Assembly for Research.
8. Simpson, A. (1996, October). "Critical questions: Whose questions?" The reading
teacher [Online] 50 (2), pp. 118-127. Available: Proquest Database, ISSN: 00340561;
Lohrey, A. (1998). Critical literacy: A professional development resource. Melbourne:
Language Australia; the National Language Institute of Australia; Luke, A. (2000).
"Critical literacy in Australia: A matter of context and
standpoint." Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy 43(5), pp. 448-61; and Comber, B.
(2001). "Classroom explorations in critical literacy." In H. Fehring & P. Green (Eds.),
Critical literacy: A collection of articles from the Australian Literacy Educators'
Association. Newark: International Reading Association.
9. Blackledge, A. (2000). Literacy, power and social justice. Staffordshire, England:
Trentham Books,
p. 18.
10.Kretovics, J. (1985). "Critical literacy: Challenging the assumptions of
mainstream educational theory." Journal of Education 167(2), pp. 50-62. Quotation
from p. 51.
11.Delpit, L. (1992). "Acquisition of literate discourse: Bowing before the master?"
Theory into Practice 31, pp. 296-303; and Christensen, L. (2000). "Critical literacy:
Teaching reading, writing and

1
2
outrage." English Journal [Online], High School Edition, pp. 53–62. Available: Proquest
Database, ISSN: 00138274.
12.Delpit (1992), p. 301.
13.Christensen (2000).
14.Behrman, E. (2006). "Teaching about language, power, and text: A review of
classroom practices that support critical literacy," Journal of Adolescent and Adult
Literacy 49:6, pp. 490–98.
15.Behrman (2006), p. 491.
16.Behrman (2006).
17.Morrell, E. (2000). "Curriculum and popular culture: Building bridges and making
waves." Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research
Association, New Orleans, LA. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 442720).
18.Lloyd, C. (2003). "Song lyrics as texts to develop critical literacy." Reading Online
6(10), pp. 22-35.
19.Mellor, B., & Patterson, A. (2000). "Critical practice: Teaching
'Shakespeare.'" Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy 43(6), pp. 508-17.
20.Behrman (2006).
21.Foss, A. (2002). "Peeling the onion: Teaching critical literacy with students of
privilege." Language Arts 79(4), pp. 393–403.
22.Behrman (2006), p. 494.
23.Young, J.P. (2000). "Boy talk: critical literacy and masculinities." Reading
Research Quarterly 35(3), pp. 312–37; and Fairbanks, C.M. (2000).
"Fostering adolescents' literacy
engagements: 'Kid business' and critical inquiry." Reading Research & Instruction 40(1),
pp. 35-50.
24.Dewey, J. (1910). How we think. Boston: Heath; Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and
Education. New York: The MacMillan Company; and Gardner, H. (1987). The mind's
new science. New York: Basic Books.
25.Dewey (1910); Marzano, R. J. (1991). "Fostering thinking across the curriculum
through knowledge restructuring." Journal of Reading 34, pp. 518-525; Guthrie, J. T., &
Anderson, E. (1999). "Engagement in reading: Processes of motivated, strategic,
knowledgeable, social readers." In J. T. Guthrie, & D. E. Alvermann (Eds.), Engaged
reading: Processes, practices, and policy implications, pp. 17-45). New York: Teachers
College Press; Mosenthal, P. B. (1999). "Understanding engagement: Historical and
political contexts." In J. T. Guthrie & D. E. Alvermann (Eds.), Engaged reading:
1
3
Processes, practices, and policy implications, pp. 1-16. New York: Teachers College
Press; and Fairbanks (2000).
26.Bomer, R. & Bomer, K. (2001). For a better world: Reading and writing for social
action. Westport, CT: Heinemann; and Powell, R., Cantrell, S.C., & Adams, S. (2001).
"Saving Black Mountain: The promise of critical literacy in a multicultural democracy."
The Reading Teacher 54(8), pp. 772-81.
27.Behrman (2006).
28.Annenberg Public Policy Center (28 June, 1998). Media in the home 1999: The
fourth annual survey of parents and children.
29.Gentile D & Walsh D. (2002). "A normative study of family media habits." Applied
Developmental Psychology 23: pp. 157-178.
30."A nation online: How Americans are expanding their use of the Internet." (2002).
National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Information Analysis,
Washington, DC. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 462928).
31.Torres, M. & Mercado, M. (2006). "The need for critical media literacy in teacher
education core curricula." Educational Studies: Journal of the American Educational
Studies Association 39(3), pp. 260-282. Quotation from p. 273.
32.Behrman (2006).

1
4