In Negotiating Critical Literacies with Young Children, Vivian Vasquez shows how using critical literacy as the basis for an elementary school classroom can create students who ask questions and take social action on what they see as unfair in their lives. At times it was hard to believe that students who were so young accomplished what these students did.
As I was reading this book, I kept thinking about what these students must be like now. I would think that these young students continued to use their questioning and social action skills as they continue to grow as learners. As a high school teacher, I would love to have students in my class who were in this elementary school class. The skills nurtured by Vasquez are likely things that will continue to frame how the students looks at society and their world from that point on.
Another component of what Vasquez did that I appreciated was that her classroom was not only focused on social critique but also social action. When critical literacy emphasizes only social critique, it can lead to cynicism and discouragement. Encouraging social action and facilitating the social action when necessary can help to empower students instead of discouraging them.
6 comments:
I too was wondering about the kids featured in Dr. Vasquez's book. How fortunate they were to have been a part of Dr. Vasquez's classroom. I am sure the lessons learned have carried on in their education, as well as their lives. They must look at things with a more critical eye. If only more classrooms had teachers who encouraged social action from such a young age. I wonder if things would be different in our society.
I also appreciated the importance of social action in this classroom. I love that the students instigated many of the ideas, and they were able to be carried through. The students and Vivian Vasquez did not just talk about how to do something, but actually did it. I am sure that the students were empowered by these events, and hope that I can encorporate the action part into social action in my class.
Thanks everyone. It's always energizing when something you are so passionate about is given importance in the lives of other people.
In a way the tools you are using in this course (blogging, podcasting) provide for you other means through which to engage in social action of your own by making visible to others new ways of thinking and so forth.
thanks
vivian
I wonder how much Canadian culture influenced the characteristics of the students in Vivian's class. Are schools in general different in Canada than in the US in regards to underlying ideologies about education and methodologies? I would like to hear from Vivian, what she thinks about differences in US school culture vs Canadian school cultures and how/if that reflects differences in general of US and Canadian cultures.
Erin
Erin
It would be interesting to see where the kids in Dr. Vasquez's book are now. I do agree that we as teachers need to invest more time in the social critique and social action part of our student's education.
Students can benefit immensely from critical literacy because the skills they gain from it can be something they use for the rest of their lives. In addition, I feel that the respectable and high-paying jobs in our society require people who are analytical thinkers and problem solvers. Our curriculum needs to help our students obtain these skills so that they have the potential to become instruments of change in their communities.
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