Higher education institutions, especially those dedicated to liberal arts, recently experienced a revolution in the way culture and societies are constructed and analyzed. The gradual introduction of critical theory provided a new framework for understanding cultural productions. In the specific context of literature, critical theory is a reader-response base analysis and criticism of written works. Critical theory is distinguished from other forms of theory in that it “seeks human emancipation.” (James). This theory led to the creation of a new form of education: Critical Pedagogy. This form of education “challenges teachers and students to empower themselves, to advance democracy and equality as they advance their literacy and knowledge.” (McLaren). Many of the works of famous critical theorists inspired social justice movements around the world. In a country where the younger generations become more and more a-political and apathetic about social issues (Giroux); it becomes important that educators find new ways to motivate students into re-engaging with the public and political spheres. Critical theory can inspire students today as it did in the past. Although this branch of academia is very popular among college educators and students, it remains omitted from the American high school’s English curriculum. Additionally the rising costs of higher education (Mead 511) makes it important that adolescents get the most beneficial form of education from the public system. Therefore the Texas Board of Education should require the implementation of a critical theory class, as part of their social sciences curriculum, for all high schools in the state.
Citizens who oppose the introduction of critical theory to high school students pr...
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...th Ed. New Jersey: Pearson, 2012. 530-32. Print.
McLaren, Peter, and Peter Leonard. Paulo Freire: A Critical Encounter. London: Routledge, 1993. Print.
Morse, Robert. "How States Compare in the 2014 Best High Schools Rankings." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 21 Apr. 2014. Web. 25 Apr. 2014.
Risselada, David. "Progressives: Using Critical Theory to Dumb Us down." Save America Foundation. N.p., 24 Feb. 2014. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
Schneider, Mark. "How Much Is That Bachelor's Degree Really Worth? The Million Dollar Misunderstanding." Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric With Readings. 9th ed. New Jersey: Pearson, 2012. 511-19. Print.
United States of America. Texas Education Agency. Department of Assessment and Accountability. Enrollment in Texas Public Schools, 2012-13. Austin: Texas Board of Education, 2014. Texas Education Agency. Texas Education Agency. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Wilson, Robin. “A Lifetime of Student Debt? Not Likely.” They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter In Academic Writing. Ed. Gerald Graff. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. 256-273. Print.
The argument about whether college is worth it or not has been one of the biggest arguments throughout the media for decades. Students suffer a lot from the debts that they get from college and also the amount of studying that they do in college and when they graduate they ask themselves “is graduation from college really worth all the money that we paid and all the work that we have done?”. Leonhardt and Matthews are two journalists who talk about whether college is really worth it or not, and they both have different perspectives. David Leonhardt thinks that college is absolutely worth all the money you pay and the work you do, stating that “Americans with fouryear college degrees made 98 percent more an hour on average in 2013 than people without a degree.
Curriculum Requirements."2010 SAT Scores by State." Commonwealth Foundation. South Carolina Department of Education, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. .
Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing written by; Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle, Eighth Edition, published April, 2007 by Bedford/St. Martin’s, is a textbook about writing and critical thinking. In the first chapter of Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing, “Thinking Critically, Challenging Cultural Myths”, the Authors begin by setting a relatable scene of what it’s like for a college student. How a new found independence can be overwhelming, especially with regards to critical thinking, showing that what we have learned, needs to be re-evaluated and that an open mind in essential. "What Is Critical Thinking" In this section of the chapter the editors explain what it means to be a critical thinker. They explain that critical thinking is not just studying dates and facts, but rather taking those facts and examining them. The editors then proceed by explaining how having an open mind, and taking others' perspectives into account when formulating our own opinions on what the author is trying to say to us is important. A critical thinker takes all aspects into account and reflects on personal experience as well. The editors also point out that different cultural experiences bring different opinions. They suggest that we need to become active learners, continuously questioning the meaning behind everything, testing not only the theories of others but also our own experiences and analyzing the text rather than going for the obvious. They show that thinking outside the box is the epitome of critical thinking. Basically, we need to step outside our comfort zones and what we have always been taught. The editors also suggest that we need to re-evaluate our per...
Colombo, Gary, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. Colombo, Gary, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford of St. Martin's, 2013. 377. Print.
Massey et al. states, “To put it crudely, parents of upper-class children have no interest in devoting resources to the education of lower-class children, so that poor and working-class students end up going to lousy schools to receive a lousy education to prepare them for the lousy jobs they will hold as adults.” (Massey et al., 20). This example shows in a simple manner how critical theory functions to generate socioeconomic inequality because the lousy schools that poor and working-class students have to attend are the result of not enough resources going into the educations of lower-class children. Massey et al. shows that the structure of dominance is generating a system that disadvantages historically underrepresented students. Furthermore, hooks writes, “That shift from beloved, all-black schools to white schools where black students were always seen as interlopers, as not really belonging, taught me the difference between education as the practice of freedom and education that merely strives to reinforce domination.” (hooks, 3). hooks was disadvantaged because she was not accustomed to the segregated school as the white students were. Critical Theory states that inequality is reproduced by specific institutional arrangements, such as the arrangements that hooks dealt with. In addition to the experiences in higher education due to the structure of dominance, hooks
Common core has been the program calling all the shots in most school systems in the United States. Since the year 2008, the common core standard testing has been sneaking its way into the school systems. The common core has brought up many different situations within the schools. One situation consists of determining the education level of students by using the same standardized test. Another situation is by requiring teachers to teach to a certain test, even though students do not fully learn what they are being taught. The government should not be able to evaluate students and teachers by one certain test. Attention must be brought up to how common core has changed our education system to the unproductive side, but then explain how our schooling systems can fix the problem that has been made. The common core can be fixed for the best, but the most fulfilling way to fix this problem is to get rid of the program altogether. The best results of students’ education can truly be viewed accurately once the common core is fully out of the school curriculum.
"Institute for Illinois' Fiscal Sustainability." State Funding for Chicago Public Schools. 21 Aug. 2013. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
Elder, Linda. “The 18th International Conference on Critical Thinking and Educational Reform.” 18th International Conference on Critical Thinking. 4 Aug. 1998. The Center for Critical Thinking <http://www.criticalthinking.org/University/univcomm/conf/conftext.nclk>.
Just when you think that everything you will need to know is straight from a textbook, you will soon enter university and be proven wrong. Being book smart does not equate to being successful in college. There are so many aspects that contribute to one 's college success. These include critical thinking, goal-setting, learning styles, note-taking and reading skills.
...ews Calculated the 2014 Best Colleges Rankings.” US News. N.p., 9 Sept. 2013. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. http://www.usnews.com/.
The article “Critical Literacy in the Classroom” (2005), was written by Ann S. Beck, an English teacher at Camosun College in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. This article explains that it is imperative for teachers to understand the concepts of critical literacy as well as to achieve a critical teaching approach. The author’s main focus was to address and define the importance of teaching critical literacy as an educational practice by approaching dialogue (social act), reflection (critical literacy), and textual critique in the classroom. In brief, these concepts are of main importance to be use in the classroom for students to become active participants in their own meaning-making experiences and to change the way we think about education.
In this time where we receive knowledge different then anytime before, the question of how we should interact with it should not be just raised, but emphasized on. In this new flat fast world that we get our knowledge through, critical literacy is a valuable tool and ability that should be recalled and available for all readers. More specific, it should be transferred by teachers to students in all educational environment. It is an important ability for students to have towards texts. And redefining texts to any devices or materials that we are getting the knowledge from, is the first step toward understanding critical literacy. Beside how critical literacy spreads the awareness of looking at texts in their social and cultural context, it is very significant to be negotiated in the very beginning of this interaction with knowledge, schooling and education. The substance of critical literacy is in its effects in empowering the readers, in our case the students, despite their different identities and differences. It educates them to recognize the power that hides behind all these different types of sources. Furthermore, critical literacy is very beneficial when we discuss essential issues such as, justice, power and freedom and their appearances in the classroom. Then, it becomes an integration that results in a precise concept, which is critical pedagogy. As an opening of these questions, what critical literacy could mean and especially its relationships with education and the teachers obligations of understanding and transferring it is what this paper look to indicate to.
The ability to reflect critically on one’s experience, integrate knowledge gained from experience with knowledge possessed, and take action on insights is considered by some adult educators to be a distinguishing feature of the adult learner (Brookfield 1998; Ecclestone 1996; Mezirow 1991). Critical reflection is the process by which adults identify the assumptions governing their actions, locate the historical and cultural origins of the assumptions, question the meaning of the assumptions, and develop alternative ways of acting (Cranton 1996). Brookfield (1995) adds that part of the critical reflective process is to challenge the prevailing social, political, cultural, or professional ways of acting. Through the process of critical reflection, adults come to interpret and create new knowledge and actions from their ordinary and sometimes extraordinary experiences. Critical reflection blends learning through experience with theoretical and technical learning to form new knowledge constructions and new behaviors or insights.
Incorporating a critical literacy perspective into the foreign language classroom may seem daunting at first, but it is not impossible. As Barbara Comber argues, curriculum that focuses on “critical social action and textual production is often reserved for adult or workplace domains" (453), however, incorporating this perspective into the classroom can help “connect them with community members about matters of immediate significance" (453). The practices of critical literacy can allow the students to think outside the box, develop both as individuals and collectively, “claim value in their experiences and critique mainstream ideals that marginalize them and their families" (Jones 60).