The Teaching and Learning of Critical Literacy: Beyond the “Show of Wisdom”

By Peter Freebody and Jill M. Freiberg

The Role of Text in Disciplinary Learning By

Elizabeth Birr Moje, Darin Stockdill, Katherine Kim, and Hyon-ju Kim

Highlights, Group Activity, and AnalysisInstructor: Matt Sutton

Chapter 19: Rules, Standards, and Irritations

“Critical theory” is a term that spans multiple disciplines, domains, and contexts (Freebody & Freiberg, 2011, p. 432).

Socrates was the quintessential critic Socrates was also a believer in standards, or the

idea that there are “fixed rules” and “a body of exact knowledge” that individuals must possess (p. 433).

Chapter 19: Background: Versions of Literacy

“A person is literate when he has acquired the essential knowledge” to help in function in the community (p. 434).

UNESCO has said that literacy operates on a spectrum. The Center for Educational Research and Innovation

describes “functional illiterates” and “basic literates” (p. 434).

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, being literate means being able to communicate in English and function on the job.

Murray et al. (1996) include in their functional definition of literacy the ability “to achieve one’s goals” (p. 435).

Chapter 19: Disciplinary Variations in Concepts of Literacy, Orientations in Literacy

“Practitioners of different disciplines have worked up a literacy that is suited to their particular conceptual and methodological crafts” (Freebody, 2008).

Perhaps viewing literacy in multifaceted terms will help to bolster marginalized discourses that Gee, Freire, and others are sensitive to.

In general, there have been three general orientations that shaped the study of literacy: (a) “literacy for growth,” (b) “cultural heritage literacy,” and (c ) a variety of approaches under the heading of responsive literacy, which [are] described as correct literacy, appropriate literacy, and critical literacy” (Freebody & Freiberg, 2011, p. 437).

Early in the twentieth century, literacy was seen as something that has the power to “tame” wild men (p. 438).

Chapter 19: Elaborating Critical Literacies

The four families of critical literacy education: “(a) developing dispositions and habits, (b) providing pedagogy and procedure, (c ) encouraging ideology critique, and (d) developing coherent bodies of technical knowledge about interpretation and textual mechanisms for shaping and constraining interpretive possibilities” (p. 439).

Chapter 19: Critical Theoretical Knowledge and Practice

Franzak (2006) suggested that research should strive to answer these questions about literacy education:

1. What are the influential thematic paradigms?

2. What qualitative research on adolescent readers has been conducted?

3. What inferences can be drawn about struggling readers?

4. How do reading policies address struggling adolescent readers?

Chapter 19: Critical Procedural Knowledges

Kuiper, Volman, and Terwell (2005) discovered that digital savviness is not tantamount to critical literacy.

Socrates complained that writing was a “show of wisdom.” What would he have said about the unenlightened student’s ability to summon a plethora of knowledge with a few keystrokes and simultaneously comprehend very little of what he culls.

Chapter 19: Concluding Remarks

The authors posit that critical literacy needs to be studied as a distinct body of knowledge.

Texts and literacies depend on historical and social contexts.

The very mention of the term “literacy” may create social classes.

“This revisitation of critical literacy sets its aim at developing, across the major school curriculum areas, increasingly [ . . . ] valid and reliable ways of evaluating interpretations” (Freebody & Freiberg, 2011, p. 448).

Chapter 20: Introduction and What Counts as Text

“Literacy theories and research studies have not accounted as fully as they might for how text use and comprehension differ as a function of domains of academic disciplines” (Moje et al., 2011, p. 453).

The authors share Bloome and Egan-Robertson’s (1993) broad view of text as anything that “can be interpreted or is seen as carrying meaning” (p. 454).

Five different perspectives on “text”:› A. Cognitive and Sociocognitive› B. Literary› C. Linguistic› D. Social and Cultural› E. Critical

Chapter 20: Past Research on the Role of Text in Classroom Learning

Research that was conducted fifteen years ago looked at the efficacy of transmission vs. participatory practices.

Math instruction was assumed to be sequential, whereas the language arts curriculum was considered to be more open.

“Mathematics and the sciences wee often taken more seriously than other subject areas (Ball & Lacey, 1984).

Chapter 20: The Role of Texts in the Discipline of History

History textbooks are being presented and received as authoritative sources (Moje et al., 2011)

There is less research on the uses of social studies texts than there is on the quality of the texts.

Articles are being summarized more often than they are questioned.

History teachers privilege printed text over other forms.

Dawson (2000) contends that history teachers must “critically approach texts as evidence for historical arguments, not as history in and of themselves” (p. 459).

Chapter 20: The Role of Texts in Social Studies Classrooms

Students are expected to “learn history” rather than produce it.

Textbooks are poorly written (Beck et al., 1989). Social studies texts are organized chronologically,

not conceptually (Crawford & Carnine, 2000). Because textbooks are written objectively and

lack authorial voice, students find them impersonal and dull.

Innovative approaches, such as the “Visible Inquiry Text,” are making historical inquiry transparent.

Chapter 20: The Role of Texts in Social Studies Classrooms (Continued)

Bain (2006) studied the benefits of allowing students to create their own historical accounts.

Saye and Brush (2002) “explored the use of digital texts” in history classrooms.”

The United States Library of Congress is allowing students to gain digital access to diaries, newspapers, maps, and other primary source information.

Students benefit by analyzing rhetorical purposes.

Chapter 20: What Counts as Text in Mathematics

“Wallace and Clark (2005) identified three types of texts in their framework for thinking about the potential roles of text in mathematics classrooms: problems, mathematics, and life” (p. 468).

Math instruction is still “transmission-based, rather than constructivist or inquiry based” (Moje et al, p. 468).

It is ironic that “real-life mathematics is generally reserved for doctoral-level studies” (p. 469).

Chapter 20: What is the Role of Text in the Discipline of Math and in Math Classrooms

Although math is a language, the discourse analytic theories that are used in language arts and literacy classes are not applied to math textbooks (Kress, 2003).

Like history books, math books “avoid personal pronouns” (p. 469) and are, therefore, devoid of voice.

Lower-level math books (e.g., trig.) are presented to students as unchallengeable fact.

Chapter 20: What is the Role of Text in the Discipline of Math and in Math Classrooms (continued)

According to Morgan (2005), math textbooks possess the following shortcomings:› Students may not learn how or why mathematicians use

particular words.› Students may not learn how mathematicians arrive at

particular definitions and language.› Opportunities to learn “the powerful and productive role

that definitions can play in mathematics” may be limited to higher-level students, and

› National standards [ . . . ] may present “a restricted image of the nature of mathematical language itself.”

Chapter 20: Teachers’ Uses of Curricular Materials and Student-Text Interactions in Mathematics Classrooms

“The dominant trend in studies of algebra education is a focus on teachers’ uses of classroom texts” (Remillard, 2005).

Integrated mathematics instructors are concerned with posing problems that help students discover principles (e.g., the Pythagorean Theorem).

In Hall’s (2007) study, because one student had latent reading problems, that student was deemed to be poor at math.

Heath (1983) looked at the “relationship between social class and reading practices.”

Chapter 20: The Role of Youth’s Out-of-School (OOS) Texts and What Counts as Text Outside of School

“Based on expanded definitions of literacy and text [ . . . ] scholars [ . . . ] have explored the literacy practices youth engage in outside of school” (Moje et al., 2011, p. 474).

These “different literacy practices” include the use of “graphic novels, video games, instant messaging,” etc. (p. 474).

The notion of OOS text is difficult to define; however, they are typically (Moje et al., 2008):› Fluid and dynamic› Nonlinear, hyperlinked, multimodal, and interactive› Making connections to other media

Chapter 20: The Role of OOS Text in English Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, and Mathematics

OOS texts help us see that proficiency is contextually-based.

“Popular culture texts [ . . . ] help students deconstruct dominant discourses and contend with oppressive practices” (Morell, 2002).

Many of the same arguments for bilingual education may apply to OOS texts.

Chapter 20: A Few Concluding Remarks

Again, the key issue is not always with the texts themselves; rather, it is with how they are used.

History and social studies texts need to be rewritten to encourage students to analyze and question language and content.

Questions need to drive math curriculum not authoritative texts.

The benefits of OOS texts need to be studied in more depth.

Group Work Split into three groups—approximately three students per

group. Each group will complete the following: Moon Group:

› Answer following questions: Does the very mention of the word “literacy” create hierarchies of

information and/or classes of sources? (Should there be classes . . . ? Explain your answer(s). (Chapter 19)

Do you agree with the assertion that academic subjects are simply variations of the overarching construct of literacy? (Chapter 20)

› Create one open-ended question for each chapter, and respond to your questions fully.

› Write a pithy sentence for each chapter, in your own words, that aptly expresses the authors’ central argument.

Group Work Sun Group:

› Answer following questions: Should literacy be taught as a body of technical

knowledge? (Chapter 19) What are your thoughts about textbooks? After

reading this chapter, have your views changed? If so, how have they changed? (Chapter 20)

› Create one open-ended question for each chapter, and respond to your questions fully.

› Write a pithy sentence for each chapter, in your own words, that aptly expresses the authors’ central argument.

Group Work Earth Group:

› Answer following questions: Are Freebody and Freiberg constructivists or

essentialists? (Chapter 19) How broad should be the definition of text? With

that, which forms of text are worthy of study? (Chapter 20)

› Create one open-ended question for each chapter, and respond to your questions fully.

› Write a pithy sentence for each chapter, in your own words, that aptly expresses the authors’ central argument.