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Critical Literacy

Today's students live in the information age. They are bombarded with vast amounts of information in a variety of forms and must become critical consumers and users of information in order to be successful in school and beyond. Critical literacy allows students to be active and challenging participants as they respond to texts of all types. It provides students with a lens through which to look critically at written, visual, spoken, multimedia, and performance texts, to challenge the intent and content, and to get the most enjoyment and deepest meaning out of text.

In relation to classroom practice, students' learning experiences must help them to assume a critical stance when responding to or creating texts. They need to discover how texts are constructed and how they work. Students need to understand what texts are attempting to do and they need to move toward taking an active, meaning-making position with regard to texts.

This webcast will explore what critical literacy is, why it is essential, and what it might look like in an elementary classroom.

This webcast is intended to promote professional dialogue and positive action toward improving student achievement. The following questions may be considered to focus and guide the dialogue:

• How can I create a learning environment that is safe and supports deep and independent thinking and learning?
• What do I need to teach and model in order to provide my students with the skills to dig deep for meaning as they interact with texts of all types?
• What criteria should I consider to ensure that I am selecting a rich variety of texts of all types?
• How can I engage my students in taking a critical stance toward texts they encounter or create?
• What creative authentic learning experiences are appropriate for my students to experience in order to develop a sense of how they can take action to make the world a better place?
• How can I help students develop their own voice and opinions?
• What opportunities for accountable talk can I build into my classroom throughout the day?
• How can I develop in my students a sense of how to question the text, the author, the world, and their own place in making a difference?

Featuring:

David Booth, professor emeritus, OISE, University of Toronto
Jim Burke, author and teacher, Burlingame, California
Dr. Allan Luke, professor, Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Dr. Annette Woods, lecturer, School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University, Australia
Marianne Prosyk, teacher, Toronto District School Board
Ken Pettigrew, consultant, Toronto District School Board
Julie Stanley, teacher, Toronto District School Board
Maria JosÈ Botelho, assistant professor, OISE/UT

For webcast video troubleshooting, please see the Getting Started page.

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Hosted by the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat in partnership with Curriculum Services Canada