"Critical Literacy's Ongoing Importance for Education" by Hilary Janks (Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 2014)
The dual pandemics of COVID-19 and racial injustice require a critical reading of both the word and the world, along with the ability to imagine something better. Presenting a critical literacy framework based on the relation between language and power, Janks argues that educators must ground literacy instruction in practices that begin with prompting students to interrogate the role of language in creating disparities in society and then invite them to imagine possibilities for creating a more just world. Through a detailed example based on life in South Africa, Janks introduces five praxes for teachers to build a critical literacy practice. Teachers striving to meet the moment in which we are living will find inspiration for centering critical literacy practices in their classrooms.
—Reviewed by Emily S. Yerkes, University of Colorado Boulder
Janks, H. (2014). Critical literacy's ongoing importance for education. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 57(5), 349–356. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.260
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