An introduction to CRITICAL LITERACY Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice School of Politics and International Relations The University of Nottingham
SYSTEMS: MACRO-MICRO IDEA MICRO MACRO The macro contains the micro. The macro sets limits/conditions to the micro. REAL VS IDEAL
NATURAL SYSTEM (LIFE AND RESOURCES) SOCIAL-CULTURAL SYSTEM (VALUES, BEHAVIOURS AND RELATIONSHIPS) EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM ECONOMIC SYSTEM WHAT DETERMINES WHAT? IDEAL SYSTEM
ABOUT YOUR IDEAL SYSTEM… Why is it ideal? What are its key characteristics? What will be the role of individuals? Who will defines their role (e.g. government, culture, family, themselves)? What will make individuals happy? What would they work or study for? How will individuals relate to different cultures/individuals? Will everyone think in the same way? Will your society change and how? What will be the role of education? Who will define what a good life or a good society is? How will that be negotiated/imposed? What will happen to people who disagree with the majority? What will happen to people with a very different idea of an ideal system? To what extend will people have the right/freedom to determine what they want for themselves?
NATURAL SYSTEM (LIFE AND RESOURCES) SOCIAL-CULTURAL SYSTEM (VALUES, BEHAVIOURS AND RELATIONSHIPS) EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM ECONOMIC SYSTEM WHAT DETERMINES WHAT? REAL SYSTEM
CHALLENGES FOR EDUCATION? UNCERTAINTY? COMPLEXITY? INSECURITY? SKILLS? KNOWLEDGES? VALUES? ATTITUDES?
CRITICAL LITERACY… An educational practice that can help learners: to engage with complex local/global processes and diverse perspectives to examine the origins and implications of their own and other people’s assumptions to negotiate change, to transform relationships, to think independently and to make responsible and conscious choices about their own lives and how they affect the lives of others to live with and learn from difference and conflict and to prevent conflict from escalating to aggression and violence to establish ethical, responsible and caring relationships within and beyond their identity groups.
THREE TYPES OF READING ‘WORDS’ AND THE ‘WORLD’
COMPARISON: TRADITIONAL READING Does the text represent the truth? Is it fact or opinion? Is it biased or neutral? Is it well written/clear? Who is the author and what level of authority/legitimacy does he/she represent? What does the author say? What is your opinion about the text/issue? Focus on the ‘quality’ and ‘authority’ of the content
COMPARISON: CRITICAL READING What is the context of writing? To whom is the text addressed? What is the intention of the author? What is the position of the author (his/her political agenda)? What is the author trying to say and how is he/she trying to convince/manipulate the reader? What claims are not substantiated? Focus on context, intentions, communication and ‘reflection’
COMPARISON: CRITICAL LITERACY What is the social context of reading? How can the text be interpreted differently in different contexts? How can the assumptions of the readers affect the interpretation of the text? What are the assumptions in the information in the text? How were they shaped? What are the implications of these assumptions (social, environmental, economic, etc.)? Who decides (what is real, can be known or needs to be done) in whose name and for whose benefit? What are the limitations/contradictions of this perspective? Focus on knowledge production, power, representation, implications and reflexivity
Everyone knowledge comes from a context Every knowledge is partial ‘Unpacking’ is a responsibility… CRITICAL LITERACY…
CHALLENGES FOR TEACHER EDUCATION? UNCERTAINTY? COMPLEXITY? INSECURITY? SKILLS? KNOWLEDGES? VALUES? ATTITUDES?
OSDE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT RESOURCE PACK