Vivian Vasquez states that Critical Literacy should not be an add-on but a frame through which
to participate in the world. As such, there is no such thing as a critical literacy text. Rather
there are texts through which we may be able to create spaces for critical literacies. What this
means is that issues and topics of interest that capture students´ interest as they participate in
the world around them can and should be used as text to build curriculum that had significance
in their lives.
Key tenets that comprise this perspective are as follows:
1. Critical literacy involves having a critical perspective.
What this means is that critical literacy should not be taken on as a topic to be covered
but rather should be a different way, lens, or framework, for teaching throughout the
day. Vasquez believes many teachers begin with critical literacy by beginning with
literacy instruction then, as they become more comfortable, extend this way of being
across the curriculum and throughout the day.
2. Students' cultural knowledge and multimedia literacy practices should be used.
Students learn best when what they are learning has importance in their lives. Using the
topics, issues, and questions that they raise should, therefore, be an important part of
creating classroom curriculum. Multimedia literacy refers to students' way(s) of making
meaning in the world using combinations of print-based text and music, art, or
technologically based text such as websites, videos, or podcasts.
3. The world is a socially constructed text that can be read.
This tenet focuses on getting across to students the message that all texts are created
by someone, somewhere, for some reason. The earlier that students are introduced to
this idea, the sooner they are able to understand that texts can be revised, rewritten, or
reconstructed to shift or reframe the message(s) conveyed.
4. Texts are never neutral
What this means is that all texts are created from a particular perspective with the
intention of conveying particular messages.
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5. Texts work to position us in particular ways; therefore, we need to interrogate the
perspective(s) of others.
Because texts are socially constructed and created from particular perspectives, they
work to have us think about and believe certain things in particular ways. For instance,
stories that portray females as being in need of rescue, such as Sleeping Beauty or
Cinderella, work to convey messages that females are the weaker or less powerful
gender.
6. We read from a particular position(s) and so our readings of texts are never neutral,
and we need to interrogate the position(s) from which we read (speak, act, do, …)
Just as texts are never neutral, the ways we read text are also never neutral. When we
read we bring with us our past experiences and understanding about how the world
works.
7. What we claim to be true or real is always mediated through Discourse
Discourses are ways of being, doing, and acting through which we live our lives, and our
understandings of the world – how we make meaning in the world – happen through
these ways of being, doing, and acting.
8. Critical literacy involves understanding the sociopolitical systems in which we live and
should consider the relationship between language and power.
This suggests that part of our work in critical literacy needs to focus on social issues,
such as race, class, or gender and the ways in which we use language to shape our
understanding of these issues. How we use language to talk about such issues
determines how people are able to – or not able to – live their lives in more or less
powerful ways as well as determine who is given more or less powerful roles in society.
9. Critical literacy practices can contribute to change and the development of political
awareness.
What this means is students who engage in critical literacies from a young age are likely
going to be better able to contribute to a more equitable and socially just world by
being better able to make informed decisions regarding issues of power and control.
10. Text design and production can provide opportunities for critique and transformation.
The explanation for this final tenet is deliberately more detailed as this is a tenet that is
less talked about or written about, and yet this is the tenet that pushes us to move
beyond critique and toward social action. Text design and production refer to the
creation and construction of texts and the decisions that are part of that process. This
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includes the notion that it is not sufficient to simply create texts for the sake of
practicing a skill. If students are to create texts they ought to be able to let those texts
do the work that is intended. For instance, if students are writing surveys or creating
petitions, they should be done with real-life intent for the purpose of dealing with a real
life issue. If students write petitions, they should be able to send them to the person for
whom they were intended. Helping students understand real-life functions of text is an
important component of growing as a critically literate individual.
The functional aspect of critical literacies includes using language in powerful ways to
get things done in the world, to enhance everyday life in schools and communities, and
to question practices of privilege and injustice. Critical literacy is also about imaging
thoughtful ways of thinking about reconstructing and redesigning texts and images to
convey different, more socially just and equitable messages that have real-life effects.
Vasquez, Vivian. (2009). Getting Beyond “I Like the Book” (2nd Ed). International Reading Association.
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