pRODUCTION 5: Connecting Critical Academic Literacies to Popular Culture
There is a difference between academic and critical literacy. Academic literacy refers to the oral, written, auditory, and visual language proficiency needed to be successful and meet the demands of the society in which you live in. Critical literacy however, is the ability to read various texts in an active and reflective manner. Critical literacy is more than just teaching students how to be literate; it is about teaching them about real-world issues and how to critically analyse them using a variety of literary skills and forms including poetry, music, etc. The goal of critical literacy is to better understand power, inequality, and injustice both in human relationships and systemic issues that affect the social world. Teaching students about the world's many flaws and inequalities is difficult to do, especially if the pedagogy/terminology used is not effective enough to get various messages through to them. As educators we need to incorporate the student’s interests and take into consideration their own knowledge about various topics such as race, sex, etc. As a teacher, it is crucial to expose our students to real-world issues and to do so in a way that is creative, authentic and meaningful to the students in the classroom. We need to be able to empower our students to be the change they wish to see in their social, cultural world. We need to add to the Language Arts curriculum in order to establish a true understanding of systemic issues including racism, capitalism, etc.
Morrell and Andrade stated: “As classrooms across the country become increasingly diverse, determining how to connect in significant ways across multiple lines of difference may be the greatest challenge facing teachers today” (Morrell & Duncan-Andrade, 2002, p.88).” When I read this quote I instantly thought of a recent article I had to read for my Equity and Diversity course this past week entitled 'But That’s Just Good Teaching! The Case for Culturally Relevant Pedagogy’ by Gloria Ladson-Billings’ article ‘. In this article, Billings discusses the importance of making home-school connections so that there is a fluid continuity between what students experience at home and what they experience at school. Billings writes about her research with White teachers who were successful in their teaching of African American students. She argues that the teachers in her study were successful because they practised culturally relevant pedagogy and ensured students were able to experience academic success, developed/maintained cultural competence as well as a critical consciousness which they challenge the status quo. I will argue that there should be more of an ownness on edcimportance of educators utilising students’ culture through their teaching and being open to learn from the students in their classroom.
2 Quotes that resonated with me the most...
“The social component of culture is important to contemplate because it forces us all to admit that we have culture and that culture is not only practiced in elaborate rituals and ceremonies; culture manifests itself in everyday practices that we usually take for granted” (Morrell, 2007, p.239).
- This quote describes the importance of acknowledging culture as something we commonly share with one another in a multi-faceted society. Culture is more than one's heritage or background; it is a social construct that influences the way in wich we live our lives.
"As articulated by Freire, the raising of critical consciousness in people who have been oppressed is a first step in helping them to obtain critical literacy and, ultimately, liberation from oppressive ideologies" (Morrell & Andrade, 2002, p.89).
- This quote resonated with me because it reminded me of something that one of my professors at Ryerson spoke about during one of our class discussions in an 'Inclusion and Diversity' class. She spoke about it being unfair to talk about LGBTQ issues without someone who identifies as being part of the LGBTQ community. This quote states that it is essential for those who have been oppressed and marginalized to obtain critical literacy so that they may become free from oppressive ideologies and assumptions made.
Morrell and Andrade stated: “As classrooms across the country become increasingly diverse, determining how to connect in significant ways across multiple lines of difference may be the greatest challenge facing teachers today” (Morrell & Duncan-Andrade, 2002, p.88).” When I read this quote I instantly thought of a recent article I had to read for my Equity and Diversity course this past week entitled 'But That’s Just Good Teaching! The Case for Culturally Relevant Pedagogy’ by Gloria Ladson-Billings’ article ‘. In this article, Billings discusses the importance of making home-school connections so that there is a fluid continuity between what students experience at home and what they experience at school. Billings writes about her research with White teachers who were successful in their teaching of African American students. She argues that the teachers in her study were successful because they practised culturally relevant pedagogy and ensured students were able to experience academic success, developed/maintained cultural competence as well as a critical consciousness which they challenge the status quo. I will argue that there should be more of an ownness on edcimportance of educators utilising students’ culture through their teaching and being open to learn from the students in their classroom.
2 Quotes that resonated with me the most...
“The social component of culture is important to contemplate because it forces us all to admit that we have culture and that culture is not only practiced in elaborate rituals and ceremonies; culture manifests itself in everyday practices that we usually take for granted” (Morrell, 2007, p.239).
- This quote describes the importance of acknowledging culture as something we commonly share with one another in a multi-faceted society. Culture is more than one's heritage or background; it is a social construct that influences the way in wich we live our lives.
"As articulated by Freire, the raising of critical consciousness in people who have been oppressed is a first step in helping them to obtain critical literacy and, ultimately, liberation from oppressive ideologies" (Morrell & Andrade, 2002, p.89).
- This quote resonated with me because it reminded me of something that one of my professors at Ryerson spoke about during one of our class discussions in an 'Inclusion and Diversity' class. She spoke about it being unfair to talk about LGBTQ issues without someone who identifies as being part of the LGBTQ community. This quote states that it is essential for those who have been oppressed and marginalized to obtain critical literacy so that they may become free from oppressive ideologies and assumptions made.