Research Guides: Children's &amp; Young Adult Literature: Critical Literacy & Children's Literature

What is Critical Literacy?

McNicol (2016) describes critical literacy in the following way: “critical literacy is concerned with the social and cultural contexts in which texts (including not simply written texts, but digital texts, multimedia, visual materials and so forth) are both created and read….The approach taken in critical literacy is not to read texts in isolation, but to develop an understanding of the cultural, ideological and sociolinguistic contexts in which they are created and read” (p. xi). Critical literacy requires us to go beyond what we read on the page to consider the larger narrative in which a text is situated, asking questions about who created a text and why. This thoughtfulness is something that teachers, librarians, parents, and other caregivers who work with children can foster when engaging with texts of all kinds.

The Education Library collection includes resources that support a number of activities, including research and teaching, in university faculties and in K-12 schools. On our shelves, you will find children's and YA literature alongside scholarly works. Our hope is that you approach and evaluate all materials in our collection, and those you encounter in other libraries and classrooms, with a critically literate disposition.

The following video produced at UBC Okanagan Studios provides an introductory look at critical literacy and its application in an elementary classroom context:

References

McNicol, S. (2016). Critical literacy for information professionals. Facet Publishing. https://doi.org/10.29085/9781783301508

UBC Okanagan. (2018, August 1). Critical literacy: Children as changemakers in their worlds [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuamzeQX6c4&ab_channel=UBCOkanagan

Critical Indigenous Literacy

“Critical literacy encourages children to read between the lines and ask questions when engaging with literature: Whose story is this? Who benefits from this story? Whose voices are not being heard?...Adding “Indigenous” to critical literacy asks readers to think of those questions when they read stories that have Indigenous characters in them” (Reese, p. 390).

The texts by and about Indigenous peoples in the Library collection have been added to our collection over the course of decades and, together, offer multiple representations of Indigenous peoples. In some cases, those representations are inauthentic, inaccurate, or harmful. Some of those materials remain in the collection to support current and future research but may be unsuitable for use in K-12 schools and libraries, at least without properly contextualizing and carefully considering the purpose behind their use. We encourage all Library users to apply critical Indigenous literacy when selecting children's & YA literature to support their reading and teaching about Indigenous peoples, perspectives, and principles of learning.

To continue learning about critical literacy and critical Indigenous literacy, you can explore the library's Critical Literacy Kits below and the Indigenous Children's Literature: Critical Indigenous Literacy guide.

Reference:

Reese, D. (2018). Critical Indigenous literacies: Selecting and using children's books about Indigenous peoples. Language Arts, 95(6), 389-393. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26779023

Critical Literacy Kits at the Education Library

Picture of Critical Literacy Kit

The Education Library has five Critical Literacy Kits available, each with a unique theme. The themes and books in each kit can be explored through the activities suggested below.

Critical Literacy Kit: Cultural Appropriation

The books and learning materials in this Critical Literacy Kit can be used to support discussion about the appropriation of Indigenous cultures in children’s literature and education resources, as well as the impacts of cultural appropriation.