Why Teach Critical Literacy?

Why do we read? Why is it important to read with a critical eye? According to Bomer and Bomer, most people read for aesthetic purposes: the ultimate goal being the search for the next great book. I think it’s crucial that we model, encourage, and guide our students into finding aesthetic pleasure within their reading lives. The purpose of the novel, however, runs deeper than this. One way to view a text is as microcosm of our world, invented to help us examine the social norms dictated to us by society. Because I am a teacher of writing, I know that authors don’t just place any old made up character into some random situation. Each move that we make as writers is for a greater purpose. I tell my students that this is something we need to keep in mind throughout our work as READERS. Whether the author intends on making a point about social justice or not, the critical reader must ask, “What is this text trying to get me to believe about the world, and what are the alternatives?” When we challenge the text with such questions, a complexity that goes beyond our aesthetic responses lays ahead of us. When I was growing up, I remember being told, ‘You can’t believe everything you read.’ On the surface, this proverb may be interpreted as, ‘Sometimes people lie to you.’ Now, I am seeing a deeper meaning. The concept isn’t just that people will sometimes explicitly try to make you believe things that are false. It also encompasses the fact that society marginalizes some groups while giving power to others throughout the subtleties of biased language. If we are to break this cycle, it is of the utmost importance that we impart this knowledge to our students. Reading skills are life skills, and teaching critical literacy is one path we can take to create a society that truly offers equal opportunity to all.