Language and Literacy Education Commons^™

A Teaching-Learning Grant Initiative: Developing The Critical Literacy Instructional Abilities Of Pre-Service Educators, Anne Katz Ph.D., Vivian Bynoe

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

Pre-service educators in a section of "Exploring Socio-Cultural Perspectives on Diversity in Educational Contexts" were introduced to the concept of critical literacy. Throughout the course of the semester, students were provided with the opportunity to apply their knowledge of this framework through a series of discussions around the young adult novel, Does My Head Look Big in This? (Abdel-Fattah, 2008). Guest speakers— in the form of a local high school student who recently began wearing a hijab to school, as well as a visiting scholar who specializes in critical literacy—expanded students’ perspectives. Results of a pre and post-test, as well …