Critical Reading for Social Justice Education

• In Event: Roundtable Session 6
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Literacy for Social Justice

Abstract

This presentation explores the contributions of critical pedagogy to the teaching of reading and discusses an approach that helps learners move beyond the level of comprehension and use what they have learned in reading towards engaging in some kind of social action. I argue that, for reading to be effective and purposeful for both teachers and students, there needs to be a concrete connection between the text and the real world, and that this connection can be achieved through encouraging social action. Moreover, a critical approach to the teaching of reading allows students to engage in socially just school practices that will help them in their socialization process into the mainstream society as critical, informed and engaged citizens.

Author

• Fernando Naiditch, Montclair State University