LIVED CRITICAL LITERACIES, HOPE, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH CLASSROOM: A PRACTITIONER INQUIRY PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Critical literacy develops from engaging in multiliteracies, examining the relationship between language, power, and the world, interrogating multiple viewpoints, and upon reflection, manifesting change. Situated at the intersection of critical literacy, hope, and action this practitioner inquiry illuminates the potential for youth to take up social justice issues. This practitioner inquiry conceptualizes what happens in a 12th grade ELA classroom when a veteran teacher, who employs multimodal methods that honors both students’ lived experiences and their hope for the future, creates opportunities for students to engage with social justice issues that matter to them. Rooted in Paulo Freire’s critical literacy concept of reading the word and the world, this inquiry investigates the critical literacy and social justice work of 24 12th grade high school English Language Arts students engaged in a unit called “The Empowered You.” This study maps out a learning unit that begins with inviting students to explore their identity and moves through multimodal activities including: poetry, reading, writing, filming, and creating campaigns for action that gives space for students to read and research about issues they chose to unpack. Using a Freirian lens to analyze student created “elevator” pitches relating to their autonomously chosen social justice issues, the findings of this study confirmed that when adolescents accept a teacher’s invitation to read the word and the world, they engage their hopeful heart, amplify their voices, and take the reins to change the world.