Myths about Critical Literacy: What Teachers Need to Unlearn

By discussing commonly held myths, this paper attempts to clarify a number of important issues in the area of critical literacy education. These include the distinction between critical thinking and critical literacy, the audience critical literacy is meant for, the philosophical underpinnings of critical literacy, and the relationship between critical literacy on the one hand and reading and writing on the other hand. This paper urges literacy educators to examine their beliefs critically and unlearn ungrounded misconceptions about critical literacy. It is imperative that literacy educators have a better understanding of critical literacy before it can take root in the classrooms.