Customer Reviews

Critical Teaching and the Idea of Literacy

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My Critical Literacy professor recommended I read this book. It was not at all what I expected. The authors give a background and critique of the theories influencing the philosophy of critical teaching. They go on to look at the role of teachers in critically analyzing our own circumstances and teaching approach. I was expecting to read a book about teaching students to think, read, and write critically. Instead, I came out with a profound paradigm shift about the way I reflect on my own role, position, and methods as a teacher. One of the most significant points the authors make, in my opinion, is regarding the tendency for proponents of critical thinking to infringe our own belief systems onto the minds we're supposedly trying to free. That hit home. After reading the book and adjusting the way I teach, I experienced a tremendous opening in the critical thinking of my intermediate students. In addition to changing how I think about critical teaching and learning, the book also offered a feminist analysis of the teaching profession. This was tremendously refreshing, considering most of us are women.