Abstract of

First Person
Critical Literacy in Democratic Education: Responding to Sociopolitical Tensions in U.S. Schools

Elaine J. O'Quinn

In a time when partisan sociopolitical ideologies determine what gets taught in U.S. schools, teachers concerned with preserving democracy must push students toward a nonpartisan political literacy. Language arts teachers are in the unique position to teach the language and techniques of sociopolitical interests as well as how to assess the potential consequences of such influences. If we believe that literacy moves toward and for something, then we must be clear on what that for is in order to help students understand the force of political ideologies. To understand the sociopolitical goals of literacy that have become synonymous with schools, we must understand the partisan and political tensions created whenever governments and legislators redesign literacy structures and redefine what it means to be educated. Tension lies not only in the preparation of students but also in what that preparation assumes. Given all there is to do in the classroom, it is easy to ignore sociopolitical issues. But if the right to aim particular sociopolitical statements at youth is assumed, then responsibility falls on the democratic educational system for teaching how to decode those statements' meanings.

Abstract from O'Quinn, E.J. (2005, December). Critical Literacy in Democratic Education: Responding to Sociopolitical Tensions in U.S. Schools. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 49(4), 260–267. doi: 10.1598/JAAL.49.4.1