Creating Classrooms for Critical Literacy: A Focus on Language, Literacy and Culture

L 750

Fall 2003

Thursday

4:00-6:45

Room: ED 1084

Dr. Stephanie Carter e-mail address:

Language Education

Office: 3018

Phone: 812.856.8265

Office Hours: Thursday 2:30-3:30 or by appointment

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Course Description

This graduate level course explores theoretical and research perspectives in relation to critical literacy. Critical literacy is more than reading and writing text. It is concerned with how people engage in literate practices in their everyday lives to make meaning of particular contexts. One goal of this course is to examine the social, historical, cultural, and political factors that shape how and to whom literacy is taught. Hence, critical literacy challenges us to critique dominant perspectives and social practices embedded within instructional practices and curriculum as well as make spaces for alternative practices and perspectives.

Topics Include: Culture, Language, Power relations, Race, Feminism, Identity, Activism, Curriculum.

Course Goals

  • To explore major constructs underlying critical literacy, key thinkers in the field, as well as current trends in research and scholarship.
  • To reflect on how we have been shaped by language that we use and encounter in our everyday lives and explore the implications of the various ways that we have been shaped by language.
  • To develop methods for critical teaching (or encouraging critical literacy from students of all grade levels), including the use of critical theory, technology, multi-cultural literature, and cultural studies.
  • To explore the use of canonical, non-canonical, Young Adult and children's literature
  • Recognize diversity as a legitimate feature of community

Conceptual Framework and Standards

This class is designed to address the conceptual framework of the IUB School of Education, which is based on the following six principles: Community; Critical Reflection; Intellectual, Personal, and Professional Growth; Meaningful Experience; Knowledge and Multiple Forms of Understanding; and Personalized Learning.

The Office of Disability Services

The Office of Disabled Student Services (DSS) at Indiana University coordinates support services and equipment for IU students with temporary or permanent disabilities. Students are responsible for submitting to DSS adequate documentation of disability. Students with physical disabilities, psychological disabilities, visual impairments, or hearing impairments must submit a letter from their physician that verifies the disability.

Student Disability ServicesSupport Services for

Franklin Hall 095/096Students with Learning Disabilities

Phone: (812) 855-7578Franklin Hall 327 Phone: (812) 855-3508

e-mail: -mail:

Course Texts

Selected Articles will be distributed in class.

Policies, Assignments, Evaluation

Policies

  • Regular and on-time attendance is expected. You will receive one excused absence; additional absences may result in serious lowering of your final grade.
  • All assignments must be typed.
  • A penalty of 1/2 letter grade per day assessed to assignments turned in after due date.
  • Participation in discussion is crucial in this class. You are expected to read literature and textbook assignments before each class.
  • All e-mail correspondences should be sent through Oncourse unless otherwise notified.
Withdrawals and Incompletes

Incompletes are to be awarded only if the instructor believes they are warranted, and then only if the student has finished most of the work for the course and is receiving a passing grade. Incompletes cannot be given to avoid a poor course grade. Only under exceptional circumstances can course withdrawals be granted beyond the published university deadline.

Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct

This class will honor the IU Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct which defines the standards all students at IU are held accountable to.

See the following website for details. http://dsa.indiana.edu/Code/index.html

Religious Holidays

To ensure freedom of religious observance throughout our increasingly diverse population, a set of Calendar Principles were approved by the Bloomington Faculty Council, including a Religious Holidays Policy. This policy requires instructors to make reasonable accommodation when a student must miss an exam or other academic exercise because of a required religious observance. A procedure is outlined for students requesting an accommodation.

Policy Examples and Exceptions:

  • Faculty do not have to consider accommodations for the purpose of allowing students to travel away from Bloomington for a religious observance.
  • Any student who is unable to attend classes or participate in any examination, study, or work requirement on some particular day(s) because of their religious beliefs (his/her) must be given the opportunity to make up the work which was missed, provided that the makeup work does not create an unreasonable burden upon Indiana University. Upon request and timely notice, students shall be provided reasonable accommodation.
  • The University will not levy fees or charges of any kind when allowing for the student to make up missed work. In addition, no adverse or prejudicial effects should result to students because they have made use of these provisions.
  • Attendance policies allowing for a specific number of dates to be missed without impact on a student’s grade should not count within that number absences for religious observance. Making accommodations requires faculty and students to find suitable accommodation to cover the material from the course and complete all required work, including exams. It is not an appropriate accommodation to permit a student to not complete a portion of material from the course, or to miss an exam, and simply reduce that student’s grade.
  • Students are not required to prove attendance at religious services or events in order to obtain an accommodation for religious observance under IU policy. The students are requested to give notice early in the semester. Please include this reminder in course syllabus.
  • Chairs and supervisors of Associate Instructors and all other instructional personnel have a responsibility to ensure compliance with this policy. It is an appropriate, indeed a necessary, policy for an increasingly diverse institution like Indiana University. See http://www.indiana.edu/~deanfac/holidays.html

Assignments

Critical/Thought paper(s) 15 points (ea)

Facilitator10 points (ea)

Conference Proposal30 points

Conference Presentation20 points

Focused Inquiry Project80 points

Assignments

Refining and Sharing: Every other week you will be given an opportunity to discuss issues and questions that are evolving from your work. The goal is to foster a community of researchers that are intellectual and reflective. This time will be designated at the end of class. Feel free to invite your peers to participate in these sessions. (Please let Dr. C know who you are inviting)

Critical Thought Papers: At various times during the semester you will be asked to write critical papers. These papers are opportunities for you to explore key questions and issues raised by the readings or that surface from class discussions. The goal of this paper is for you to grapple with these questions and issues and use them to critique the readings.

Seminar Facilitator: Working with a partner, you are responsible for leading discussions around the course readings. Through out the semester each group will get at least two opportunities to serve in this capacity. The goal of the facilitator is to pose questions and address issues and concerns within the course readings and engage thoughtful reflection and provide input on the readings. In assessing your oral contribution to the class, consider whether or not your input has helped bring greater focus to the course readings.

Focused Inquiry Project: Each student will develop a focused inquiry project designed to explore a question related to critical literacy. These projects maybe conducted individually or with a peer (Pending professor’s approval). The project write up must include a conceptual or critical review of literature. Inquiry projects will be shared with the class. (If you have another idea that you would like to explore, please don’t hesitate to discuss this with Dr. C)

Conference Presentation Proposal: Each student will be asked to select a conference that he/she would like to present at during the 04-05 school year. You will then write and submit your proposal for the conference that you have chosen. If you would like to work with another individual, that will be fine. (Please make Dr. Carter aware of your intentions immediately.)

Mock Conference Presentation: After preparing and submitting your proposal, you will then prepare a mock presentation. This will give you an opportunity to share and get feedback from your peers. Conferences are important not only do they foster professional growth and expose you to current research in the field and multiple forms of knowing and making sense of the world; they are a wonderful means to build your network of peers and expand your research community.

Exploring RADICALDudeWAHT up You Be trippin kinda SPACES: This is an opportunity for the class every other week to explore curricular issues. We will use this time to examine classrooms and how they are functioning. What are the spaces we create in classrooms for multiple ways of knowing? What are the implications of those spaces on all learners? Some of the spaces may be “real life” spaces that we have explored from our own research, imagined spaces that we would like to create, or current spaces in educational settings in general. We will use children’s books, young adult literature, music, newspaper articles, movies, and textbooks. We will attempt to critique the invisible (The who, the how, the what, the when). We might want to consider inviting local teachers to these sessions.

Evaluations

A: Exceeds requirements of assignment; may be more creative, have more fully developed ideas, show more careful preparation, be unusually clear or well organized, etc.

B: Successfully meets requirements of assignment with few or no mechanical errors.

C: Meets requirements of assignments, but does so minimally or at a surface level. May have excessive mechanical errors.

D: Significant errors or omissions detract from work.

F: Does not meet requirement.

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