Critical Literacy: Context, Research, and Practice in the K-12 Classroom / Edition 1

by Lisa Patel Stevens, Thomas W. Bean

Overview

Authors Lisa Patel Stevens and Thomas W. Bean explore the historical and political foundations of critical literacy and present a comprehensive examination on its uses for K-12 classroom practice. Key Features: Focuses on the nexus of critical literacy theory and practice through real classroom examples, vinettes, and conversations among teachers and teachers education, Illustrates how critical literacy practice are enacted in the classroom at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, Offers step-by-step teaching strategies for implementing critical literacy in K-12 classroom at different paces, depending on the existing curriculum.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781412941181
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	01/09/2007
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	7.37(w) x 9.12(h) x (d)

About the Author

Lisa Patel Stevens has published refereed journal articles in top reading research journals exploring practical, research, and policy issues surrounding critical literacy. She has also conducted dozens of professional development sessions on the use of critical literacy in the classroom; these sessions have provided rich opportunities to participate in the complicated implementation of critical literacy with teachers across schooling levels and backgrounds. This experience helps to inform the praxis tone of this book. Stevens is an experienced researcher and practitioner in the area of reading and literacy education. She has co-authored (with Thomas Bean) several chapters on reading and literacy.

Thomas W. Bean, Ph.D., is a Professor of Literacy and Reading in the Teaching and Learning Department, College of Education, at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Tom earned his Ph.D. at Arizona State University and is considered a leading scholar in content area literacy and the infusion of multicultural and global young adult literature in the classroom. His work has been published in the ALAN Review, Reading Research Quarterly, and the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. Along with Co-Author Dr. Judith Dunkerly-Bean, he served as co-editor of the International Reading Association’s Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. Tom is senior author of the widely used text, Content Area Literacy: An Integrated Approach (10th ed.). He can be contacted at: [e-mail].

Table of Contents

Foreword   Michele Knohel     vii
Preface     xi
Acknowledgments     xxi
Redefining Literacy     1
Genealogy of the Critical: Paulo Freire     4
Defining Critical Literacy     5
Mrs. Cutter's Class     8
Problematizing Classroom Applications of Critical Literacy     10
Why We Need Critical Literacy: Dynamic Texts and Identity Formation     15
Literacy Proficiency and New Texts: A Moving Target     16
Texts, Attention, and Identity?     20
The Transformation of Texts and Readers' Attention     21
Texts as Tools of Identity Formation     25
Texts: Mediating Identity and Culture     27
Critical Literacy and Teacher Education     37
Teacher Identity     39
Risk, the Future, and Critical Literacy     41
Disrupting Education Discourses With Critical Literacy     43
Critical Media Literacy and Teacher Education     50
Resident Critic     51
Critical Literacy at the Nexus of Praxis     61
Maintaining Critical Literacy as a Moving Target     62
Essential Features of Critical Literacy     64
Praxis Point 1: Popular Culture, Fandom, and Boundaries     69
Critical Media Literacy and Social Studies     69
Reflection: Practice Informing Theory     72
Praxis Point 2: Critical Numeracy Across the Curriculum     77
Critical Literacy Across the Curriculum     77
Reflection: Practice Informing Theory     81
Critical Literacy and the Institutional Context     81
Praxis Point 3: Cycles of Deconstruction and Reconstruction     85
Setting the Context and Participants     85
Reflection: Practice Informing Theory     89
Assessing Critical Literacy     90
Reflections on Critical Literacy as Praxis     91
Critical Literacy and Educational Policy Texts     95
What Is Policy?     95
Critical Policy Analysis     96
National Discourses     98
Moving From National to Local: Complex Connections     106
Critical Policy Analysis in Local Contexts     111
Policy and Governmentality     113
Local Conversations     114
Transforming Policy Interactions     119
Educational Policy and Complexity Theory     120
Glossary     123
Index     127
About the Authors     133