what is critical reading education

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Critical reading: what is critical reading, and why do i need to do it.

Critical reading means that a reader applies certain processes, models, questions, and theories that result in enhanced clarity and comprehension. There is more involved, both in effort and understanding, in a critical reading than in a mere "skimming" of the text. What is the difference? If a reader "skims" the text, superficial characteristics and information are as far as the reader goes. A critical reading gets at "deep structure" (if there is such a thing apart from the superficial text!), that is, logical consistency, tone, organization, and a number of other very important sounding terms.

What does it take to be a critical reader? There are a variety of answers available to this question; here are some suggested steps:

1. Prepare to become part of the writer's audience.

After all, authors design texts for specific audiences, and becoming a member of the target audience makes it easier to get at the author's purpose. Learn about the author, the history of the author and the text, the author's anticipated audience; read introductions and notes.

2. Prepare to read with an open mind.

Critical readers seek knowledge; they do not "rewrite" a work to suit their own personalities. Your task as an enlightened critical reader is to read what is on the page, giving the writer a fair chance to develop ideas and allowing yourself to reflect thoughtfully, objectively, on the text.

3. Consider the title.

This may seem obvious, but the title may provide clues to the writer's attitude, goals, personal viewpoint, or approach.

4. Read slowly.

Again, this appears obvious, but it is a factor in a "close reading." By slowing down, you will make more connections within the text.

5. Use the dictionary and other appropriate reference works.

If there is a word in the text that is not clear or difficult to define in context: look it up. Every word is important, and if part of the text is thick with technical terms, it is doubly important to know how the author is using them.

6. Make notes.

Jot down marginal notes, underline and highlight, write down ideas in a notebook, do whatever works for your own personal taste. Note for yourself the main ideas, the thesis, the author's main points to support the theory. Writing while reading aids your memory in many ways, especially by making a link that is unclear in the text concrete in your own writing.

7. Keep a reading journal

In addition to note-taking, it is often helpful to regularly record your responses and thoughts in a more permanent place that is yours to consult. By developing a habit of reading and writing in conjunction, both skills will improve.

Critical reading involves using logical and rhetorical skills. Identifying the author's thesis is a good place to start, but to grasp how the author intends to support it is a difficult task. More often than not an author will make a claim (most commonly in the form of the thesis) and support it in the body of the text. The support for the author's claim is in the evidence provided to suggest that the author's intended argument is sound, or reasonably acceptable. What ties these two together is a series of logical links that convinces the reader of the coherence of the author's argument: this is the warrant. If the author's premise is not supportable, a critical reading will uncover the lapses in the text that show it to be unsound.

Questions, comments, and other sundry things may be sent to [email protected]

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Article contents

Critical literacy.

Vivian Maria Vasquez Vivian Maria Vasquez American University
https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.20
Published online: 29 March 2017

Changing student demographics, globalization, and flows of people resulting in classrooms where students have variable linguistic repertoire, in combination with new technologies, has resulted in new definitions of what it means to be literate and how to teach literacy. Today, more than ever, we need frameworks for literacy teaching and learning that can withstand such shifting conditions across time, space, place, and circumstance, and thrive in challenging conditions. Critical literacy is a theoretical and practical framework that can readily take on such challenges creating spaces for literacy work that can contribute to creating a more critically informed and just world. It begins with the roots of critical literacy and the Frankfurt School from the 1920s along with the work of Paulo Freire in the late 1940s (McLaren, 1999; Morrell, 2008) and ends with new directions in the field of critical literacy including finding new ways to engage with multimodalities and new technologies, engaging with spatiality- and place-based pedagogies, and working across the curriculum in the content areas in multilingual settings. Theoretical orientations and critical literacy practices are used around the globe along with models that have been adopted in various state jurisdictions such as Ontario, in Canada, and Queensland, in Australia.

critical literacy
critical pedagogy
social justice
multiliteracies
text analysis
discourse analysis
everyday politics
language ideologies

Historical Orientation

Luke ( 2014 ) describes critical literacy as “the object of a half-century of theoretical debate and practical innovation in the field of education” (p. 21). Discussion about the roots of critical literacy often begin with principles associated with the Frankfurt School from the 1920s and their focus on Critical Theory. The Frankfurt School was created by intellectuals who carved out a space for developing theories of Marxism within the academy and independently of political parties. While focusing on political and economic philosophy, they emphasized the importance of class struggle in society. More prominently associated with the roots of critical literacy is Paulo Freire, beginning with his work in the late 1940s (McLaren, 1999 ; Morrell, 2008 ), which focused on critical consciousness and critical pedagogy. Freire’s work was centered on key concepts, which included the notion that literacy education should highlight the critical consciousness of learners. In his work in the 1970s Freire wrote that if we consider learning to read and write as acts of knowing, then readers and writers must assume the role of creative subjects who reflect critically on the process of reading and writing itself along with reflecting on the significance of language ( 1972 ). Together with Macedo in the 1980s, Freire popularized the concept that reading is not just about decoding words. In their work, Freire and Macedo ( 1987 ) noted that reading the word is simultaneously about reading the world. This means that our reading of any text is mediated through our day-to-day experience and the places, spaces, and languages that we encounter, use, and occupy. This critical reading can lead to disrupting and “unpacking myths and distortions and building new ways of knowing and acting upon the world” (Luke, 2014 , p. 22). As such this conceptualization of critical literacy disrupts the notion of false consciousness described earlier by Hegel and Marx (Luke, 2014 ).

The Frankfurt School scholars and Freire focused their work on adult education. For instance in the 1960s Freire organized a campaign for hundreds of sugar cane workers in Brazil to participate in a literacy program that centered on critical pedagogy. His work became known as liberatory, whereby he worked to empower oppressed workers. Critiques of Freire have focused primarily on claims that the liberatory pedagogy he espoused was unidirectional because educators liberated students. The binary represented here was also seen as problematic. Nevertheless his grounding work pushed to the fore the importance and effects of critical pedagogy as a way of making visible and examining relations of power to change inequitable ways of being. Work done by the Frankfurt School and Freire were overtly political and inspired the political nature and democratic potential of education as central to critical approaches to pedagogy (Comber, 2016 ) as seen in work done by researchers and educators such as Campano, Ghiso and Sánchez ( 2013 ), Janks ( 2010 ), and Vasquez ( 2004 ).

Luke ( 2014 ) noted antecedents to these approaches including early-twentieth-century exemplars of African-American community education in the United States that were established in many cities (Shannon, 1998 ), Brecht’s experiments with political drama in Europe (Weber & Heinen, 2010 ), and work by Hoggart ( 1957 ) and Williams ( 1977 ) on post-war cultural British studies amongst others.

Theoretical Orientations

Various theoretical paradigms and traditions of scholarship have influenced definitions of critical literacy and its circulation, as well as its practice. These include feminist poststructuralist theories (Davies, 1993 ; Gilbert, 1992 ) post colonialist traditions (Meacham, 2003 ), critical race theory (Ladson-Billings, 1999 , 2003 ), critical linguistics and critical discourse analysis (Fairclough, 1995 ; Janks, 2010 ), cultural studies (Pahl & Rowsell, 2011 ), critical media literacy (Share, 2009 , 2010 ), queer theory (Vicars, 2013 ), place conscious pedagogy (Comber, 2016 ), and critical sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology (Makoni & Pennycook, 2007 ; Blommaert, 2013 ; McKinney, 2016 ). Theoretical toolkits, or combinations of such theories have resulted in different orientations to critical literacy. As such it is viewed as a concept, a framework, or perspective for teaching and learning, a way of being in the classroom, and a stance or attitude toward literacy work in schools. These different theoretical orientations help shape different views. Regardless, “the project remains understanding the relationship between texts, meaning-making and power to undertake transformative social action that contributes to the achievement of a more equitable social order” (Janks & Vasquez, 2011 , p. 1). As such, regardless of the view one takes, a common understanding is that critical literacy focuses on unequal power relations—and issues of social justice and equity—in support of diverse learners. Diversity of learners includes taking the languages they bring with them to school seriously and understanding the ways in which multilingual children are treated unjustly when their linguistic repertoires are excluded from classrooms.

There are also those who argue that critical literacies are not just orientations to teaching literacy but a way of being, living, learning, and teaching (Vasquez, 2005 , 2014a , 2015 ; Zacher Pandya & Avila, 2014 ). Vasquez ( 2001 , 2010 , 2014b ) describes critical literacy as a perspective and way of being that should be constructed organically, using the inquiry questions of learners, beginning on the first day of school with the youngest learners. From this perspective it follows that such a perspective or way of being cuts across the curriculum. Similarly Zacher Pandya and Avila ( 2014 ) and Vasquez, Tate, and Harste ( 2013 ) note the need for critical literacy to be defined by individuals, within their own contexts, once they have learned about, and experienced, its central ideas. Comber discusses this in terms of teachers’ dispositions, which include their discursive resources and repertoires of practice (Comber, 2006 ). As such critical literacy can be described as “an evolving repertoire of practices of analysis and interrogation which move between the micro features of texts and the macro conditions of institutions, focusing on how relations of power work through these practices” (Comber, 2013 , p. 589). Janks ( 2010 ), Kamler ( 2001 ), and Luke ( 2013 ) have noted more recently the importance of not only analyzing text but also designing and producing it as well. In this regard, equally important is to understand the position(s) from which we analyze text and also the position(s) from which we design and produce texts.

Critical Literacy in Practice around the Globe

Critical literacy has taken root differently in different places around the world but most notably in South Africa (Granville, 1993 ; Janks, 1993a , 2010 ; Janks et al., 2013 ), Australia and New Zealand (Comber, 2001 , 2016 ; Luke, 2000 ; Morgan, 1997 ; O’Brien, 2001 ), and the United States and Canada (Larson & Marsh, 2015 ; Lewison, Leland, & Harste, 2014 ; Pahl & Rowsell, 2011 ; Vasquez, 2001 , 2010 , 2014b ).

For instance, in South Africa, Hilary Janks ( 1993a , 1993b , 2010 , 2014 ) used critical literacy as a tool in the struggle against apartheid. Her work focused primarily on young adults and adolescents “to increase students’ awareness of the way language was used to oppress the black majority, to win elections, to deny education, to construct others, to position readers, to hide the truth, and to legitimate oppression” ( 2010 , p. 12). To this end, she produced Critical Language Awareness (CLA) materials for use with older children in South African schools (Janks et al., 2013 ). In Australia, critical materials were created, in the form of workbooks, to deconstruct literary texts (Mellor, Patterson, & O’Neill, 1987 , 1991 ). Also in Australia, work deriving from postcolonial theory, was produced by Freemantle Press (Martino, 1997 ; Kenworthy & Kenworthy, 1997 ). Some of these materials informed work done in middle school and high school settings by educators and researchers such as Morgan ( 1992 , 1994 ), Gilbert ( 1989 ), and Davies ( 1993 ).

Critical literacy work with younger children began to take place in the 1990s in Australia, where Barbara Comber’s work has been very influential. In particular, her work with Jenny O’Brien on creating spaces for critical literacy in an elementary school classroom, using newspaper and magazine ads, has been highly cited in the literature (O’Brien, 2001 ). In the United States and Canada, Vivian Vasquez’s work with children between ages three to five opened the field for exploration in settings involving very young children by using their inquiries about the world around them to question issues of social justice and equity, using the everyday as text (i.e., food packaging, media ads, popular culture), as well as children’s literature. Although there are growing accounts of critical literacy work in early years classrooms (Sanchez, 2011 ; Vander Zanden, 2016 ; Vander Zanden & Wohlwend, 2011 ), more examples of practice are needed as demonstrations of possibility in school settings with young children.

Earlier critical literacy work in early childhood and elementary settings focused on critically reading and deconstructing texts as a way to help students question versions of reality in the world around them. For example, in Australia, O’Brien ( 2001 ) explored ways in which Mother’s Day ads worked to position readers of such texts in particular ways. She described this work as “helping her children probe representations of women, and setting them purposeful reading, writing, and talking tasks” (p. 52). At around the same time, researchers such as Ivanič ( 1998 ) and Kamler ( 2001 ) began highlighting critical writing in their work with older children. Janks ( 2010 ) refers to this as an important move that enabled us to think where we might go after critically reading a text. She notes, “because texts are constructed word by word, image by image, they can be deconstructed—unpicked, unmade, the positions produced for the reader laid bare” (Janks, 2010 , p. 18). A space is thus created for us to think about “how texts may be rewritten and how multimodal texts can be redesigned” (Janks, 2010 , p. 19). Such perspectives further informed the work of educators and researchers of critical literacy. Comber and Nixon ( 2014 ), for instance, attended “to the importance of children’s agency through text production and related social action” (p. 81). Examples of this include work done by Vasquez ( 2001 , 2004 , 2010 , 2014b ) in building critical curriculum using her preschool students’ inquiry questions about inequities within their school as a way to disrupt and dismantle such inequity and create new more equitable practices and places in which to engage in such practices. Reading the world as a text that could be deconstructed and reconstructed created a space for Vasquez and her students to disrupt and rewrite problematic school practices. As noted by Janks ( 2010 ), “if repositioning text is tied to an ethic of social justice then redesign can contribute to the kind of identity and social transformation that Freire’s work advocates” (p. 18).

The notion of design and redesign was introduced to the field through the New London Group ( 1996 ) in their paper on multiliteracies. Kress and his colleagues (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006 ; Mavers, 2011 ) extend this work stating the importance of design as “the shaping of available resources into a framework which can act as a blueprint for the production of the object, entity, or event” (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006 , p. 50). Janks ( 2003 ) refers to this as “a pedagogy of reconstruction,” while McKinney ( 2016 ) calls this transformative pedagogy. This pedagogy is integral to one of the most notable models to inform critical literacy practice, Janks’ Interdependent Model (Janks, 2010 ).

Critical literacy is also being used in state jurisdictions such as Ontario in Canada and Queensland in Australia, where governments have endorsed its use in school curricula. Its use is also growing in emerging and post colonial contexts (Norton, 2007 ; Lo et al., 2012 ). For instance, in her work in Karachi, Pakistan, Norton ( 2007 ) notes that students made frequent reference to the relationship between literacy, the distribution of resources, and international inequities. In Hong Kong, Lo et al. ( 2012 ) reported on “working with students to understand the social and political framing and consequences of texts” (p. 121). With regards to such work Luke ( 2004 ) has argued for the need to do justice to the lived experiences of physical and material deprivation in diverse communities throughout the globe. As such critical literacy should be adopted and adapted and should continue to emerge across a spectrum of political economies, nation states, and systems from autocratic/theocratic states to postcolonial states not only as an epistemic stance but also as a political and culturally transgressive position that works to create spaces for transformative social actions that can contribute to the achievement of a more equitable social order.

Influential Models

Different orientations to critical literacy have resulted in different models that impact critical pedagogy. Three influential models, in particular will be addressed here: Freebody and Luke’s Four Resources Model, Janks’ Interdependent Model, and Green’s 3D Model of Literacy.

Allan Luke and Peter Freebody have played a central role in making critical literacy accessible across continents. In particular their Four Resources Model (Luke & Freebody, 1999 ) has been widely adapted for use in classrooms from preschool to tertiary education settings. Their model focuses on different literacy practices that readers and writers should learn. These practices are learning to be code-breakers—recognizing, understanding, and using the fundamental features of written text such as the alphabet; learning to be text participants—using their own prior knowledge to interpret and make meaning from and bring meaning to text; understanding how to use different text forms; and becoming critical consumers of those forms—learning to critically analyze text and understand that texts are never neutral. Colin Lankshear and Michelle Knobel ( 2004 ) challenge Luke and Freebody’s model claiming it does not support literacy practices in a digitized world or for those who are “digitally at home”; those comfortable with and competent in using new technologies. In turn they offer examples of the kind of roles related to literacy practices in a digitized world assumed by authors of digital texts. These roles are as text designer, one who designs and produces multimedia or digital texts; text mediator or broker, one who summarizes or presents aspects of texts for others such as a blogger; text bricoleur, one who constructs or creates text using a range or collection of available things; and text jammer, one who re-presents text it in some way, such as by adding new words or phrases to an image as a way to subvert the original meaning (Lankshear & Knobel, 2004 ).

Larson and Marsh ( 2015 ), however, state that Lankshear and Knobel’s ( 2004 ) model focuses primarily on text production rather than text analysis. In comparison, Hilary Janks ( 2010 , 2014 ) in her model for critical literacy includes both text analysis and text design as integral elements. Janks’ model centers on a set of interdependent elements—namely access, domination/power, diversity, and design/re-design. She argues “different realizations of critical literacy operate with different conceptualizations of the relationship between language and power by foregrounding one or other of these elements” (Janks, 2010 , p. 23). She notes that these complementary and competing positions speak to the complexities of engaging with critical literacies and that they are crucially interdependent.

More recently, Comber reflected, “originally these approaches did not foreground the spatial dimensions of critical literacy”( 2016 , p. 11). Comber argues that insights from theories of space and place and literacy studies can create opportunities for designing and enacting culturally inclusive curriculum to support the needs of diverse learners. As such, in her work, one of the models she draws from is Green’s 3D Model of Literacy. This model is a multidimensional framework which argues that there are always three dimensions of literacy simultaneously at play: the operational, learning how the language works and ways that texts can be structured; the cultural, which involves the uses of literacy and in particular the ways that cultural learning is involved with content learning; and the critical, the ways in which we act and see in the world, along with how literacy can be used to shape lives in ways that better serve the interests of some over others. As such, Green’s model is a useful frame for unpacking links between literacy, place, and culture.

Debate, Controversy, and Critical Literacy

In spite of advances in the field with regards to critical literacy, there is still confusion about the difference between “critical” from the Enlightenment period, which focused on critical thinking and reasoning, and “critical” from Marx as an analysis of power. The debate and controversy around this continues. Definitions for critical literacy are often at the center of such debates, which are likely in response to attempts by some educators and researchers to pin down a specific definition for critical literacy. Theorists and educators including Comber ( 2016 ), Vasquez ( 2010 , 2014b ), and Luke ( 2014 ) maintain that as a framework for engaging in literacy work, it should look, feel, and sound different. As previously discussed, the models used as part of one’s critical literacy toolkit help contribute to the kinds of work one might accomplish from such a perspective. Critical literacy should also be used as a resource for accomplishing different sorts of life work depending on the context in which it is used as a perspective for teaching, learning, and participating with agency in different spaces and places. Vasquez ( 2010 , 2014b ) has referred to this framing as a way of being, where she has argued that critical literacy should not be an add-on but a frame through which to participate in the world in and outside of school. Such a frame does not necessarily involve taking a negative stance; rather, it means looking at an issue or topic in different ways, analyzing it, and being able to suggest possibilities for change and improvement. In this regard critical literacies can be pleasurable and transformational as well as pedagogical and transgressive.

Consequently, there is no such thing as a critical literacy text. Rather there are texts through which we may better be able to create spaces for critical literacies. The world as text, however, can be read from a critical literacy perspective, especially given that what constitutes a text has changed. For instance, a classroom can be read as a text, and water bottles can also be read as text (Janks, 2014 ). What this means is that issues and topics of interest that capture learners’ interests, based on their experiences, or artifacts with which they engage in the material world, as they participate in communities around them, can and should be used as text to build a curriculum that has significance in their lives.

Key Aspects of Critical Literacy

In spite of the fact that critical literacy does not have a set definition or a normative history, the following key aspects have been described in the literature. It should be noted that such key aspects or tenets would likely take different shape depending on one’s orientation to critical literacy.

Critical literacy should not be a topic to be covered or a unit to be studied. Instead it should be looked on as a lens, frame, or perspective for teaching throughout the day, across the curriculum, and perhaps beyond. What this means is that critical literacy involves having a critical perspective or way of being.

While working across the curriculum, in the content areas, diverse students’ cultural knowledge (drawn from inside the classroom and the children’s everyday worlds, homes, and communities), their funds of knowledge (Gonzales, Moll, & Amanti, 2006 ), and multimodal and multilingual practices (Lau, 2012 ) should be used to build curriculum. Because students learn best when what they are learning has importance in their lives, using the topics, issues, and questions that they raise should therefore be an important part of creating the classroom curriculum.

From a critical literacy perspective the world is seen as a socially constructed text that can be read. The earlier students are introduced to this idea, the sooner they are able to understand what it means to be researchers of language, image, spaces, and objects, exploring such issues as what counts as language, whose language counts, and who decides as well as explore ways texts can be revised, rewritten, or reconstructed to shift or reframe the message(s) conveyed. As such, texts are never neutral. What this means is that all texts are created from a particular perspective with the intention of conveying particular messages. As such these texts work to position readers in certain ways. We therefore need to question the perspective of others.

Texts are socially constructed and created or designed from particular perspectives. As such, they work to have us think about and believe certain things in specific ways. Just as texts are never neutral, the ways we read text are also never neutral. Each time we read, write, or create, we draw from our past experiences and understanding about how the world works. We therefore should also analyze our own readings of text and unpack the position(s) from which we engage in literacy work.

Critical literacy involves making sense of the sociopolitical systems through which we live our lives and questioning these systems. This means our work in critical literacy needs to focus on social issues, such as race, class, gender, or disability and the ways in which we use language to shape our understanding of these issues. The discourses we use to take up such issues work to shape how people are able to—or not able to—live their lives in more or less powerful ways as well as determine such ways of being as who is given more or less powerful roles in society.

Critical literacy practices can be transformative and contribute to change inequitable ways of being and problematic social practices. As such, students who engage in critical literacy from a young age are likely going to be better able to contribute to a more equitably and socially just world by being better able to make informed decisions regarding such issues as power and control, practice democratic citizenship, and develop an ability to think and act ethically.

Text design and production are essential to critical literacy work. These practices can provide opportunities for transformation. Text design and production refer to the creation or construction of multimodal texts and the decisions that are part of that process. This includes the notion that it is not sufficient to simply create texts for the sake of “practicing a skill.” If students are to create texts they ought to be able to let those texts do the work intended. For instance, if students are writing surveys or creating petitions, they should be done with real-life intent for the purpose of dealing with a real issue. If students write petitions, they should be able to send them to whomever they were intended.

Finally, critical literacy is about imagining thoughtful ways of thinking about reconstructing and redesigning texts, images, and practices to convey different and more socially just and equitable messages and ways of being that have real-life effects and real-world impact. For instance critically reading a bottle of water as a text to be read could result in examining the practice of drinking bottled water and changing that practice in support of creating a more sustainable world.

New Directions

New directions in the field of critical literacy include finding new ways to engage with multimodalities and new technologies (Comber, 2016 ; Janks & Vasquez, 2010 ; Nixon, 2003 ; Nixon & Comber, 2005 ; Larson & Marsh, 2015 ), engaging with spatiality, time, and space (Dixon, 2004 ), place-based pedagogies (Comber, 2016 ; Comber & Nixon, 2014 ), working across the curriculum in the content areas (Comber & Nixon, 2014 ; Janks, 2014 ; Vasquez, 2017 ), and working with multilingual learners (Lau, 2012 , 2016 ). These new directions for critical literacy, amongst others that may develop, reiterate and remind us of what educators who have been working in the field of critical literacy for some time have maintained (Comber, 2016 ; Janks, 2014 ; Luke, 2014 ; Vasquez, 2014b )—that there is no correct or universal model of critical literacy. Instead “how educators deploy the tools, attitudes, and philosophies is utterly contingent … upon students’ and teachers’ everyday relations of power, their lived problems and struggles” (Luke, 2014 , p. 29) and the ways in which teachers are able to navigate the (P)politics of the places and spaces in which their work unfolds. Janks insists that critical literacy is essential to the ongoing project of education across the curriculum (Janks, 2014 ). She notes,

in a perfect world in which social differences did not determine who gets access to resources and opportunity, we would still need critical literacy to help us read the texts that construct the politics of everyday life. In the actual world—where a 17-year-old boy sells one of his kidneys for an iPad; … where millions of people lack access to drinking water or sanitation—the list is endless—it is even more important that education enables young people to read both the word and the world critically. (Janks, 2010 , p. 349)

as one way to engage learners in powerful and pleasurable literacies that could contribute to creating a more critically informed and just world.

Critical Reading Skills and Strategies

People learn at an early age to read. Reading is important in society. It’s something we do everyday, whether we’re reading signs, instructions, or leisure reading for fun. However, when it comes to learning, there’s a more active form of reading that’s known as critical reading.

Critical reading is an attempt to get the readers to read and understand, on a deeper level, the material that they’re engaged with. It is a more complex form of reading that asks the reader to analyze the material and interpret it. It’s also important for evaluating materials.

Critical Reading in Practice

Critical reading is particularly important as people begin to enter higher levels of education, although it’s a useful skill at any age. However, it’s an absolutely critical skill to have for people in college and getting advanced degrees. For instance, take a person putting together a research paper. They may have a dozen sources that they’re thinking about including in their argument. The question becomes whether every source should be included, or whether certain sources are more valuable than others.

People performing this kind of research often have to read critically. In being active with the material, they need to seek to understand what their source is discussing and whether the argument in their reading makes sense.

At the same time, they need to interpret the findings of their sources. What do the conclusions of their source mean? Can those conclusions be used to back up the reader’s own arguments? All of this is part of an evaluation process that the reader uses to judge whether the source is valuable.

As an example, say a reader is writing a research paper about space travel. To back up an argument, it would be important to find previous research that discussed fuel consumption or shielding from radiation found in space. If a source made claims about space travel that weren’t backed up by hard math and scientific concepts, it wouldn’t be a source that a person would want to use.

In practice, many people read uncritically. They simply accept the claims made by other people. This can be harmful, since the reader can go on to make untrue claims because they didn’t critically examine the arguments they were reading.

The Critical Reading Pattern

The University of Toronto has a basic worksheet describing the difference between reading and critical reading. There are six elements of critical reading: purpose, activity, focus, questions, direction, and response.

In typical reading, the purpose behind the reading is to only get a basic idea of what is being communicated. In critical reading, however, the reader is reading not only to understand the content but to make judgements about that content. They think about the arguments being made.

Consequently, the activities that people engage in while reading tend to be different from critical reading. Typical readers only look to absorb the content. Critical readers are in a constant process of evaluating what is being read. It’s the difference between knowing what the reading is about versus evaluating whether what is being said makes sense and is logical.

The focus of normal readers is on what the text says, while the critical reader focuses on how the text is making its argument. This is why normal readers ask different questions from critical readers. Typical readers will commonly ask the following questions:

What is the text saying?
What information can I absorb from the reading.

Critical readers, on the other hand, ask the following question:

How was an argument made?
What choices were made in terms of content included in the material?
What reasoning was used in the reading?
What assumptions did the writer make during their writing?

Because readers ask different questions from critical readers, the direction of their reading differs from critical readers. Traditional readers take for granted that the reading is true, whereas critical readers are constantly asking whether the reading is making sound arguments. At the conclusion of their reading, traditional readers can summarize the material.

Critical readers, on the other hand, can evaluate the truth of the reading and interpret the reading. Interpretation often occurs as a person compares what they’ve read against other texts that are similar.

Returning to the idea of writing about space travel, a person who reads uncritically simply accepts a text that says the speed of light travel is now possible. A critical reader, on the other hand, will place the text in context with the larger body of literature indicating that faster than light travel is impossible.

The Critical Reading Process

A critical reader often approaches a text differently from a traditional reader. First, they will often seek out the central argument of a text, or its thesis. They will then look at the supporting evidence that the writer uses to create that central argument.

Writers often combine many different sources to make their argument. A critical reader will look not only at the thesis of a text, but also the supporting evidence and judge whether that supporting evidence is valid.

Critical readers are also sensitive to the types of arguments being made. Some writers tend to appeal to a person’s emotions more than rely on sound arguments, whereas other writers try to create a reasonable argument.

Another way that critical readers differentiate themselves is in the ability to identify how the writer analyzes material. Writers may use cause and effect logic or compare and contrast different topics.

Critical readers are sensitive to these different kinds of analysis and are able to determine whether the analysis was conducted in a sound way. If an analysis is a bad analysis, then it may undermine the entire paper.

Another part of the critical reading process involves interpretation. Interpretation requires the reader to understand the ideas beneath the paper. What debate is the author engaging in? What are some similar debates that others have been involved in? A critical reader even asks if they’re biased to believe the writing. This can be dangerous, because it can lead a reader to agree with materials that aren’t rational. The final part of the critical reading process is the evaluation portion.

Critically evaluating a reading involves asking about both the strengths and weaknesses of the argument. Critical readers also ask if the argument is logical. Another part of critical reading is whether the main argument is consistent with larger work in the field. If a reading doesn’t agree with the larger literature, that doesn’t mean the reading is wrong. However, it’s important to ask critical questions about the material to understand why the reading conflicts with other writings on the topic. It may be that the reading is making a novel contribution to the field, approaching the topic from a direction that has previously gone unresearched.

The Dangers of Uncritical Reading

While there are many occasions when it is perfectly fine to read in a traditional way, there are also some significant dangers associated with uncritical reading. For example, take the writings of politicians and people who have the power to make public policy. It can be easy to read the writings of a politician you agree with. However, that may cause you to go along with what that person is arguing without ever questioning whether it’s a bad argument.

This is actually a fairly common problem in political advertisements and editorials. The writer appeals to a person’s emotions instead of making a sound argument. However, because the reader wants to agree with the writer, they never question the argument. The problem is that using this approach can lead a person to agreeing to public policies, policies that will personally affect their lives, that may actually be harmful. They may agree to public programs or tax policies that will end up damaging their own ability to make a living. For this reason, it’s important to be a critical reader when it comes to material that could have a significant impact on a person’s life and society at large.

Preparing to be a Critical Reader

In order to be a critical reader, there are some definite steps that can be taken prior to engaging with reading material. One of the most important keys to being a critical reader is to be widely read. The more you read on a topic, the more expertise you bring to a new reading. It’s far easier to judge a paper or book if you have read other material that touches on similar topics.

The more familiar you are with a field, the more you’ll get used to asking questions about what you read. You’ll ask some of the same questions over and over, from one reading to another. As you get into this habit, you’ll become much better at evaluating new material.

With a solid reading background, you’ll be prepared to critically read. The next step in this process is to become a part of the writer’s audience. It’s important to remember that writers write for specific audiences and rarely set out to address the general population as a whole.

To best understand a text, it’s important to know about the field that’s being written in, understand the purpose of the writing, and have at least a passing understanding of other writings in the same field. This goes back to the importance of being widely read. For instance, it’s far easier to understand a book written on the topic of Impressionism art if you also understand some of the schools of art that gave rise to Impressionism.

As you read, do so with an open mind. While constantly evaluating the material, be open to the author’s arguments. There is a difference between evaluating a paper fairly and being antagonistic to the author. This is particularly likely to happen when reading materials on a sensitive topic, like religion or politics.

It’s important not to be hostile to the writer, so finding a balance between critical reading and outright hostility is necessary. As you’re reading, if you find yourself repeatedly making judgements of the author, it may be best to take a step and ask yourself whether you’re giving the author some space in which to make their argument.

If you don’t do a lot of reading, then there are some basic steps you can take to helping you understand the material. For instance, if it’s a particularly scholarly work, you may encounter words you’ve never read before. Keep a dictionary on hand. In fact, because the internet is so prevalent today, you can always look up confusing words as you’re reading.

Even more importantly, you can quickly bring yourself up to date about topics a writer is speaking about. If a writer mentions a theory that’s important to their argument, you can quickly get up to date on that material thanks to modern technology.

There are even more basic steps you can take to being a critical reader. Pay attention to the title of a work, since it may help clarify what the author’s purpose is. If the reading is difficult, feel free to make your way slowly through the material.

You may even benefit from taking notes as you read through the material. Particularly if a work is in a field you’re unfamiliar with or simply more difficult than what you normally read, you can benefit from writing notes as you go through. Feel free to keep reading journals as you’re working your way along or to jot down notes in the margins of the reading, particularly if it’s a book that you’ll be going back to in the future.

The truth is that people make false claims in their writing all the time. From science to politics and many other subjects, it’s not uncommon to find writers willing to bend the truth to support their arguments. Being a critical reader will help you to make sound judgements about the material and determine whether the argument is sound.

Critical Reading and Critical Thinking

The final way you can benefit from being a critical reader is by the fact that it will help you become a critical thinker . Not all the material you’ll need to make critical judgments about will be found in writing.

On radio and in the media, you’ll encounter many people making unsound arguments, the same way that people do in writing. As you become familiar with asking critical questions about writing, you’ll also become adjusted to asking those same questions of material you encounter from day to day. You’ll find yourself asking important questions about things you hear in the new, for instance.

Becoming a critical reader is the first step to becoming a critical thinker, which will help you to better evaluate claims you hear from many different types of media, from television to the internet.

Academic Skills Center: Critical Reading

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"While - like many of us - I enjoy reading what I want to read, I still struggle to get through a dense research article or textbook chapter. I have noticed, however, that if I take steps to prepare, I am much more likely to persist through a challenging reading. "

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Critical Reading for Evaluation

"Whereas analysis involves noticing, evaluation requires the reader to make a judgment about the text’s strengths and weaknesses. Many students are not confident in their ability to assess what they are reading."

Critical Reading for Analysis and Comparison

"Critical reading generally refers to reading in a scholarly context, with an eye toward identifying a text or author’s viewpoints, arguments, evidence, potential biases, and conclusions."

Pre-Reading Strategies

Triple entry notebook, critical thinking.

Use this checklist to practice critical thinking while reading an article, watching an advertisement, or making an important purchase or voting decision.

Critical Reading Checklist (Word) Critical Reading Checklist (PDF) Critical Thinking Bookmark (PDF)

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Critical Reading and Reading Strategy

What is critical reading.

Reading critically does not, necessarily, mean being critical of what you read.

Both reading and thinking critically don’t mean being ‘ critical ’ about some idea, argument, or piece of writing - claiming that it is somehow faulty or flawed.

Critical reading means engaging in what you read by asking yourself questions such as, ‘ what is the author trying to say? ’ or ‘ what is the main argument being presented? ’

Critical reading involves presenting a reasoned argument that evaluates and analyses what you have read. Being critical, therefore - in an academic sense - means advancing your understanding , not dismissing and therefore closing off learning.

See also: Listening Types to learn about the importance of critical listening skills.

To read critically is to exercise your judgement about what you are reading – that is, not taking anything you read at face value.

When reading academic material you will be faced with the author’s interpretation and opinion. Different authors will, naturally, have different slants. You should always examine what you are reading critically and look for limitations, omissions, inconsistencies, oversights and arguments against what you are reading.

In academic circles, whilst you are a student, you will be expected to understand different viewpoints and make your own judgements based on what you have read.

Critical reading goes further than just being satisfied with what a text says, it also involves reflecting on what the text describes, and analysing what the text actually means, in the context of your studies.

As a critical reader you should reflect on:

What the text says: after critically reading a piece you should be able to take notes, paraphrasing - in your own words - the key points.
What the text describes: you should be confident that you have understood the text sufficiently to be able to use your own examples and compare and contrast with other writing on the subject in hand.
Interpretation of the text: this means that you should be able to fully analyse the text and state a meaning for the text as a whole.

Critical reading means being able to reflect on what a text says, what it describes and what it means by scrutinising the style and structure of the writing, the language used as well as the content.

Critical Thinking is an Extension of Critical Reading

Thinking critically, in the academic sense, involves being open-minded - using judgement and discipline to process what you are learning about without letting your personal bias or opinion detract from the arguments.

Critical thinking involves being rational and aware of your own feelings on the subject – being able to reorganise your thoughts, prior knowledge and understanding to accommodate new ideas or viewpoints.

Critical reading and critical thinking are therefore the very foundations of true learning and personal development.

See our page: Critical Thinking for more.

Developing a Reading Strategy

You will, in formal learning situations, be required to read and critically think about a lot of information from different sources.

It is important therefore, that you not only learn to read critically but also efficiently.

The first step to efficient reading is to become selective.

If you cannot read all of the books on a recommended reading list, you need to find a way of selecting the best texts for you. To start with, you need to know what you are looking for. You can then examine the contents page and/or index of a book or journal to ascertain whether a chapter or article is worth pursuing further.

Once you have selected a suitable piece the next step is to speed-read.

Speed reading is also often referred to as skim-reading or scanning. Once you have identified a relevant piece of text, like a chapter in a book, you should scan the first few sentences of each paragraph to gain an overall impression of subject areas it covers. Scan-reading essentially means that you know what you are looking for, you identify the chapters or sections most relevant to you and ignore the rest.

When you speed-read you are not aiming to gain a full understanding of the arguments or topics raised in the text. It is simply a way of determining what the text is about.

When you find a relevant or interesting section you will need to slow your reading speed dramatically, allowing you to gain a more in-depth understanding of the arguments raised. Even when you slow your reading down it may well be necessary to read passages several times to gain a full understanding.

See also: Speed-Reading for Professionals .

Following SQ3R

SQ3R is a well-known strategy for reading. SQ3R can be applied to a whole range of reading purposes as it is flexible and takes into account the need to change reading speeds.

SQ3R is an acronym and stands for:

This relates to speed-reading, scanning and skimming the text. At this initial stage you will be attempting to gain the general gist of the material in question.

It is important that, before you begin to read, you have a question or set of questions that will guide you - why am I reading this? When you have a purpose to your reading you want to learn and retain certain information. Having questions changes reading from a passive to an active pursuit. Examples of possible questions include:

What do I already know about this subject?
How does this chapter relate to the assignment question?
How can I relate what I read to my own experiences?

Now you will be ready for the main activity of reading. This involves careful consideration of the meaning of what the author is trying to convey and involves being critical as well as active.

Regardless of how interesting an article or chapter is, unless you make a concerted effort to recall what you have just read, you will forget a lot of the important points. Recalling from time to time allows you to focus upon the main points – which in turn aids concentration. Recalling gives you the chance to think about and assimilate what you have just read, keeping you active. A significant element in being active is to write down, in your own words, the key points.

The final step is to review the material that you have recalled in your notes. Did you understand the main principles of the argument? Did you identify all the main points? Are there any gaps? Do not take for granted that you have recalled everything you need correctly – review the text again to make sure and clarify.

Continue to: Effective Reading Critical Thinking

See also: Critical Analysis Writing a Dissertation Critical Thinking and Fake News

Basics for GSIs
Advancing Your Skills

Teaching Critical Reading

Students are assigned heavy reading lists throughout their years at UC Berkeley, and frequently they skimp on their reading. On Berkeley’s 2020 University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey , 49% of the respondents reported reading 70% or less of their assigned readings during the academic year. Only 29% reported completing 81% or more of their readings.

Several factors can contribute to the shortfall, but a phenomenon many GSIs encounter — and one they are in a good position to address — is that students sometimes employ ineffective strategies for their readings and become disengaged or discouraged when they perceive that the gain from their reading is low. Many assume that reading any text means reading straight through, from beginning to end, as one would a novel. Advanced students and professionals, however, do not read academic and professional literature in this way; instead, they have developed a set of informed strategies.

Strategies for critical reading can vary by discipline, text-type, and the purpose of the particular reading assignment. Textbooks, research reports, epic poems, ethnographies, eyewitness journals, and scholarly articles all demand different processes that we call “reading,” and students may never have thought about employing differential strategies. “Reading critically” is a fairly abstract concept; students are helped greatly when their GSIs explain and demonstrate what it looks like, modeling the processes and behaviors of their particular course context and discipline. When students know more about what you want them to get from a text and how to get it, they will spend their study time far more fruitfully. Their newfound competence can, in turn, motivate them to keep up.

This section of the Teaching Guide offers strategies developed by GSIs and faculty members at UC Berkeley for their teaching situations. Some are addressed to GSIs, others to students. It can be very useful to compare how someone in a different discipline from your own conceives of and teaches critical reading. For instance, the C.R.E.A.T.E. method uses tools of intensive textual analysis to teach students to read and assess scientific research critically. For specific examples of how these techniques have been used in science classes at universities around the country, see the searchable “ Roadmap Archive .”

In This Section

Guiding and Motivating Students
Critical Reading in the Natural Sciences
Critical Reading in the Social Sciences
Critical Reading in the Humanities
Science and Scientific Claims (Biology) (pdf)
Reading Arabic Poetry (pdf)
Tips for Reading Medieval Texts in Translation (Celtic Studies) (pdf)
Becoming an Active Reader (English) (pdf)
Practical Tips for Reading Sociology (pdf)
Reading Actively (and Efficiently) for History Courses (pdf)
Creative Approaches: GSI Award Essays on Teaching Critical Reading

Teaching Critical Reading Skills: Strategies for Academic Librarians

January 26, 2023 Erin Nevius Publications 0

ACRL announces the publication of Teaching Critical Reading Skills: Strategies for Academic Librarians , edited by Hannah Gascho Rempel and Rachel Hamelers. This two-volume set— Reading in the Disciplines and for Specific Populations and Reading for Evaluation, Beyond Scholarly Texts, and in the World —provides ready-made activities you can add or adapt to your teaching practice.

Learn more about Teaching Critical Reading Skills in this excerpt from the introductions by the editors, licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 .

Why (and What Is) Critical Reading?

While reading might initially appear to be a solitary practice, the act of reading—particularly critical reading—often takes place in community. Disciplinary and genre-based communities provide guidelines or expectations for what should be read. In other cases, community manifests itself when friends or colleagues suggest or discuss a book or article they just read and we are inspired to read something new. A book suggestion was key for prompting our thinking about critical reading. A colleague of Hannah’s (Anne-Marie Deitering) placed a copy of Critical Reading in Higher Education: Academic Goals and Social Engagement by Karen Manarin, Miriam Carey, Melanie Rathburn, and Glen Ryland on her desk.[1] Hannah and Anne-Marie discussed the book with each other, and then they discussed the book with colleagues outside of their own library (and hosted an ACRL panel), and the community discussion continued to expand. Critical Reading in Higher Education provided the theoretical basis for these volumes and helped us explore what critical reading could look like as practiced and interpreted by academic librarians.

There is a long history of scholarship on teaching reading. But this scholarship had been primarily focused on skills-based approaches for K-12 students—not on university students. In addition, the “critical” aspect, which calls for reflection and engagement with a larger community of readers, was missing from earlier explorations of reading instruction. Critical Reading in Higher Education shifted our thinking as librarians. Manarin and colleagues are teaching faculty representing a range of disciplinary areas at a public, undergraduate university. Their acknowledgment of students’ struggles with reading and faculty assumptions about students’ reading skills resonated with our experiences as librarians who often serve as a bridge between faculty assumptions and students’ realities.

Manarin and colleagues provide a definition for critical reading that we have also adopted for these volumes.[2] Their definition for critical reading posits that reading has purpose. And within academic settings, critical reading often has one of two learning purposes:

Disciplinary or academic reading . This type of critical reading emphasizes learning to read in order to work, understand, or create new knowledge in a discipline. This type of reading is typically framed as reading for an academic purpose. Characteristics of reading for academic purposes include identifying patterns in the text, determining main and supporting ideas, evaluating credibility, making judgments about how a text is argued, and making inferences about the text.
Socially engaged reading. This type of critical reading encourages learners to read in such a way that they will understand a different perspective, empathize with those whose experiences are different from their own, or create change in their community. This type of reading is often framed as reading for social engagement. Characteristics of reading for social engagement include comprehension, analysis, interpretation, and evaluation. However, socially engaged reading also requires developing connections between one’s own knowledge and social contexts such as civic engagement or between the text and personal experience.

If the definition of critical reading was previously unfamiliar to you, it had also been unfamiliar to us and many of these chapter authors until we encountered Critical Reading in Higher Education . But upon reflection, we realized these two types of critical reading could serve as a framework for discussing reading instruction practices many of us were already using in our roles as academic librarians and archivists. Additional models for teaching students to read critically have been shared in recent years such as the CREATE model,[3] lateral reading,[4] and the SIFT method.[5] Several chapter authors incorporate these models into their approaches to critical reading and share their recommendations for how to best adapt them in a library context. Each chapter contains a section titled “Critical Reading Connection” to highlight each author’s approach for engaging with the purpose of reading critically and to carry forward the conversation about how librarians can foster critical reading.

What Can Librarians Bring to Critical Reading Practice?

Academic librarians and archivists have a long history of engaging with literacy—whether information literacy, primary source literacy, visual literacy, or multimedia literacy. From this foundation of working with learners to facilitate their ability to read and write in various formats, librarians are well positioned to engage learners in critical reading practices, regardless of the format in which they are reading. Many academic librarians draw on the ACRLFramework[6] as the keystone for curricular choices on how to teach students about information creation, how to search for information, and the value of information. Based on academic librarians’ understanding of the ACRL Framework, we are able to readily transition to teaching critical reading skills that focus on evaluation, application, and developing connections.

Many academic librarians also have a history of engagement with pedagogical best practices. We endeavor to base our teaching in a shared set of practices demonstrated to increase learning. Some of these pedagogical best practices include student-centered instructional choices, the use of active learning techniques, and balancing learning modalities (e.g., in-person or online, synchronous, or asynchronous) based on the learners’ needs and context. While this is not a book about pedagogical best practices, you will see these best practices woven throughout as the intentional incorporation of these practices is a core strength in our academic librarian community.

Earlier, we noted the bridging function librarians serve as they navigate between faculty and students. We are able to serve as a bridge in part because of our deep knowledge of our learner audiences. For example, we understand the different reading needs of first-year students, transfer students, and graduate students, as well as the affective challenges with reading that are often shared across learner audiences. We also bring an understanding of our disciplinary communities. We know what types of sources are read, the histories of how authority has been granted in various fields (and where changes may need to occur in how authority is determined), and how students may be expected to apply what they read in future professional or civic settings. Depending on the disciplinary setting, we also recognize that critical reading skills do not need to be confined to certain types of texts—or even to text at all! Finally, academic librarians frequently look beyond their local institutions to think about the larger structural and social justice implications of what is read, how we read, and who does the reading.

All these pre-existing types of knowledge place us in an excellent position to join in or lead conversations about critical reading on our campuses.

In these chapters, you will see examples of librarians’ and archivists’ deep connections to our campus communities and how critical reading instruction can be integrated in a variety of contexts within those communities. There are five thematic sections in this two-volume set. But across those five sections, you will see several key learner-centered themes woven through those sections. Here are the three learner-centered themes we observed:

Making the implicit explicit for learners
Reading as a skill that must be practiced and nurtured
Reading as a communal act

As you reflect on the ways you might adopt or adapt the critical reading exercises described in this book, we encourage you to look for the ways you can demystify the steps of reading a scholarly article or a figure presented in a news source. Think about how you can provide feedback on students’ initial attempts at reading using new techniques, or how you might build in intermediate steps so critical reading is viewed as an activity refined through continual practice rather than immediate expertise. Finally, returning to the two key purposes for critical reading—disciplinary or socially engaged reading—continue to be on the lookout for ways to demonstrate that reading is not a solitary activity but takes place within a larger context and community.

Karen Manarin et al., Critical Reading in Higher Education: Academic Goals and Social Engagement (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2015).
Manarin et al., Critical Reading , 5–11.
Alan J. Gottesman and Sally G. Hoskins, “CREATE Cornerstone: Introduction to Scientific Thinking, a New Course for STEM-Interested Freshmen, Demystifies Scientific Thinking through Analysis of Scientific Literature,” CBE Life Sciences Education 12 (2013): 59–72, https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.12-11-0201 .
Sam Wineburg and Sarah McGrew, “Lateral Reading and the Nature of Expertise: Reading Less and Learning More When Evaluating Digital Information,” Teachers College Record 121, no. 11 (November 1, 2019): 1–40, https://doi.org/10.1177/016146811912101102 .
Mike Caulfield, “SIFT (The Four Moves),” Hapgood (blog), June 19, 2019, https://hapgood.us/2019/06/19/sift-the-four-moves/ .
Framework for Information Literacy, Association of College & Research Libraries.

Reading & Writing Purposes

Introduction: critical thinking, reading, & writing, critical thinking.

The phrase “critical thinking” is often misunderstood. “Critical” in this case does not mean finding fault with an action or idea. Instead, it refers to the ability to understand an action or idea through reasoning. According to the website SkillsYouNeed [1]:

Critical thinking might be described as the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking.

In essence, critical thinking requires you to use your ability to reason. It is about being an active learner rather than a passive recipient of information.

Critical thinkers rigorously question ideas and assumptions rather than accepting them at face value. They will always seek to determine whether the ideas, arguments, and findings represent the entire picture and are open to finding that they do not.

Critical thinkers will identify, analyze, and solve problems systematically rather than by intuition or instinct.

Someone with critical thinking skills can:

Understand the links between ideas.
Determine the importance and relevance of arguments and ideas.
Recognize, build, and appraise arguments.
Identify inconsistencies and errors in reasoning.
Approach problems in a consistent and systematic way.
Reflect on the justification of their own assumptions, beliefs and values.

Read more at: https://www.skillsyouneed.com/learn/critical-thinking.html

Critical thinking—the ability to develop your own insights and meaning—is a basic college learning goal. Critical reading and writing strategies foster critical thinking, and critical thinking underlies critical reading and writing.

Critical Reading

Critical reading builds on the basic reading skills expected for college.

College Readers’ Characteristics

College readers are willing to spend time reflecting on the ideas presented in their reading assignments. They know the time is well-spent to enhance their understanding.
College readers are able to raise questions while reading. They evaluate and solve problems rather than merely compile a set of facts to be memorized.
College readers can think logically. They are fact-oriented and can review the facts dispassionately. They base their judgments on ideas and evidence.
College readers can recognize error in thought and persuasion as well as recognize good arguments.
College readers are skeptical. They understand that not everything in print is correct. They are diligent in seeking out the truth.

Critical Readers’ Characteristics

Critical readers are open-minded. They seek alternative views and are open to new ideas that may not necessarily agree with their previous thoughts on a topic. They are willing to reassess their views when new or discordant evidence is introduced and evaluated.
Critical readers are in touch with their own personal thoughts and ideas about a topic. Excited about learning, they are eager to express their thoughts and opinions.
Critical readers are able to identify arguments and issues. They are able to ask penetrating and thought-provoking questions to evaluate ideas.
Critical readers are creative. They see connections between topics and use knowledge from other disciplines to enhance their reading and learning experiences.
Critical readers develop their own ideas on issues, based on careful analysis and response to others’ ideas.

The video below, although geared toward students studying for the SAT exam (Scholastic Aptitude Test used for many colleges’ admissions), offers a good, quick overview of the concept and practice of critical reading.

Critical Reading & Writing

College reading and writing assignments often ask you to react to, apply, analyze, and synthesize information. In other words, your own informed and reasoned ideas about a subject take on more importance than someone else’s ideas, since the purpose of college reading and writing is to think critically about information.

Critical thinking involves questioning. You ask and answer questions to pursue the “careful and exact evaluation and judgment” that the word “critical” invokes (definition from The American Heritage Dictionary ). The questions simply change depending on your critical purpose. Different critical purposes are detailed in the next pages of this text.

However, here’s a brief preview of the different types of questions you’ll ask and answer in relation to different critical reading and writing purposes.

When you react to a text you ask:

“What do I think?” and
“Why do I think this way?”

e.g., If I asked and answered these “reaction” questions about the topic assimilation of immigrants to the U.S. , I might create the following main idea statement, which I could then develop in an essay: I think that assimilation has both positive and negative effects because, while it makes life easier within the dominant culture, it also implies that the original culture is of lesser value.

When you apply text information you ask:

“How does this information relate to the real world?”

e.g., If I asked and answered this “application” question about the topic assimilation , I might create the following main idea statement, which I could then develop in an essay: During the past ten years, a group of recent emigrants has assimilated into the local culture; the process of their assimilation followed certain specific stages.

When you analyze text information you ask:

“What is the main idea?”
“What do I want to ‘test’ in the text to see if the main idea is justified?” (supporting ideas, type of information, language), and
“What pieces of the text relate to my ‘test?'”

e.g., If I asked and answered these “analysis” questions about the topic immigrants to the United States , I might create the following main idea statement, which I could then develop in an essay: Although Lee (2009) states that “segmented assimilation theory asserts that immigrant groups may assimilate into one of many social sectors available in American society, instead of restricting all immigrant groups to adapting into one uniform host society,” other theorists have shown this not to be the case with recent immigrants in certain geographic areas.

When you synthesize information from many texts you ask:

“What information is similar and different in these texts?,” and
“What pieces of information fit together to create or support a main idea?”

e.g., If I asked and answered these “synthesis” questions about the topic immigrants to the U.S. , I might create the following main idea statement, which I could then develop by using examples and information from many text articles as evidence to support my idea: Immigrants who came to the United States during the immigration waves in the early to mid 20th century traditionally learned English as the first step toward assimilation, a process that was supported by educators. Now, both immigrant groups and educators are more focused on cultural pluralism than assimilation, as can be seen in educators’ support of bilingual education. However, although bilingual education heightens the child’s reasoning and ability to learn, it may ultimately hinder the child’s sense of security within the dominant culture if that culture does not value cultural pluralism as a whole.

Critical reading involves asking and answering these types of questions in order to find out how the information “works” as opposed to just accepting and presenting the information that you read in a text. Critical writing involves recording your insights into these questions and offering your own interpretation of a concept or issue, based on the meaning you create from those insights.

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What Does Critical Reading Really Mean?

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The definition of critical reading means reading with the goal of finding a deep understanding of the material, whether it is fiction or nonfiction . It is the act of analyzing and evaluating what you are reading as you make your way through the text or as you reflect back upon your reading.

Using Your Head

When you read a piece of fiction critically, you use your common sense to determine what the writer means, as opposed to what the written words actually say. The following passage appears in " The Red Badge of Courage ", the classic Civil War-era work by Stephen Crane. In this passage, the main character, Henry Fleming, has just returned from battle and is now receiving treatment for a nasty head wound.

"Yeh don't holler ner say nothin'... an' yeh never squeaked. Yer a good un, Henry. Most 'a men would a' been in th' hospital long ago. A shot in th' head ain't foolin' business..."

The point seems clear enough. Henry is receiving praise for his apparent fortitude and bravery. But what is really happening in this scene?

During the confusion and terror of the battle, Henry Fleming had actually panicked and run away, abandoning his fellow soldiers in the process. He had received the blow in the chaos of retreat; not the frenzy of battle. In this scene, he was feeling ashamed of himself.

When you read this passage critically, you actually read between the lines. By doing so, you determine the message that the author is really conveying. The words speak of bravery, but the real message of this scene is concerned feelings of cowardice that tormented Henry.

Shortly after the scene above, Fleming realizes that nobody in the entire regiment knows the truth about his wound. They all believe that the wound was the result of fighting in the battle:

His self-pride was now entirely restored....He had performed his mistakes in the dark, so he was still a man.

Despite the claim that Henry feels relieved, we know by reflecting and thinking critically that Henry isn't really comforted. By reading between the lines, we know he is deeply bothered by the sham.

What's the Lesson?

One way to read a novel critically is to be aware of the lessons or messages that a writer is sending in a subtle way.

After reading "The Red Badge of Courage", a critical reader would reflect back on the many scenes and look for a lesson or a message. What is the writer trying to say about courage and war?

The good news is, there isn't a right or wrong answer. It's the act of forming a question and offering your own opinion that counts.

Nonfiction writing can be just as tricky to evaluate as fiction, although there are differences. Nonfiction writing normally involves a series of statements that are backed by evidence.

As a critical reader, you will need to be mindful of this process. The goal of critical thinking is to evaluate information in an unbiased way. This includes being open to changing your mind about a subject if the good evidence exists. However, you should also try not to be influenced by unsound evidence.

The trick to critical reading in nonfiction is to know how to separate the good evidence from the bad.

There are signs to look out for when it comes to misleading or bad evidence.

Assumptions

Watch for broad, unsupported statements like "most people in the pre-war South approved of enslavement ." Every time you see a statement, ask yourself if the author provides any evidence to back up his point.

Implications

Be mindful of subtle statements such as "Statistics support those who argue that boys are better at math than girls, so why should this be such a controversial issue?"

Don't become distracted by the fact that some people do believe that males are naturally better at math, and address that issue. When you do this, you are accepting the implication and, therefore, falling for bad evidence.

The point is, in critical reading, that the author has not provided statistics ; he merely implied that statistics exist.

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Dr. Ian O'Byrne

<span class='p-name'>What is “Critical Literacy” in Education?</span>

Embedded in literacy practices, critical literacy provides opportunities for readers to determine their ability to discern the purpose of texts and also their ability to identify ideologies presented in the texts. As they read, individuals can accept, reject or reconstruct the ideologies presented in the text (Cervetti, Pardales, Damico, 2001) to support their own life experiences (Luke, 2000). This knowledge construction, or reconstruction, of content empowers students to embrace their own conceptual perspectives and enables them to more critically evaluate other aspects of their lives. Some may interpret this examination and critique of texts and the process of reading as a form of “activism,” (Morrell, 2002) or “cyberactivism” (McCaughey & Ayers, 2003) in the online space.

Critical literacy & “truth”

Social critical theorists concerned with social injustice and inequities first coined the term “critical literacy” to describe the impact of the unequal power relationships amongst societal groups. Because of this inequality, certain “truths” were restricted to an elite class over other groups within society as a whole. Employing a critical literacy framework, “truth” is defined as the ideas or perspectives that were determined and propagated by the group that held power (Giroux & McLaren, 1989; Cervetti, Pardales, & Damico, 2001).

Through the use of schooling, government, and advertising, these ideologies were supported and promoted through the texts produced by the privileged group (Shor, 1999; Alvermann, 2002; Street, 2003). The continued promotion of these “truths” by the group in power led to the “status quo” and the assumption that these agendas were in fact truth (Shor, 1999; McDaniel, 2004).

Dialectic critique

Critical literacy is rooted in critical theory and an examination process known as “dialectic critique” (Lankshear & McLaren, 1993). This process, developed in the philosophies of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and adopted by Karl Heinrich Marx, assisted the individual’s understanding of “what is,” by examining the opposite or converse idea (Lankshear & McLaren, 1993).

Essentially, students were exposed to the opposite perspective of the subject under consideration to allow them to further understand it (Lankshear & McLaren, 1993). By looking at the opposite, students tried to understand the values of the advocated “truth.” Put simply, if you do not agree with the version of “truth” presented in a text or ideology, you can reflect on (or create) the opposite or converse idea.

This form of literacy practice requires students to reflect upon how research challenges or reinforces the economic and political forces that shaped history (Lankshear & McLaren, 1993; Luke, 1994). This process of “dialectic critique” is guided by critical theory and is manifested in critical literacy today.

Hopefully this post was valuable for you. Subscribe to my weekly newsletter to learn more about how to embed this in your own practices.

Alvermann, D. E. & Hagood, M. C. (2000). Fandom and critical media literacy. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 43 , 436-446.

Alvermann, D. E. (2004). Media, information communication technologies, and youth literacies: A cultural studies perspective. American Behavioral Scientist, 48 (1), 78-83.

Anderson, G., & Irvine, P. (1993). Informing critical literacy with ethnography. In C. Lankshear and P. McLaren (Eds.) Critical literacy: Politics, praxis, and the postmodern . Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

Beck, A. (2005). A place for critical literacy. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 48 (5), 392-400. doi: 10.1598/JAAL.48.5.3

Browne, M. N., Freeman, K. E., & Williamson, C. L. (2000). The importance of critical thinking for student use of the Internet. College Student Journal, 34 (3), 391–398.

Cervetti, G., Pardales, M., & Damico, J. (2001, April). A tale of differences: Comparing the traditions, perspectives and educational goals of critical reading and critical literacy. Reading Online, 4 (9). Available: http:// readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF/articles/cervetti/index.html

Cook-Sather, A. (2002). Authorizing Students’ Perspectives: Toward Trust, Dialogue, and Change in Education. Educational Researcher, 31 (4). 3-14.

Duncan-Andrade, J. M. R., & Morrell, E. (2008). The art of critical pedagogy: Possibilities for moving from theory to practice in urban schools. New York: Lang.

Fabos, B. (2008). The Price of Information: Critical Literacy, Education and Today’s Internet. In D.J. Leu, J. Coiro, M. Knobel & C. Lankshear (Eds .). Handbook of Research on New Literacies. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Giroux, H. (1987). Literacy and the pedagogy of empowerment. In P. Freire & D. Macedo (Eds.), Literacy: Reading the word and the world (pp. 1-29). Westport, CT: Heinemann.

Giroux, H., & McLaren, P. (1989). Critical pedagogy, the state, and cultural struggle. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Kellner, D. & Share, J. (2005). Toward critical media literacy: Core concepts, debates, organizations, and policy. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 26 (3), 369-386. doi: 10.1080/01596300500200169

Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (1998). Critical literacies and new technologies . Paper presented at the American Education Research Association convention in San Diego, CA.

Lewison, M., Flint, A. S., & Van Sluys, K. (2002). Taking on critical literacy: The journey of newcomers and novices. Language Arts, 79 (5) , 382-392.

Luke, A. (1994). The Social Construction of Literacy in the Classroom. Melbourne: Macmillan Australia.

Luke, A., & Freebody, P. (1999, August). Further notes on the four resources model. Reading Online . Retrieved January 26, 2003, from http://www.readingonline.org/ past/past_index.asp?HREF=/research/lukefreebody.html

Luke, A. (2000). Critical literacy in Australia: A matter of context and standpoint. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 43 (5), 448-461.

Myers, J., & Beach, R. (2001). Hypermedia authoring as critical literacy. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 44 (6), 538-546.

Myers, J. & Beach, R. (2004). Constructing critical literacy practices through technology tools and inquiry. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education [Online serial], 4 (3).

Pickerill, J. (2003). Cyberprotest: Environmental activism online. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Robinson, E. & Robinson, S. (2003). What does it mean-discourse, text, culture: An introduction . Sydney, Australia: McGraw-Hill.

Shor, I. (1999). What is Critical Literacy? Journal for Pedagogy, Pluralism, & Practice, 4 (1). Retrieved December 1, 2011, from http://www.lesley.edu/journals/jppp/4/shor.html

10 Comments → What is “Critical Literacy” in Education?

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Critical Pedagogy

Introduction to Critical Pedagogy

About this Guide

What is critical pedagogy, why is critical pedagogy important.

Types of Critical Pedagogy
Getting Started with Critical Pedagogy
Publications in Critical Pedagogy

Critical Pedagogy Research Librarian

This guide gives an overview to critical pedagogy and its vitalness to teaching and education. It is not comprehensive, but is meant to give an introduction to the complex topic of critical pedagogy and impart an understanding of its deeper connection to critical theory and education.

One working definition of critical pedagogy is that it “is an educational theory based on the idea that schools typically serve the interests of those who have power in a society by, usually unintentionally, perpetually unquestioned norms for relationships, expectations, and behaviors” (Billings, 2019). Based on critical theory, it was first theorized in the US in the 70s by the widely-known Brazilian educator Paolo Freire in his canonical book Pedagogy of the Oppressed (2018), but has since taken on a life of its own in its application to all facets of teaching and learning. The "pedagogy of the oppressed," or what what we know today to be the basis of critical pedagogy, is described by Freire as:

"...a pedagogy which must be forged with, not for, the oppressed (whether individuals or peoples) in the incessant struggle to regain their humanity. This pedagogy makes oppression and its causes objects of reflection by the oppressed, and from that reflection will come their necessary engagement in the struggle for liberation. And in the struggle this pedagogy will be made and remade...[It] sis an instrument for their critical discovery that both they and their oppressors are manifestations of dehumanization." (p. 48)

Perhaps a more straightforward definition of critical pedagogy is "a radical approach to education that seeks to transform oppressive structures in society using democratic and activist approaches to teaching and learn" (Braa & Callero, 2006).

There are many applications of theory-based pedagogy that privilege minoritarian thought such as antiracist pedagogy, feminist pedagogy, engaged pedagogy, culturally sustaining pedagogy, and social justice, to name a few.

Billings, S. (2019). Critical pedagogy. Salem press encyclopedia. New York: Salem Press.

Braa, D., & Callero, P. (2006, October). Critical pedagogy and classroom praxis. Teaching Sociology, 34 , 357-369.

Freire, P. Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Bloomsbury Academic.

Critical Pedagogy is an important framework and tool for teaching and learning because it:

recognizes systems and patterns of oppression within society at-large and education more specifically, and in doing so, decrease oppression and increase freedom
empowers students through enabling them to recognize the ways in which "dominant power operates in numerous and often hidden ways
offers a critique of education that acknowledges its political nature while spotlighting the fact that it is not neutral
encourages students and instructors to challenge commonly accepted assumptions that reveal hidden power structures, inequities, and injustice

Kincheloe, J. L. (2004). Critical pedagogy primer. P. Lang.

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Critical Literacy in Early Elementary Grades

Using a form of literary criticism in tandem with drama activities helps young students think deeply about how stories are constructed.

Kids gathered around listening to a story.

From the back of her class, I watched as one of my favorite colleagues read to her second-grade students. While reading, she paused, allowed for turn and talks, and asked students to make predictions.

When she had finished reading, my colleague asked questions about the plot, setting, and character traits. In many respects, the lesson was a success—the students had participated eagerly. However, my colleague told me that she wanted more from her read-aloud time. Having seen my students engage in drama-related literacy activities, she was curious about how she could weave those ideas into her literacy lessons, so I shared the nine-day critical literacy and drama framework described below.

What Is Critical literacy?

Although there is no set definition of critical literacy, it essentially involves examining the relationship between language and power in a text. This work is responsive and thoughtful in nature. The chosen text, students’ comfort and familiarity with the text, and the lesson goals all have an effect on what happens in the classroom.

Using the four dimensions of critical literacy —disrupting the commonplace, considering multiple viewpoints, focusing on the sociopolitical, and taking action—as a springboard, I focus on how purposeful questioning, discussion, and improvised drama might influence how students engage with literacy lessons.

Setting the Stage

The first step is selecting a strong mentor text, one with multiple narratives, in which alternate stories are told between the lines and within the illustrations. A worthwhile text should serve to launch counternarratives or conversations about identity and social issues, or about differences in power and privilege. Children should be able to see themselves and learn about the lives of others through the text. Examples include: A Chair for My Mother by Vera Williams, Islandborn by Junot Díaz, Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson, The Remember Balloons by Jessie Oliveros, and Another by Christian Robinson.

Here is my nine-day plan for discussing the text Boy by Phil Cummings.

Day 1. Introduce and discuss: First I reveal the cover and ask students to make predictions and share reflections. Then I read the book to the students, pausing for partner discussions. After the reading and discussion, I ask questions such as:

Whose voice do you notice most in this story? Whose voice is missing?
What do you think Boy wished the villagers knew about him?
Can you tell the story of what the villagers thought as Boy approached the battle?
How did the dragon discover the village? Does the dragon have a family?
How is your life like or different from Boy’s life? How can we use this story to see our world differently?

Days 2 and 3. Review and set up the drama activities: The intention of drama activities is to draw deeper meaning from a story. The drama offers more than a performance—it’s a way of learning . In each drama activity, students volunteer to become characters from the text.

If the class is focused on giving a voice to an oppressed character or uncovering motive, I may choose to hot seat, meaning that students interview a character. With Boy , my students chose to interview the dragon, Boy, and the townspeople.

Perhaps students want to encourage a character at a pivotal moment. If so, I might carry out a corridor of voices, where students line a hallway and express what was left unsaid in the text. Sometimes, student opinions are clearly divided—in these situations, a town hall meeting allows deliberation on important issues from the book. While exploring Boy , for instance, students participated in a town hall meeting to decide if the dragon should stay in the town.

Finally, when we speculate about a character’s history, I sometimes have students create flashbacks to shed new light on the story, or imagine future scenes to push the focus beyond the end of the book.

Day 4. Shared writing: As a group, we author a piece of writing. I bring in linked texts, model my thinking, and ask for student input. The piece can be a letter to a community member, the author, or a character from the story. It might also take on the form of a journal entry as a character or a part of the story told from an alternate perspective.

Based on the reading, discussion, and drama activities, students discuss the possible writing forms (e.g., poem, letter, comic, diary entry), and participate in peer conferences so they can brainstorm and gain feedback.

Days 5, 6, and 7. Writing: Students need time to create meaningful works. Throughout, they write and then revise their work. I engage in writing conferences with students (one-to-one or small group) to support and nudge each of them.

Days 8 and 9. Sharing their work: Sharing writing and creating action plans are integral to this process. The action plans are student-led and ongoing.

Examples include arranging fundraisers, partnering with community organizations, or engaging in service projects. Over the years, I’ve seen this action take on many forms including, performing skits at senior citizen homes, volunteering to stock shelves at shelters, and supporting local Special Olympics groups. Making space and time to support action plans makes a difference in the type and quality of work students engage in.

Later in the semester, I found myself at the back of my colleague’s classroom again. This time, I watched as she hosted a talk show to interview characters. The student input had come a long way, and when I asked how she felt about the lesson, she said, “Now that I’ve done it this way, I can never go back!”

Critical Reading Importance in Education Research Paper

Introduction.

Academic research is a rigorous process that involves formulation of a research topic, collection, analysis and presentation of data (Booth, 2011). This paper discusses the process of critical reading of literature and how to avoid plagiarism.

Critical Reading

Most scholarly research activities involve critical review of secondary data such as books, articles, periodicals and journals (Jupp, 2006). Although there are various ways of reading text, critical reading is important in academics activities at college and university levels (Leedy & Osmond, 2012, p. 180). The process of critical reading involves comprehension and in-depth analysis of literature (Lesley, 2001, p. 182). Critical reading is not synonymous with reading and critiquing literature because it includes text evaluation (Christensen, Johnson, & Turner, 2011). Text evaluation as an aspect of critical reading involves close examination of what is written (John, 2009, p. 99).

Elements of Critical Reading

As already mentioned, critical reading transcends mere text comprehension. Nonetheless, understanding text is the starting point in critical reading because analysis and evaluation of literature is not possible without proper text comprehension (John, 2009, pp. 98-99). Therefore, after recognizing what a text discusses, the next step is to interpret it (Leedy & Osmond, 2012). Text interpretation involves pondering what a text is trying to achieve. For instance, it is important to determine whether a book is explaining, discussing or arguing out a certain issue (Kuhn, 2012). Lastly, a critical reader should deduce what an entire literature is discussing.

Importance of Critical Reading

Critical reading is important because of the following reasons. First, it gives the reader a good understanding of arguments and ideas discussed in literature (Neuman, 2011). Secondly, critical reading of several texts enables a reader to understand a given subject from various perspectives, which is important in academics (John, 2009, pp. 99-100). Thirdly, it enables a person to interpret literature and make a logical conclusion from a personal point of view (Becky, 2011, pp. 90-92). Lastly, critical reading helps in identification of gaps and biases in literature, which creates the basis for further research in a given subject (Willis, 2007).

Research on Education Topic

When searching for research materials, it is advisable for researchers to use commonly used words in research topics. On the other hand, long phrases and sentences should be avoided because they hinder access to research materials. Some of the key words that can be used to search literature on education research topic include cause, impact, learning, challenges and effect. These words are often used in formulation of many research topics (Stribling, 2008, pp. 36-37). For instance, what are the effects of technology on education pedagogy in American universities? In this research topic, the word effect has been used in formulating the independent variable (Lesley, 2001, p. 182).

How to Avoid Plagiarism in Literature Reviews

Plagiarism is one of the challenges often experienced during presentation of academic research findings (Stribling, 2008, p. 35). Plagiarism is an aspect of piracy and can occur in various forms. In academic context, it refers to using an individual’s work without proper reference to it (John, 2009, pp. 108-109). Nonetheless, plagiarism can be avoided through proper paraphrasing. Proper internal citations and bibliography also help in avoiding plagiarism (Mannion, 2009, p. 332). Students should not cut and paste other people’s works without paraphrasing, quoting and making proper citations (Giroux, 2008, pp. 102-103).

Unintentional Plagiarism and its Consequences

Unintentional plagiarism often occurs unconsciously in the process of writing due to lack of citation and quoting skills (John, 2009, pp. 98-110). For instance, failure to quote an entire sentence can lead to plagiarism. In addition, careless paraphrasing of text by altering a few synonyms without reworking the entire sentence leads to plagiarism (Giroux, 2008, pp. 84-90).

Plagiarism has serious ramifications in academics and can lead to expulsion or suspension of a student depending on the degree of the offense (Jesson & Matheson, 2011). In extreme cases, it can lead to incarceration of an individual if he or she is found guilty of passing off another person’s intellectual work as his or hers.

Experiences with Plagiarism

Experiences with plagiarism are often disgusting because one has to face serious penalties if found guilty of committing it. In some cases, a student may have to rewrite an entire work due to plagiarism (Mannion, 2009, pp. 323-339). Rewriting an assignment is a long painful process because it requires a lot of time and resources. If a student is found guilty of plagiarism, he or she loses academic credibility, which can be really devastating (Becky, 2011, pp. 87-105). Sometimes it is not easy for students to detect plagiarism in an essay and this can lead to wastage of time. Therefore, plagiarism is a serious challenge to students.

From this discussion it is evident that critical reading is an intensive process that requires the reader to understand, analyze and interpret a text with an aim of finding out what the entire manuscript is intending to achieve. Students should therefore practice good critical reading skills.

Becky, R. (2011). From Apprehension to Critical Literacy. Journal of Education Thought , 45(1), 87-105.

Booth, A. (2011). Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review. London: Sage.

Christensen, L., Johnson, R., & Turner, L. (2011). Research Methods, Design, and Analysis. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Giroux, H. (2008). Reading texts, literacy, and textual authority. Journal of Education , 172(1), 84-103.

Jesson, J., & Matheson, L. (2011). Doing Your Literature Review: Traditional and Systematic. London: Sage.

John, W. (2009). Critical language awareness: Key principles for a course in critical reading. Language Awareness , 2(3), 98-110.

Jupp, V. (2006). The Sage Dictionary of Social Research Methods. London: Sage.

Kuhn, T. (2012). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Leedy, P., & Osmond, J. (2012). Practical Research: Planning and Design. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.

Lesley, M. (2001). Exploring the links between critical and developmental reading. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy , 45(3), 180-189.

Mannion, G. (2009). Reading, writing, resonating: Striking chords across the contexts of students’ everyday and college lives. Pedagogy, Culture &Society , 17(3), 323- 339.

Neuman, W. (2011). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Stribling, S. (2008). Using Critical Literacy Practices in the Classroom. New England Reading Association , 44(1),34-38.

Willis, J. (2007). Foundations of Qualitative Research: Interpretive and Critical Approaches. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

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A guide to early learning: What to know for reading readiness

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The 2024 Reading by 9 guide was created through the generous support of the Ballmer Group . This year’s guide spotlights articles, activities, book recommendations and more for parents and educators of children ages 0-5.

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Dear parents, teachers and educators,

Whether your child is just a few months old or preparing to start kindergarten, you can read to them and build a foundation for future growth and learning. Reading to your young child can teach them about emotions and empathy; it can help enrich their vocabulary, foster learning across languages and prepare them for their school journey.

For 26 years, Reading by 9 has put together an assortment of resources and book recommendations to help parents build their child’s literacy skills. Available in English and Spanish, this year’s literacy guide is filled with research-based advice from local organizations and experts on topics ranging from social-emotional development to bilingual learning .

We hope these resources will help direct you as you embark on a journey through literacy with the child in your life and introduce them to the wonderful world of reading.

Setting a foundation for reading

Learn about the benefits of reading and how you can encourage your child to enjoy it.

POMONA, CA - MAY 02: Pomona Unified is ahead of the state on its transitional kindergarten expansion and is planning to open the program to all 4 year-olds next year - one year ahead of the state's timeline. In a unique approach to staffing challenges, Pomona schools like Vejar Elementary have relied on dividing their transitional kindergarten class into two half day programs that overlap for a few hours in between, which means an aide is only necessary during a small period of the day. However, as transitional kindergarten expands next year to include additional 4-year-olds, schools in Pomona will move from a half day to a full day program and more classes will be added. Ana Tramp teaches a Kindergarten class at Vejar Elementary School on Tuesday, May 2, 2023 in Pomona, CA. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

These 3 activities can foster your child’s language development before transitional kindergarten

Lakewood, CA - May 17: Jennifer Cortez, childcare assistant, reads to Enzo Muniz, 20-months-old, while Luca Brown, 8 months old, plays at right, at Zoila Carolina Toma's family childcare center in Lakewood Wednesday, May 17, 2023. Zoila is licensed to care for up to 14 children from 8 months-12 years old Inside her center. They have a nap room, an art area, and a reading area to promote a comfortable atmosphere where students can engage in their activities. Currently, Zoila is at capacity, but she is constantly receiving calls from families looking for high-quality care. The need for care is desperately there, but there are not enough family child care centers to cover the needs of families, and few want to enter an industry where wages are so low. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Babies learn new skills every day. Here’s what to look out for when you read to them.

A man and a woman read a picture book to a young boy, who sits between them.

It’s never too early to read to your child. Use these tips to make it fun.

How literacy can support your baby’s growth.

Literacy is integral to development. Learn how reading can help your child.

Compton, CA - August 23: Parent coach Alba Mariscal, left, visits mother Ilse Ochoa, left, and ten-month-old baby Brianna de Leon, right, on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023, in Compton, CA. Parent coaches go house to house, checking in on these families through the first year of their baby's life. They offer tips and advice, and often just support in what is often a very challenging (though exciting) moment for new parents. But funding for this crucial program is at risk. First 5 is funded through a tobacco tax, and as more and more Californians give up their cigarettes, that funding money is starting to dry up. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Read colorful picture books and limit screen time to enhance your baby’s visual development

A woman and a little boy sit on a blue carpet while the woman reads a picture book to him.

How reading allows kids’ mental health to flourish and what you can do to help foster it

Compton, CA - August 23: Ten-month-old baby girl Brianna de Leon loves books. She is playing in her living room with her mother on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023, in Compton, CA. A parent coach visits her home and checks in on her family through the first year of their baby's life. Parent coaches offer tips and advice, and often just support in what is often a very challenging (though exciting) moment for new parents. But funding for this crucial program is at risk. First 5 is funded through a tobacco tax, and as more and more Californians give up their cigarettes, that funding money is starting to dry up. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Three actions you can take if developmental delays are impacting your baby’s literacy

Olivia Olverado, 2, dibuja en la mesa de dibujos y poemas durante el Festival de Libros de Los Angeles Times el domingo.

Your baby is a linguistic dynamo. Here’s how to turbocharge their superpower

Children’s desk, read aloud with your baby.

The Coquíes Still Sing

Los Coquíes Aún Cantan

Book Recommendations

Grumpy Monkey / ¡Está gruñón!

By Suzanne Lang, Max Lang Jim is in a horrible mood and just can’t shake it. His friends make suggestions but Jim can’t handle their kindness and throws a fit. Sometimes everyone just needs a day to feel grumpy. Buy here

Bugs for Lunch / lnsectos para el almuerzo

By Margery Facklam, Sylvia Long Who eats bugs for lunch? Humans, animals and plants all do in this informative book of poems. Satiate your little reader’s quest for all things creepy and crawly with this fun book. Buy here

Diez Deditos / Ten Little Fingers

By José-Luis Orozco, Elisa Kleven Folk songs from many different Spanish-speaking countries grace the pages of this book of action songs. Follow diagrams and music included to delight young readers. Buy here

Freight Train / Tren de carga

By Donald Crews This Caldecott Honor book helps young readers learn their numbers and colors in both English and Spanish. Help young readers with positional language and basic vocabulary using this classic book about trains. Buy here

In My Family / En mi familia

By Carmen Lomas Garza Carmen Lomas Garza’s paintings are described individually in both English and Spanish in this beautiful picture book. Illustrations about community and family are paired with memories about growing up in Kingsville, Texas. Buy here

Let’s Eat! / ¡A comer!

By Pat Mora, Maribel Suarez Written by the founder of the family literacy initiative, Children’s Day, this book depicts a typical day with young children. Build bilingual vocabulary around everyday family activities. Buy here

The Lizard and the Sun / La Lagartija y el Sol

By Alma Flor Ada, Felipe Dávalos After the sun disappears, people and animals are afraid. But a brave lizard refuses to give up until she brings back the light. Buy here

Who Hops? / ¿Quién salta?

By Katie Davis Some animals don’t hop, others can’t crawl. Help your young reader discover how different creatures get around in this silly picture book, available in both English and Spanish. Buy here

I Need a Hug / Necesito un abrazo

By Aaron Blabey A short and silly book about a porcupine in need of a hug (and a snake that just wants a kiss). Each page is translated in both English and Spanish within clear speech bubbles for the reader. Buy here

The Rockstar / La Guitarrista

By Lucky Diaz, Micah Player, Carmen Tafolla A young girl in Los Angeles follows her dreams to become a rockstar, using a broken guitar that she found in the trash. With the help of her community, she repairs and repaints the guitar to look brand new. Fully bilingual edition available May 7, 2024. Buy here

Isabel and her Colores go to School

By Alexandra Alessandri, Courtney Dawson Isabel speaks Spanish. When she goes to school, she has a hard time feeling comfortable because her classmates all speak English. With the help of her colores, she finds that friendship is a universal language. Buy here

Señorita Mariposa

By Ben Gundersheimer, Marcos Almada Rivero Señorita Mariposa makes her flight from the U.S. and Canada down to Mexico. Written in rhymes, some in English, others in Spanish, this book details the trip of the Monarch Butterfly. Read about how she delights the animals and people along her way. Buy here

Literacy Programs

826la - sunset blvd location, 826la - venice blvd. location, access books, children's institute, csun l.a. times literacy center, news literacy project, parentis foundation, reading is fundamental, reading partners, reading to kids, ready, set, read, read to a child, the book foundation, support services, abriendo puertas/opening doors, families forward learning center, hands together, koreatown youth and community center, little by little, mar vista family center preschool, mexican american opportunity foundation, pathways la, plaza de la raza, proyecto pastoral la guarderia, south central lamp, los angeles public library, los angeles county library, orange county public libraries.

This supplement did not involve the editorial or reporting staff of the Los Angeles Times except where noted.

The guide is free to parents, educators and organizations working with children and families. To contact us with comments and questions or to receive more information, email [email protected].

Los Angeles Times Public Affairs manages philanthropy, community engagement and corporate social responsibility at the nation’s largest metropolitan daily news organization. We broaden perspectives, empower storytellers and inspire our community to question and transform the world around them. For more information, visit latimes.com/readingby9 .

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MIT faculty, instructors, students experiment with generative AI in teaching and learning

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Joe Diaz, Rachael Harkavy, Joyce Yuan, Lancelot Blanchard, and Grace Song are all seated in a row in front of an audience, smiling and listening intently to someone out of the frame.

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How can MIT’s community leverage generative AI to support learning and work on campus and beyond?

At MIT’s Festival of Learning 2024, faculty and instructors, students, staff, and alumni exchanged perspectives about the digital tools and innovations they’re experimenting with in the classroom. Panelists agreed that generative AI should be used to scaffold — not replace — learning experiences.

This annual event, co-sponsored by MIT Open Learning and the Office of the Vice Chancellor, celebrates teaching and learning innovations. When introducing new teaching and learning technologies, panelists stressed the importance of iteration and teaching students how to develop critical thinking skills while leveraging technologies like generative AI.

“The Festival of Learning brings the MIT community together to explore and celebrate what we do every day in the classroom,” said Christopher Capozzola, senior associate dean for open learning. “This year's deep dive into generative AI was reflective and practical — yet another remarkable instance of ‘mind and hand’ here at the Institute.”

Incorporating generative AI into learning experiences

MIT faculty and instructors aren’t just willing to experiment with generative AI — some believe it’s a necessary tool to prepare students to be competitive in the workforce. “In a future state, we will know how to teach skills with generative AI, but we need to be making iterative steps to get there instead of waiting around,” said Melissa Webster, lecturer in managerial communication at MIT Sloan School of Management.

Some educators are revisiting their courses’ learning goals and redesigning assignments so students can achieve the desired outcomes in a world with AI. Webster, for example, previously paired written and oral assignments so students would develop ways of thinking. But, she saw an opportunity for teaching experimentation with generative AI. If students are using tools such as ChatGPT to help produce writing, Webster asked, “how do we still get the thinking part in there?”

One of the new assignments Webster developed asked students to generate cover letters through ChatGPT and critique the results from the perspective of future hiring managers. Beyond learning how to refine generative AI prompts to produce better outputs, Webster shared that “students are thinking more about their thinking.” Reviewing their ChatGPT-generated cover letter helped students determine what to say and how to say it, supporting their development of higher-level strategic skills like persuasion and understanding audiences.

Takako Aikawa, senior lecturer at the MIT Global Studies and Languages Section, redesigned a vocabulary exercise to ensure students developed a deeper understanding of the Japanese language, rather than just right or wrong answers. Students compared short sentences written by themselves and by ChatGPT and developed broader vocabulary and grammar patterns beyond the textbook. “This type of activity enhances not only their linguistic skills but stimulates their metacognitive or analytical thinking,” said Aikawa. “They have to think in Japanese for these exercises.”

While these panelists and other Institute faculty and instructors are redesigning their assignments, many MIT undergraduate and graduate students across different academic departments are leveraging generative AI for efficiency: creating presentations, summarizing notes, and quickly retrieving specific ideas from long documents. But this technology can also creatively personalize learning experiences. Its ability to communicate information in different ways allows students with different backgrounds and abilities to adapt course material in a way that’s specific to their particular context.

Generative AI, for example, can help with student-centered learning at the K-12 level. Joe Diaz, program manager and STEAM educator for MIT pK-12 at Open Learning, encouraged educators to foster learning experiences where the student can take ownership. “Take something that kids care about and they’re passionate about, and they can discern where [generative AI] might not be correct or trustworthy,” said Diaz.

Panelists encouraged educators to think about generative AI in ways that move beyond a course policy statement. When incorporating generative AI into assignments, the key is to be clear about learning goals and open to sharing examples of how generative AI could be used in ways that align with those goals.

The importance of critical thinking

Although generative AI can have positive impacts on educational experiences, users need to understand why large language models might produce incorrect or biased results. Faculty, instructors, and student panelists emphasized that it’s critical to contextualize how generative AI works. “[Instructors] try to explain what goes on in the back end and that really does help my understanding when reading the answers that I’m getting from ChatGPT or Copilot,” said Joyce Yuan, a senior in computer science.

Jesse Thaler, professor of physics and director of the National Science Foundation Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions, warned about trusting a probabilistic tool to give definitive answers without uncertainty bands. “The interface and the output needs to be of a form that there are these pieces that you can verify or things that you can cross-check,” Thaler said.

When introducing tools like calculators or generative AI, the faculty and instructors on the panel said it’s essential for students to develop critical thinking skills in those particular academic and professional contexts. Computer science courses, for example, could permit students to use ChatGPT for help with their homework if the problem sets are broad enough that generative AI tools wouldn’t capture the full answer. However, introductory students who haven’t developed the understanding of programming concepts need to be able to discern whether the information ChatGPT generated was accurate or not.

Ana Bell, senior lecturer of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and MITx digital learning scientist, dedicated one class toward the end of the semester of Course 6.100L (Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python) to teach students how to use ChatGPT for programming questions. She wanted students to understand why setting up generative AI tools with the context for programming problems, inputting as many details as possible, will help achieve the best possible results. “Even after it gives you a response back, you have to be critical about that response,” said Bell. By waiting to introduce ChatGPT until this stage, students were able to look at generative AI’s answers critically because they had spent the semester developing the skills to be able to identify whether problem sets were incorrect or might not work for every case.

A scaffold for learning experiences

The bottom line from the panelists during the Festival of Learning was that generative AI should provide scaffolding for engaging learning experiences where students can still achieve desired learning goals. The MIT undergraduate and graduate student panelists found it invaluable when educators set expectations for the course about when and how it’s appropriate to use AI tools. Informing students of the learning goals allows them to understand whether generative AI will help or hinder their learning. Student panelists asked for trust that they would use generative AI as a starting point, or treat it like a brainstorming session with a friend for a group project. Faculty and instructor panelists said they will continue iterating their lesson plans to best support student learning and critical thinking.

Panelists from both sides of the classroom discussed the importance of generative AI users being responsible for the content they produce and avoiding automation bias — trusting the technology’s response implicitly without thinking critically about why it produced that answer and whether it’s accurate. But since generative AI is built by people making design decisions, Thaler told students, “You have power to change the behavior of those tools.”

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What Is Critical Reading? A Definition For Learning
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Historical Orientation

Theoretical Orientations

Critical Literacy in Practice around the Globe

Influential Models

Debate, Controversy, and Critical Literacy

Key Aspects of Critical Literacy

New Directions

Further Reading

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Critical Reading in Practice

The Critical Reading Pattern

The Critical Reading Process

The Dangers of Uncritical Reading

Preparing to be a Critical Reader

Critical Reading and Critical Thinking

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Academic Skills Center: Critical Reading

Reading Self-Paced Modules

Reading Skills Part 1: Set Yourself Up for Success

Reading Skills Part 2: Alternatives to Highlighting

Reading Skills Part 3: Read to Remember

Reading a Research Article Assigned as Coursework

Critical Reading for Evaluation

Critical Reading for Analysis and Comparison

Pre-Reading Strategies

Walden's Online Bookstore

Walden Resources

Centers and Offices

Student Resources

Critical Reading and Reading Strategy

Critical Thinking is an Extension of Critical Reading

Developing a Reading Strategy

Following SQ3R

Teaching Critical Reading

In This Section

Teaching Critical Reading Skills: Strategies for Academic Librarians

Reading & Writing Purposes

Critical Reading

College Readers’ Characteristics

Critical Readers’ Characteristics

Critical Reading & Writing

When you react to a text you ask:

When you apply text information you ask:

When you analyze text information you ask:

When you synthesize information from many texts you ask:

What Does Critical Reading Really Mean?

Using Your Head

What's the Lesson?

Assumptions

Implications

Dr. Ian O'Byrne

Critical literacy & “truth”

Dialectic critique

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Critical Pedagogy

About this Guide

Critical Pedagogy Research Librarian

Critical Literacy in Early Elementary Grades

What Is Critical literacy?

Setting the Stage

Critical Reading Importance in Education Research Paper

Critical Reading

Elements of Critical Reading

Importance of Critical Reading

Research on Education Topic

How to Avoid Plagiarism in Literature Reviews

Unintentional Plagiarism and its Consequences

Experiences with Plagiarism

A guide to early learning: What to know for reading readiness

Dear parents, teachers and educators,

Setting a foundation for reading

These 3 activities can foster your child’s language development before transitional kindergarten

Babies learn new skills every day. Here’s what to look out for when you read to them.