Moving Critical Literacies Forward: A New Look at Praxis Across Contexts

Taking the pulse of current efforts to do—and, in some cases, undo—critical literacy, this volume explores and critiques its implementation in learning contexts around the globe. An impressive set of international authors offer examples of productive critical literacy practices in and out of schools, address the tensions and gaps between these practices and educational policies, and attempt to forecast the future for critical literacy as a movement in the changing global educational policy landscape. This collection is unique in presenting the recent work of luminaries such as Allan Luke and Hilary Janks alongside relative newcomers who use innovative approaches and arguments to reinvigorate and redefine critical practice. It is time for this cutting-edge inquiry into the state of critical literacy—not only because is it a complex and ever-evolving field, but perhaps more important, because it offers a reaction to, and powerful reworking of, standardization and high-stakes accountability measures in educational contexts around the globe.

Table of Contents:
Contents Foreword Jerome C. Harste Preface 1. Introduction: Making the Road by Talking: Moving Critical Literacies Forward Jessica Zacher Pandya & JuliAnna Ávila Section I. Theoretical Frameworks and Arguments for Critical Literacy 2. Defining Critical Literacy Allan Luke 3. The Importance of Critical Literacy Hilary Janks 4. Unrest in Grosvenor Square: Preparing for Power in Elite Boarding Schools, Working-Class Public Schools, and Socialist Sunday Schools Patrick J. Finn Section II. Critiquing Critical Literacy in Practice 5. Thinking critically in the land of princesses and giants: The affordances and challenges of critical approaches in the early years Beryl Exley, Annette Woods & Karen Dooley 6. Where Poems Hide: Finding Reflective, Critical Spaces inside Writing Workshop Amy Flint & Tasha Tropp Laman 7. Critical Literacy Across the Curriculum: Learning to read, question and re-write designs Barbara Comber & Helen Nixon 8. Looking and Listening for Critical Literacy: Recognizing Ways Youth Perform Critical Literacy in School Elisabeth Johnson & Lalitha Vasudevan 9. Communities as Counter-storytelling (Con)texts: The Role of Community-Based Educational Institutions in the Development of Critical Literacy and Transformative Action Enid Rosario-Ramos & Laura Johnson Section III. Revisions of Critical Literacy 10. Text Complexity: The Battle for Critical Literacy in the Common Core State Standards Michael Moore, Don Zancanella & JuliAnna Ávila 11. What Counts as Critical Literacy in the Japanese Context: Its Possibilities and Practical Approaches Under the Global-National Curriculum Shinya Takekawa 12. Standardizing, and Erasing, Critical Literacy in High-Stakes Settings Jessica Zacher Pandya 13. Inquiry into the Incidental Unfolding of Social Justice Issues: 20 Years of Seeking Out Possibilities for Critical Literacies Vivian Maria Vasquez 14. Conclusion: Affective and Global Ecologies: New Directions for Critical Literacy Cynthia Lewis List of Contributors Index

About the Author :
Jessica Zacher Pandya is Associate Professor, California State University Long Beach, USA. JuliAnna Ávila is Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina Charlotte, USA.

Review :
"Excellently framed, complete, and coherent, Moving Critical Literacies Forward summarises a great deal of relevant and up-to-date literature and makes old and new thinking accessible to others." Alan Rogers, Honorary Professor University of East Anglia, UK "Drawing from cutting-edge scholars and practitioners in Australia, South Africa, Europe, and North America, this volume provides current theoretical frameworks and tensions alongside notable exemplars of groundbreaking practice." Noah Asher Golden, Instructor, Hunter College-City University of New York and Teachers College, USA