The publication and distribution of "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" (Freire, 1974) was a landmark event in the field of education. Since its original publication and subsequent translation into many languages, Freire has influenced millions of people worldwide as the corpus of his work has been disseminated during the past 30-plus years. For…

In this Voices Inside Schools essay, a veteran teacher shares her reflections on a classroom unit entitled "How Language Reveals Character." The goal of the unit is to help adolescents read and write critically through an exploration of literary characters' language. Beginning by drawing on adolescents' fascination with one another,…

One means of reporting learner achievement in reading is to utilize parent-teacher conferences. Adequate skills in word recognition is one facet of reading achievement that might be reported. Important word recognition techniques include: using phonics to unlock new words, syllabication, and utilizing context clues, configuration clues, picture…

A study investigated whether reading instruction that emphasizes critical thinking would benefit "learning-disabled" fifth-grade students. Seven students were assigned to an instructional group that participated in a program of 10 dialogical-thinking reading lessons and 7 were assigned to a comparison group that remained with the…

Connecting the separate worlds of literary theorists and literature teachers in higher education, this collection of essays by 20 college teachers shares their ideas about using theorists' concepts to turn undergraduates from passive receivers of information into active thinkers about meaning in literature. Following an introduction by James M.…

One reason that university students fail to achieve optimally in course work is their lack of reading skills. The higher education student needs to achieve skills appropriate to the involved task in reading. Through diagnosis, it is possible to ascertain weak links in the reading achievement of students. For students to achieve optimally from…

A classroom game designed to promote critical reading and critical thinking in the English as a second language (ESL) instructional setting is described. The game offers problems whose solutions require the use of language. Students are divided into teams facing a screen. They are shown a passage or dialogue while the teacher reads it aloud. Each…

The legacy of the New Critics, including its historically male-dominated canon of poets, continues to hold influence, in part because its methods of reading preside over many college classrooms. New Critical readings stress careful explications, based solely on the evidence offered in the lines of the poem. This way of reading encourages careful…

Intended to help teachers define critical thinking/reading and to unfold opportunities and strategies for critical reading, this monograph discusses some of the practical issues that teachers face and summarizes some of the philosophical and psychological questions related to the teaching of critical thinking. Sections of the monograph include:…

An observational study examined computer writers' use of hard copy for reading. The study begins with a description, based on interviews, of four kinds of reading problems encountered by writers using word processing; formatting, proofreading, reorganizing, and critical reading ("getting a sense of the text"). Subjects, six freshmen…

This paper explores some alternative ways to think about critical thinking in the study of literature in the elementary grades. In a review of the research, the paper examines several factors that have shaped, or influenced, the trends in the literature curriculum over the years to determine if and how these factors influenced the teaching of…

Classroom teachers might consider teaching children to become critical readers through the use of traditional literature. It is not necessarily difficult to define critical reading, but it is a difficult task to teach students when and how to read critically. The six skills most important to critical reading are that the reader should (1) read…

Examines the community pressures, personal interests, insecurities and commitment to issues that can lead to unofficial censorship of children's reading material. Advises that the educator role is to guarantee the child's freedom to read and to develop the capacity for critical response. (SDH)

Between objectivity and subjectivity lies a third choice: the recreation of the relationships between self and literary structure. (JH)