Student as citizen: Teaching critical literacy skills in the library

Esling, Kathleen
ET
Levin, S. J. (2016). Student as citizen: Teaching critical literacy skills in the library. Knowledge Quest, 44(5).

Full disclosure: I worked with Sarah this past school year at the Urban School.

In this article, Levin discusses ways in which students can be taught critical civic literacy (using the Urban School as an example); Levin cites Leahey's definition:

“Critical civic literacy rejects the notion that knowledge can be directly transmitted from curriculum to teacher, from teacher to student in politically neutral, encapsulated forms. Rather, a critical approach to civic literacy insists that students become active participants in constructing their own knowledge and worldviews and use education as a tool to interrogate and confront the forces that both shape and limit their lives” (Leahey, 2011, as cited in Levin, 2016, p. 30).

Urban itself is very focused on helping students become independent, enthusiastic, and thoughtful learners, so helping students develop critical civic literacy is key. Levin writes in this article about ways that school librarians in any school can support the work that students are doing by creating thoughtful displays that support projects or school events (i.e., having guest speakers who share information about current social issues). By creating displays that tie into those events, librarians can help extend important conversations outside of the classroom.

I really enjoyed this article. Having worked at Urban, making sure that I am presenting multiple perspectives and helping students to be informed is really important to me. I could also see how supporting critical civic literacy can be helpful especially during an election year.