I prefer the wisdom of Nancie Atwell in The Reading Zone, or the wisdom of
Brazilian educator Rubem Alves, who said that nothing destroys the pleasure
of reading as much as questions from the teacher about interpretations,
strategies or analysis.

The definitions of critical thinking offered here and repeated below confirm
to me that this all about teachers imposing their agenda and their values on
students who really only want to improve their language skills. To me it is
out of place.

*"Critical thinking can be recognized in the contexts of our personal
relationships, work activities, and political involvements. This activity
entails much more than the skills of logical analysis taught in so many
college courses on critical thinking. It involves our calling into question
the assumptions underlying our customary, habitual ways of thinking and
acting and then being ready to think and act differently on the basis of
this critical questioning."*


*"Being a critical thinker is part of what it means to be a developing
person, and fostering critical thinking is crucial to creating and
maintaining a healthy democracy. Without critical thinking our personal
relationships become atrophied, our workplaces remain organized as they were
20 years ago, and our political involvements dwindle to the point of total
nonparticipation."*

At the heart of this approach to teaching is the belief that while literacy
enables students to make meaning from texts, critical literacy will empower
them to understand how texts are trying to influence and change them as
members of society.



…critical literacy is the belief that interpreting literature is more than
simply decoding the words of a text. It is necessary to understand that
language is a social construct and that it is never neutral. [Language] is
used to inform, entertain, persuade and manipulate. The philosophy behind
critical literacy is that it is necessary to learn how language works in
order to be a more skilled user of language in terms of both comprehending
and composing.


 *Freirean critical literacy* is conceived as a means of empowering
unempowered populations against oppression and coercion, frequently seen as
enacted by corporate and/or government entities. Freirean critical literacy
starts with the desire to balance social inequities and address societal
problems caused by abuse of power. It proceeds from this philosophical basis
to examine, analyze, and deconstruct texts.



-- 
Steve Kaufmann
www.lingq.com
1-604-922-8514
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