Literature instruction: using a critical and social lens

Abstract

Social change depends on the actions of the citizens of tomorrow. Without creating changes to the curriculum and to the perspectives from which we teach, the likelihood of producing social change is lessened. The main objective of developing this resource guide is to help educators to teach with a critical lens and encourage students to think beyond the surface of the texts they read. Critical literacy addresses contemporary issues and challenges students to consider the perspectives and rights of various groups of people. The purpose is to understand that texts portray different biases and perspectives and to gain perspective on others’ experiences An example of this “is critical literacy perspective which, although rooted in language and literacy education, has the potential for application across the school curriculum and in research more broadly " (Janks, 2013, p. 227). Janks provides an excellent example of how this lens can expand into other portions of the curriculum besides language arts. Using theoretical perspectives of social justice and critical literacy, this guide provides an outline of activities spanning 5 to 10 weeks that could be adopted or expanded by teachers who are unfamiliar with these two perspectives to support grade 5 and 6 teachers to begin to integrate critical literacy and social justice into their classrooms in ways that are accessible to the interests of grade 5 and 6 students.