The author proposes that teachers of critical literacy must not only decenter texts as infallible authorities, but also decenter teachers as infallible (textual) authorities. She outlines problematic aspects of pursuing critical literacy as outcome, where there is heavy emphasis on having students parrot the teacher's viewpoint, and of pursuing…

What are new literacies and how do they mesh with core curriculum? Classroom teachers who find their students' interests and bases of knowledge about new technologies expanding exponentially often ask this question. While broadening the definition of new literacies beyond internet literacy this article explores the history of new literacies and…

How professional development is delivered in today's networked world has shifted greatly, and research into online spaces of learning is growing. Numerous questions, however, remain regarding how online spaces can be leveraged to foster meaningful conversations that address current critical educational issues. This qualitative study examines the…

Transmedia play is a new way to understand how children develop critical media literacy and new media literacies through their interactions with contemporary media that links stories and structures across platforms. This essay highlights five characteristics of transmedia play that make it particularly useful for learning:…

This action research study examines what happened when exemplary practices found in low-income rural schools in South Carolina, and critical and culturally responsive theories became the lens that pre-service teachers studied literacy practices in Reading Pedagogy and Children's Literature classes. To see how pre-service teachers acted on these…

In this article, the authors show how groups of 2nd- and 4th-grade students in an urban school district responded to a postmodern children's book, The "Three Pigs" by David Wiesner (2001). The students came to the project from basal-based direct instruction, and here they were offered a more constructivist opportunity to engage with a…

This article traces the experiences of two veteran elementary school teachers in the urban Southwest, who are positioned by district and state policy "texts" as insubordinate and failing, and who employ critical literacy practices to reconstruct and redesign these texts as they seek to create more equitable and humane conditions in…

For almost three decades of teaching English and writing, the author has learned that despite years of reading and writing instruction and experiences in school, many, if not most, students have misguided, incomplete, or jumbled perceptions of genre, medium, and text. Two dynamics--traditional transmissional approaches to text as well as…

In a time of increased standardization and top-down reform, teachers with democratic and social justice-oriented perspectives must work to create classroom spaces that value student voice and position them as knowledge holders. This article draws on a critical literacy framework to analyze the case study of one teacher working within a teacher…

The qualitative study reported in this paper focuses on the ethical dimensions of curriculum and its interpretation and implementation by secondary school teachers. It explores what teachers do to respond to a curriculum that increasingly adopts a values-laden perspective (e.g., social justice education, critical literacy) that establishes…

Nonfiction texts demand critical literacy, as evidenced by these teachers' experience teaching Phillip Hoose's "Claudette Colvin: Twice toward Justice" with ninth graders. In addition to selecting high-quality nonfiction, the authors are committed to high impact teaching of those texts. For the authors that means supporting students'…

Purpose: Extant research has painted a clear picture of the myriad ways that schools are failing to provide a meaningful education, and meaningful literacy pedagogies, to all youth. Given this crisis shouldered disproportionately by youth of color in urban schools, this paper aims to take a retrospective approach to understanding the lasting…

Twenty-first century literacy practices demand that children are actively engaged with technology as they participate in a wide variety of literacy activities. Technology-enriched environments, such as using blogs to further discussions on socially significant issues, create opportunities for broader, authentic audiences for students' thinking,…

Health literacy research and scholarship has largely overlooked the experiences of people with intellectual disabilities (ID), though growing concern about the health inequalities they face has increasingly given rise to health promotion interventions for this group. However, these interventions reference a rather limited vision of health literacy…

Literacy specialists and coaches are called upon for literacy leadership in schools and often wrestle with the tensions of implementing top-down reforms and making room for teacher- and student-led practices, such as critical literacy. Critical literacy education holds the promise of engaging learners to use literacy practices in ways that matter…