Critical Literacies: Global and Multicultural Perspectives

187 Pages·2016·3.677 MB·English

by  Bogum Yoon (auth.)

Bogum Yoon
Critical
Literacies
Global and Multicultural Perspectives
Critical Literacies

Bogum Yoon
Critical Literacies
Global and Multicultural Perspectives
Bogum Yoon
SUNY Binghamton
Binghamton , New York , USA
ISBN 978-981-287-941-7 ISBN 978-981-287-943-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-981-287-943-1
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015951387
Springer Singapore Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London
© Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016
T his work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of
the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation,
broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information
storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
T he use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
T he publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the
editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors
or omissions that may have been made.
Printed on acid-free paper
Springer Science+Business Media Singapore Pte Ltd. is part of Springer Science+Business Media
(www.springer.com)
For all committed educators in the world,
who never stop refl ecting, challenging, and
acting for all students’ learning, identities,
and lives.

Foreword
I wrote this at the time when neoliberal education policies have shrunk public bud-
gets for education and, at the same time, schools have been coerced into investing
heavily in standardized tests and curriculum materials. Pearson, the biggest multi-
national testing and educational materials corporation, is at the front of profi ting
from raising standards and increased standardized testing, with annual profi ts that
exceed $9 billion. Representing the dissolution of boundaries between corporations
and state, Pearson’s Chief Education Advisor, Sir Michael Barber, was one of the
leading advocates for CCSS in the United States, standards that would demand new
curriculum and tests. Pearson owns Connections Academy, a company that runs
for-profi t, virtual charter schools. Pushing beyond PK-12 education, Pearson owns
edTPA, an exam that teacher education candidates are required to take in many
states. In the search of new global markets, in August of 2015, Pearson Affordable
Learning Communities will hold a Latin American Education Summit for “edupre-
neurs” in Bogota, Colombia. Drawing shamelessly on the lexicon of choice, innova-
tion, and competition, entrepreneurs see education as a commodity that can be
measured, bought, and sold as any other product. We should not be surprised when
entrepreneurs prey on vulnerable economies around the world. It does defy reason
when educators are complicit with the false promise that the market can deliver
educational equality when interests remain on profi t, not children (Bourdieu, 2003;
Chomsky, 2011; Lipman, 2011; Saltman, 2007). In a world where literacy practices
are determined by entrepreneurs and politicians rather than educators, critical global
literacies are absolutely necessary.
In this timely book, Bogum Yoon challenges educators to make a global turn in
critical literacies. She argues global and multicultural perspectives and networks
have been marginalized in critical literacy theory and practice, particularly as it is
enacted in the global North. To make her case, she takes us into the classrooms of
seven critical literacy teachers to witness their teaching, hear them refl ect on their
practices, and listen to their students evaluate their approaches. In each chapter,
Yoon presents case studies of the teachers and offers an analysis and critique of their
practices, using a framework of critical global literacies. Her framework allows us
to appreciate and judge the limitations of each of the teachers’ practices. It includes
vii
viii Foreword
four dimensions: developing students’ global awareness, making connections
between the personal and the global, analyzing and critiquing texts from global and
cross-cultural perspectives, and inviting students to be socially and politically active
on global and multicultural issues. Importantly, Yoon naturalizes “critique” as a
fundamental part of the conditions of critical global literacies.
We learn, for example, that Ms. Smith, an experienced high school English
teacher who is Caucasian, is enacting critical literacy practices in a lesson about a
historic fi re in a factory in the United States. The class addresses racial divides and
inequality related to working conditions in the factory. Yoon shows how the teacher
fostered diverse viewpoints and encouraged students to take on interpretive author-
ity and an expanded notion of literacies, but her focus remained on the United
States. Interestingly, when Yoon spoke with the students, many of them were
unaware of the social justice emphasis in the curriculum. Using the framework of
critical global literacies, Yoon critiques the practice as falling short of “helping
students to connect these broader subjects to their real life and to develop multiple
layers of understanding of their own experience through the prism of different lives
of people and societies outside of the United States” (p. 71).
With each teacher we meet, Yoon encourages us to examine their practices using
global and multicultural lenses. She invites us to question the deep-seated normativ-
ity of Western epistemological and ontological traditions. Mr. Bean, for example, a
Caucasian high school English teacher who also serves as the Department chair,
describes his teaching philosophy using phrases such as “critical perspectives,”
“social justice,” and “student empowerment.” However, his practice focused on
close reading of the play Hamlet. When Yoon spoke with Mr. Beans’ students, they
could not transfer their understanding of Shakespeare to their lives and positioned
themselves as recipients rather than constructors of meaning with regard to
Shakespeare’s work. Yoon critiques his practice as strongly rooted in the Western
epistemological tradition of cultural inheritance of knowledge through memoriza-
tion and recitation.
M s. Grant, an experienced teacher of English Language Learners, values linguis-
tic diversity but does not promote a sociopolitical critical awareness with regard to
language, ideology, and power. The students expressed a deep sense of community
and comfort in Ms. Grant’s ELL classroom. However, Yoon writes, “accepting stu-
dents’ culture and providing a safe environment for their learning are important, but
they might not always be suffi cient to implement critical literacy practices” (p. 100).
Ms. Grant invites students to discuss social issues but does not support the develop-
ment of their analysis and cultural critique of these issues. For example, the students
critiqued the inadequate classroom space devoted to English Language Learners in
their school. Ms. Grant did not connect this critique to the curriculum, a link that
might have led to deeper literacy learning and a heightened sense of agency. A criti-
cal global analysis would also critique the neoliberal forces underlying many cul-
tural diversity/multicultural efforts and the unquestioned hegemony of standard
English.
S imilar to Rogers and Kramer (2008), this book builds the idea that teachers’
critical literacy practices evolve, develop, and change over time. Educators can use
Foreword ix
the critical global literacy framework as a way to critically evaluate their own prac-
tices. With each teacher, Yoon offers pedagogical suggestions related to each dimen-
sion of her model for critical global literacies. She points out that Ms. Smith
addresses sociopolitical issues such as racism with binary approaches that tend to
see cultural and ethnic heritage rather narrowly (e.g., White Americans and Black
Americans). Yoon suggests that this teacher’s practice would benefi t from linking
historical events to contemporary world issues. For Mr. Bean, Yoon suggests the
importance of providing space for the students to connect with and interpret the text
based on their experiences. The students fi rst need to position themselves as
meaning-m akers so they can situate the text within a global context. In Ms. Grant’s
case, Yoon calls for strategies that will provoke cultural consciousness and empow-
erment. There were many missed opportunities for the students to take action on
issues that were relevant to them yet rooted in structural inequities that could have
deepened their language and literacy learning. Throughout, she makes the point that
critical literacy is a philosophical belief for human existence and empowerment.
She calls teacher educators to deliberately politicize their practices, socializing
teachers to do the same.
Yoon’s grappling with the partiality of the “critical” in each of the teachers’ prac-
tices results in a deeply dialogic engagement with critical literacy practices.
Importantly, in Chap. 7 she situates the teachers’ critical literacy practice within an
analysis of social and political orders: patriotism/cosmopolitanism, local/globalism,
unfamiliarity/unawareness, and resources. To this analysis, I would add the impor-
tance of critiquing the construct “global.” The terms “global” and “globalization”
are often taken to mean the unifying of educational policies and practices and the
removing of nation-state obstacles (e.g., so-called trade restrictions, worker’s rights)
that stand in the way of the market that can capitalize on global unifi cation. Indeed,
neoliberal education policies prey on a fascination with the opportunity of global
markets in efforts to shift public funds to private markets. There is a growing body
of work in critical literacy studies that educators can draw on to strengthen their
critique of neoliberalism and resulting educational inequalities (Brass, 2011;
Kubota, 2014; Rogers, Mosley & Folkes, 2009; Stroud & Prinsloo, 2015).
Ultimately, I fi nd a great deal of hope in Bogum Yoon’s new book. Critical global
literacies are necessary for critiquing and acting against neoliberal educational poli-
cies and for analyzing how education policies in the global North infl uence the liter-
ate lives of children around the globe. Yoon’s ultimate point is that educators can
learn to sharpen their tools of social analysis and cultural critique and build more
humane relationships. It is the responsibility of teacher educators to teach them. Her
framework of critical global literacies offers us concrete direction for this project.
Fortunately, we can also look to social movement activity for direction. Indeed, we
are in the midst of an uprising of parents and educators who are wary of the tests and
the dominance of multinational corporations infl uencing children’s education. In
the spring of 2015, 70 % of the parents in a school district in upstate New York
opted their child out of the state standardized test. Organizations like the National
Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest) promote fair, open, and educationally
benefi cial evaluations of students, teachers, and schools. The Network of Teacher