Literacy education is a very important aspect of social justice education because issues of language, linguistic, and literacy diversity permeate the increased raciolinguistic, socioeconomic, and multi abilitied diversity of the U.S. student population. Research shows that minoritized students learn better when teachers use culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogies; however, teachers’ pedagogic habitus (thinking, doing, and talking pedagogies) influences the ways teachers facilitate social justice, critical literacy education.
Literacy Education as a Tool for Social Change
Literacy education has also experienced paradigm shifts over the years with increasingly social justice aims. A situated sociocultural approach to literacy (Gee, 2010; Heath, 1983; Street) argues that “literacy is about ways of participating in social and cultural groups and needs to be understood and studied in its full range of contexts” (Hays, 2018, p. 53). With the changing demographics of the U.S., a critical approach to literacy learning has been trying to take hold. New Literacies (New London Group, 1996).
There are varying definitions of social justice in English Language Arts (ELA) and literacy instruction including “in the context of whole-class discussions . . . equity in terms of the distribution of opportunities and privileges (to read, to speak, to listen) in the discourse community, and I envision the teacher’s role before, during, and after discussion as a tool for promoting social justice” (Barker, 2018, p. 87). How does this fit in with dominant versus nondominant students’ ability to contribute to the classroom discussion without fear of rebuke etc?
What is Critical Literacy Education?
Overview and definition of critical literacy education.
References
Barker, L. M. (2018). Under Discussion: Teaching Speaking and Listening. English Journal, (5), 87.
Gee (2010).
Hays, A. D. (2018). “Now I See Them as People”: Financial Inequity in Eleanor & Park. ALAN Review, 45(3), 53-63.
Heath, S. B. (1983). Ways with words: Language, life and work in communities and classrooms. Cambridge University Press.
Street
The New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60-93.