Walking in Their Shoes: Using Multiple-Perspectives Texts as a Bridge to Critical Literacy

1. Walking in Their Shoes: Using Multiple-Perspectives Texts as a Bridge to Critical Literacy Lane W. Clarke, Erin Whitney

2. Summary of Article Many teaching professionals understand the importance of critical literacy, but struggle with finding an entry point to incorporate it within their curricula. Teachers’ interpretations of critical literacy affect how it is approached within a classroom setting Combining Jones’ Frame for Thinking, Planning and Enacting with multiple perspectives texts, “allows teachers to create a bridge to powerful critical literacy learning in […] classrooms” (530).

3. Summary Continued • Jones’ three tenets of critical literacy include: • Deconstruction • Reconstruction • Social Action

4. What is Critical Literacy? Freire defines critical literacy as giving “people the tools of emancipation against their oppressors” (530). From a more text-based approach, critical literacy “requires interrogating what texts tell us about the way things are and why” (530). Jones states that “critical literacy is like a pair of eyeglasses that allows one to see beyond the familiar and comfortable: it is an understanding that language practices and texts are always informed by ideological beliefs and perspectives whether conscious or otherwise” (530).

5. Jones’ Framework and Multiple Perspective Texts • Jones creates a framework that encourages “students to think critically about texts, themselves, and their worlds” (532). The framework has 3 parts: • Deconstruction • Reconstruction • Social Action • Jones also points out that “texts are embedded with multiple meanings and one way to examine some of those meanings is to peel away the layers through the consideration of perspective, positioning, and power” (532).

6. Deconstruction “The first layer of interpretative work involves deconstructing issues of power, perspective, and positioning in a text” (532). Students are encouraged to “pull back layers of meaning” (532). When students begin to pull back these layers, they become aware of multiple voices and perspectives.

7. Readers Theatre • Students can create scripts that offer multiple viewpoints for a story • Read-aloud books may also showcase different viewpoints for students • What is an advantage of these activities? • “Students can see how power and perspective can silence one of the two sides in every story and influence how we interpret history” (532).

8. Example of Readers Theatre http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkMgzRW81C0

9. Graphic Organizer “By representing [multiple perspectives] on a side-by-side chart, students can see perspective more clearly, which can lead to discussions about point of view” (532).

10. Example of Graphic Organizer

11. Visual Representation “Taking a picture of something familiar and breaking it down into unrecognizable pieces can also emphasize how important it is to see things from different sides […] as it highlights how all of the individual pieces can be interpreted so differently apart from its whole ” (533).

12. Making Connections and Disconnections “Making connections is a common comprehension strategy, but students are not always pushed to make disconnections with text- that is how are texts different from your life, how do you not connect with the text, or what in this text could others have disconnect with? (533). “Critical literacy involves situating the self into a larger, socially constructed context, and therefore, asking students to draw themselves into these text worlds can be a vehicle for this type of thinking” (533).

17. Reconstruction “It is not enough just to deconstruct a text, but we also have to give the students an opportunity to use this knowledge to create new ways of thinking” (533).

18. Diary Entries Diary Entries “This activity can create a wonderful entry point to discussions about marginalized peoples and perspectives and can begin to give voice to those who have not historically had one” (533-534).

19. Rewriting Familiar Stories “Through writing students can take what they learned about power, positioning, and perspective in deconstruction and re-create a new story” (534). Fractured Fairy Tale: Goldilocks

20. Social Action “It is important that students see themselves in a larger world beyond the walls of the classroom. It is for this reason that the final step in a critical literacy exploration needs to be one that builds upon the deconstruction and reconstruction to connect to larger social issues. […] These activities can provide the building blocks that can be used to springboard into social awareness” (534). “By widening this exploration, students can have a better understanding of others, a greater appreciation of diversity, and an awareness of how to live in a globalized world” (534).

21. Students Taking Action

22. Questions As an emerging teacher, do you feel it necessary to expose young children to multiple perspectives? Why or why not? Do you feel Jones’ framework for critical literacy to be adequate? Is the framework too complex or too simplistic in any ways? Are there any other activities not suggested in this article that may also encourage students’ critical thinking?

23. Questions Continued Are there any other stories you are aware of that promote multiple perspectives? What are some challenges emerging teachers may face in trying to implement critical literacy? Is there anything Lane W. Clarke and Erin Whitney fail to discuss/consider in this article? How would schools of different socioeconomic standings and cultural diversities fair with implementing critical literacy? That is, is it easier or more difficult to implement critical literacy with more resources or perhaps less diversity? Do social issues/standings impact effective teaching?

24. Summary of Group’s Ideas…

25. References Clarke, L. W., & Whitney, E. (2009). Walking in their shoes: Using multiple-perspectives texts as a bridge to critical literacy. The Reading Teacher, 62(6), 530-534. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20464459 Teens making a difference. (2010, 04 21). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsUTxlTlHak&feature=related Goldilocks and the three bears fractured fairy tales 01. (2009, 04 09). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kby4oA1nQZM

26. References Finnegan, K., & Manning , E. (n.d.). Critical perspectives: Reading and writing about slavery. Retrieved from http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/critical-perspectives-reading-writing-1060.html?tab=3 You read to me, i'll read to you by maryannhoberman. (2012, 03 12). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkMgzRW81C0