Return-Path: <nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id iA3HZpd09712; Wed, 3 Nov 2004 12:35:51 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 12:35:51 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <437308B9.679AC9E6.0A349A3F@aol.com> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: AWilder106@aol.com To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-AALPD:1700] Re: Critical Literacy vs Critical Thinking- a crucial distinction X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 X-Mailer: Atlas Mailer 2.0 Status: O Content-Length: 2211 Lines: 30 Hi George, Life is not fair. Some of that unfairness has to do with the distribution of literacy. To anyone who knows anything about education this doesn't have to be questionned. So, automatically, those in adult literacy classes reflect some degree of unfairness. Teaching adults how to read and write better is one way to deal with that unfairness. Critical literacy then deals with the content of that instruction, as far as I can tell from the writing on this list. It may or may not include critical pedagogy. "Critical literacy" seems to me a North American part of adult literacy. "Critical pedagogy" I associate with Freire, I have to, because of the title of his book, "Pedagogy of the Oppressed." "Critical pedagogy" includes words such as hegemony, oppression, emancipation, comfortably used in academic circles; "emancipation" certainly has a history in this country, though. As I recall, at one point (Sao Tome and Principe?) Freire said how his work should be taught. Yes, the man had contradictions. How many professors of education of whatever political stripe contribute part of their salary to TIAA-CREF? Enough so I can say "all of them." More contradictions. So, what is the purpose of adult education? What does "comprehesnion" mean? Comprehension of text is I think the goal of adult literacy. I say this because there are other ways of learning about justice and injustice than through reading. We are in the adult reading business. It seems from comments on this list and other places that the "unfairness" in education that we are trying to ameliorate is often embodied in the emotional reactions that adult students have to testing. Not to acknowledge this and figure out how to work with a student's emotions is to perpetuate the unfairness; fear can halt learning. So I really go back to small, modest, definitions of "comprehension." Modest steps based on the lived realities of students can have radical results, as in the Voting Rights Act. Thanks to everyone who has increased my understanding. I really started on this questionning because of David Rosen's comment, like I said when I first posted here. Moving right along.... Andrea
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