Introduction
This work focuses on literacy. Traditional literacy has been identified as inadequate as it leads to irrational processes that do not embrace students’ diversity and abilities. However, literacy as a social practice has changed how educators view literacy to see that it is born from interactions. Through the various theoretical perspectives, this paper explains the concept of literacy and discusses critical literacy and how I would employ it in the classroom.
Part 1
The deficit model
Larson and Marsh (2015) express concerns over the traditional teaching of literacy. According to them, traditional teaching methods of reading and writing conceptualize literacy as if it encompasses discrete skills that can be taught in isolation. According to them, children fail to acquire skills, knowledge, and understanding at the same rate, and thus they are perceived as inadequate. When this occurs with children sharing the same cultural, racial and economic status, it establishes a significant deficit model. These children have, over the years, been described using various phrases, including the term “at risk” children, especially those considered underachieving due to poverty. As the authors try to highlight the deficit model, children coming from low-income families are often considered at risk of failing and underachieving in their academic performance.
A significant issue identified with this concept is that teachers now focus on the negative factors of their experiences rather than their contribution to the classroom setting and how they can change the experiences by seeking different ways to reflect on and build on these experiences. The authors highlight a significant issue with traditional literacy models, which tend to highlight the normally developing child, which according to them, is a typically white middle-income child whose family should support their development by providing particular resources. The result of all this is that the system normalizes middle-class norms as the best literary practices that coach children should enjoy and that parents of children considered at risk should be mobilized and taught how to provide the necessary resources for their children.
Author’s suggestions
Therefore, Larson & Marsh (2015) offers suggestions responding to the deficit model, including literacy theoretical models that move away from the individual and focus on literacy as a social practice and thus emphasize that knowledge concerning literacy is socially constructed. Based on this, discourse communities are considered necessary within pedagogical approaches as they stress the social nature of learning. The authors provide anecdotes about their children to help individuals consider how others learn. Larson gives the story of how she did her morning routine as she prepared the children for school, and one day she wakes up to her daughter preparing everything the same way she does. The story given by Larson pushes the idea that her daughter learned by observing and participating in her morning routine, thus illustrating the theory of learning as participation.
Literacy as a social practice
Literacy has been explained as something individuals do and are the activity found in the space between text and thought and does not just exist in people’s heads as skills to be learned or texts or paper. Instead, it is social and thus can be found in the interactions between people. Instead of being acquired, it is located and shaped within social interactions. Literacy as a social practice encompasses skills that can be taught similarly in various concepts and can be applied analogously, notwithstanding students’ differing needs and experiences (Larson & Marsh, 2015). Therefore, under this model, economic, social, and political contexts shape literacy. Literacy as a social practice can be seen in the classroom setting in discourse. This comes into play when one considers how students and teachers use language every day in the classroom. An example, of this use of language is an interaction between a teacher and a student, when the teacher asks the student a question and the students answers, followed by the teacher evaluating this response. This is an example of a significant social interaction that facilitates literacy. It does not have to take a considerable amount of time, but this small segment is enough for supporting literacy.
Theories
The New Literacy Studies is a theoretical framework that has created the ideological literacy model which expels the significant divide between orality and literacy and conceptualizes literacy as a noteworthy social practice that creates definite power relations and principal hypothesis important in literacy concepts as a social procedure (Wingfield, 2018). It brings discourses together to help completely define literacy.
The critical literacy theory on three other hand is a theoretical approach where learners can examine various texts to help comprehend the association between language and the power it possesses. They can critically analyze and evaluate the meanings of various texts as they relate to power, equity, and social justice topics.
The literacy and digital technologies theory is an important framework, especially in the contemporary education system. It relates to literacy and digital technologies which are now being increasingly used in education. It moves away from the traditional approach of reading and writing. This theory encompasses the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to access digital information efficiently, effecrt8ively, and ethically.
Multimodal literacy is a phrase originating from social semiotics and denotes the language that integrates two or more modes of meaning. Therefore, it encompasses the constitution of multiple semiosis or meaning models. This is an essential aspect in the education system today because it encourages learners to understand how media shapes the world. Additionally, almost all of the texts availed to students if not all are multimodal because they combine various models including audio, linguistic, alphabetic, and audio texts. Artifactual literacy enables individuals to bring in objects within the educational setting and materializes objects in literacy and can make visible stories that connect objects (Altintug, 2022). It has the power to materialize literacy. Artifactual literacy integrates a comprehension of how literacy practices within communities and homes are situated and understanding if the multimodal nature of textual practices together with the use of the ethnographic as the inquiry model for these practices.
Part 2
Why I chose critical literacy
I chose critical literacy. I chose this theory because while it continues to support the gaining of knowledge for my students, it is also a powerful medium that can encourage them towards social action, especially in the contemporary setting where we need more of it. It also promotes socially responsible literacy. This is facilitated for by the ability for my students to examine the organization of language to reproduce gender, race, and class, which is a significant function of socially responsible literacy (Symaco & Tee, 2019). I also chose this theory because I believe it can help disrupt their common understanding or situation. This gives them an opportunity to understand texts differently, rather than the traditional way of reading and writing to gain knowledge. This will allow them to look at a text and understand it from a more critical perspective and also apply it to their experiences of the experiences of others within society.
Additionally, students can think about issues from the various characters within a text, thus allowing them to scrutinize and discuss their patterns of thinking and motivations. I also want my students to go beyond their comfort zone and look at socio political issues where they can have a better understanding and ability to understand power relationships between individuals within their society, just from reading various texts in the classroom. Finally, I wanted to encourage my students to promote social justice and thus this was the best theory that could allow them to realize how and give them the necessary tools that can facilitate their ability to do so, while still learning within the educational context.
Theory definition
The critical literacy theory encourages learners or any other readers to explore, question, and challenge the power relationships between readers and authors (Dowsett & Reinertsen, 2023). Therefore, it promotes reflection, action, and transformative change and examines power issues. Reading from a critical viewpoint encompasses thinking beyond the text to comprehend the various issues such as why the author decided to write about a certain topic, included some ideas about a certain topic while leaving out some, and chose a particular perspective. It enables learners to see beyond the normal and comfortable and to understand that texts are informed by ideological perspectives and beliefs, whether consciously or unconsciously (Okan, 2020). This theory calls learners out of their comfort zone and to assume a different, more critical outlook.
Activities I would engage in
There are various activities I would ask my students to engage in that could support this theory. The first one is to ask my students to look back at the different texts we have studied in class, regardless of the theme or era. Then I would ask them to analyze which author or character that touched their lives the most and in what way. This means looking back at a certain text critically and thus deciding that a certain character, based on their actions or perspectives touches them probably because they discussed racial matters or gender roles, or because they advocate for a certain change in society. This relates to the critical literacy theory because it allows the students to look at a text from as different perspectives and assess power relations before deciding that a certain character or how the author framed a certain paragraph is important for them because it relates to their everyday life.
Another strategy I would use with my students is to pick a text that covers a certain social injustice. Then I would have them read the text for a certain period and then ask them to put themselves in the shoes of at least three characters in the text and then give their account on how they would have handled the issue. For example, if the text highlights an injustice against a black person, I would have my students give an account of what they would have done as a black person, and also as a white person, so that they do not pick just one racial side to answer the question. This relates significantly to the theory because it allows students to critically view their text and think about it from the perspectives of the characters it represents. This can also promote critical thinking as it allows the students to think outside the box and put themselves in a situation they would have otherwise not imagined or not related to. This way, they can be even more inspired to rotate towards social change in society based on their literacy skills.
Finally, newspapers are examples of media that present numerous issues that show the imbalance of power between individuals, even in the political realm. I would therefore have students go through various newspaper companies, which are available digitally such as USA today, BBC, and others. Then I would have them determine the best course of action that would bring the most significant change in an unequal and inappropriate power relationship. By examining texts this way, the students engage in critical literacy and are unable to identify the unusual patterns within a text or the various characters that were treated differently or did not benefit from the power relationship like they should. This promotes their ability to read through texts and gives them a third eye into the various texts they read inside and outside the classroom setting.
Conclusion
Overall, I believe that literacy has become an important part of education today and the society as a whole. As we move away from the traditional literacy setting there are various theoretical frameworks that can inform the ability of students to achieve literacy. An example is critical literacy which I would employ with my students so that they are empowered beyond the classroom.
References
Wingfield, M. V. (2018). Becoming All That I Can Be: Narrative Analysis of African-American Students’ Literacy Perceptions and Experiences in an Urban Title I School (Doctoral dissertation, Mercer University).
Dowsett, P., & Reinertsen, N. (2023). Adding to teachers’ assessment toolboxes: multiple-choice assessments of critical literacy for Australian senior school courses. The Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44020-022-00028-w
Okan, Z. (2020). Language and social justice. Handbook on promoting social justice in education, 267-282. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14625-2_111
Symaco, L. P., & Tee, M. Y. (2019). Social responsibility and engagement in higher education: Case of the ASEAN. International Journal of Educational Development, 66, 184-192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2018.10.001
Altıntuğ, F. (2022). Multimodal Literacy Experiences of Kurdish Migrant Children in Northern Cyprus (Doctoral dissertation, University of Sheffield).
Marsh, J., & Larson, J. (2014). Making literacy real: Theories and practices for learning and teaching, 2nd Edition. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.
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