"First Graders and Fairy Tales: One Teacher's Action Research of Critical Literacy" by Ryan T. Bourke (The Reading Teacher, 2008)
Bourke examines how first graders use critical literacy to interrupt the normalcy of the traditional happy ending and successfully reconceptualize the familiar story as perceived by the world around them. In this first-grade classroom, critical literacy did not occur in the filling of available opportunities but in the deconstruction of "obstacles that hindered its inception" (p. 304). In our current context, with the uncertainty that educators and students face this fall, this article reminds educators and researchers that we can divert from the path of traditional literacy practices in elementary education classrooms and experiment with the curriculum to encourage transformative opportunities for students.
—Reviewed by Julie M. Carbaugh, The University of Georgia
Bourke, R.T. (2008). First graders and fairy tales: One teacher's action research of critical literacy. The Reading Teacher, 62(4), 304–312. https://doi.org/10.1598/RT.62.4.3
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