"Critical Literacy Revisited"

Some common ideas of literacy are, "notions of text, literacy as a social practice, and discourse" (pg. 8). Literacy can be "liberating" or "dominating" (pg. 8). Literacy can dominate because it is an practice that can be constructed in the classroom. Literacy works along with the people and texts that are creating it. It can be grammar worksheets and stories about farm animals in one class and ripe with social action and fervor in another class. The article talks about empowerment. It notes that not all literacy empowers: "We do not gain access to the power bases of society just because we can read and write" (Green, 1992, pg. 11). There are a lot more codes to break to get to society. Reading and writing are expected from people in society. There are certain codes that we might not even recognize as codes like finding a bulletin in a church. If you are a church member, you automatically know where to look for a bulletin/program. You know what to call it and what shape it is, which is why it is a "power code Literacy" (pg. 10).
Green tells us that, "a critical perspective of literacy argues for an active, challenging approach to literacy" (pg. 10). This means readers should not accept exactly what they hear and see. Instead, readers should look beyond the text to see what is behind the actual words. One idea that Green gives for critical literacy in the classroom is offering many books on the same topic, but with different perspectives. Juxtapositioning these texts is a way students will begin to see the perspective of each author. This is also a way that I can help classroom teachers. When I order books, I can research to find books that will enable students to compare.

Green, P. (2001). Critical Literacy Revisited. In H. Fehring & P. Green, Critical literacy: A collection of articles from the Australian Literacy Educators' Association (pp. 7-14). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.