Critical Literacy: From Teacher Educators’ Practices to Classroom Implementation

Teacher education literature consistently highlights the pivotal role of teacher educators in preparing high-quality teachers. Their responsibilities extend beyond developing future teachers' pedagogical and content knowledge to shaping how they understand the broader social, cultural, and political purposes of education. In diverse societies such as the United States, where students come from varied cultural, linguistic, racial and socioeconomic backgrounds, teacher educators play a critical role in preparing teachers to deliver equitable and responsive instruction. Although teacher candidates often enter teacher preparation programs with preexisting beliefs and assumptions about teaching and learning (Loughran, 2006), teacher educators significantly influence the development of their professional identities, pedagogical reasoning, dispositions, and sense-making as educators.

However, preparing future teachers solely to deliver curriculum content effectively is insufficient in contemporary educational contexts. Schools operate within societies that continue to grapple with longstanding challenges such as systemic racism, social inequality, political polarization, economic disparities, and unequal access to educational opportunities. As a result, teacher educators have both an ethical and professional responsibility to prepare future teachers to critically examine these realities. One promising avenue for achieving this goal is the integration of critical literacy as a central component of teacher educator practice, equipping future teachers with the knowledge, dispositions, and pedagogical tools necessary to foster critical consciousness, equity, and democratic engagement in their classrooms. Yet, it is essential to understand the use and purposes of critical literacy in practice.

Understanding and Implementing Critical Literacy in Teacher Preparation

Critical literacy extends beyond conventional conceptions of reading and writing by emphasizing the examination of the relationships among language, power, discourse, and society. Grounded in Freire’s (1970/2018) critical pedagogy, critical literacy encourages learners to question dominant narratives, challenge taken-for-granted assumptions, and critically analyze the social and ideological dimensions of knowledge. Lewison et al. (2015) conceptualize this process as “disrupting the commonplace,” whereby students interrogate norms and assumptions that often remain unquestioned. Critical literacy also requires engagement with multiple perspectives, prompting learners to examine whose voices are privileged, whose are marginalized, and how social, political, and economic structures shape lived experiences.

Moreover, it directs attention to sociopolitical issues and the ways in which systems of power influence educational and societal outcomes. Importantly, critical literacy extends beyond critique to promote informed action, empowering learners to challenge inequitable conditions and contribute to social transformation. In the United States, where persistent racial, cultural, and socioeconomic inequities continue to shape educational opportunities and outcomes, critical literacy provides an important framework for fostering democratic participation and social justice.

The effective implementation of critical literacy in schools depends substantially on teacher preparation. Teacher educators play a pivotal role in developing teacher candidates’ capacity to integrate critical literacy into their instructional practices. As professionals responsible for preparing future educators, they shape not only pedagogical knowledge but also teachers’ understandings of the social purposes of education. Consequently, teacher preparation programs should extend beyond the transmission of instructional strategies and disciplinary content to cultivate critical awareness of issues such as race, privilege, power, inequality, gender, religion, and language. By equipping teacher candidates with the knowledge, dispositions, and pedagogical skills necessary to engage students in critical inquiry, teacher educators contribute to the development of classrooms that promote equity, agency, and social responsibility.

Preparing Teachers for Multicultural Classrooms

Preparing teachers for multicultural classrooms requires more than providing instructional strategies for teaching diverse learners. It involves developing teacher candidates' ability to critically examine how culture, language, identity, and social position influence students' educational experiences. As classrooms in the United States become increasingly diverse in terms of race, language, culture, and religion (Dharamshi, 2018), teachers must be prepared to respond to a wide range of perspectives, experiences, and needs.

Although diverse classrooms offer valuable opportunities for cross-cultural learning and understanding, many students also encounter social and economic barriers that influence their educational experiences. Teachers who lack critical awareness of diversity and inequity may inadvertently marginalize students' perspectives or reproduce biases embedded in curriculum and instruction.

Consequently, teacher education programs, through teacher educators, should provide opportunities for teacher candidates to critically engage with issues of diversity and inclusion and to reflect on their own assumptions and practices. Through such preparation, teacher educators must create opportunities for future teachers to learn and create inclusive learning environments that value diverse perspectives, encourage critical dialogue, and support students in examining and responding to complex social issues.

Teacher Education Programs: A Place to Challenge Myths of Educational Neutrality

Some curriculum perspectives contend that schools should remain politically neutral spaces focused exclusively on academic content. From this viewpoint, discussions of race, power, inequality, and social justice are often perceived as distractions from educational objectives or as sources of ideological bias. However, the assumption that education can be neutral is subjected to critical examination. Hence, decisions regarding what knowledge is included in curricula, whose histories are represented, and which perspectives are prioritized inevitably reflect particular social values and power relations. Consequently, the absence of explicit discussion about inequality does not constitute neutrality; rather, it may contribute to the reproduction of existing inequities.

Teacher education programs are well positioned to challenge this misconception by helping teacher candidates recognize that education is situated within broader social, cultural, and political contexts. Through coursework and reflective practice, future teachers can develop an understanding of how educational institutions shape and are shaped by societal structures. Such preparation is essential for fostering democratic citizenship and cultivating educators who can engage thoughtfully in complex social issues.

To achieve this goal, critical literacy should be integrated throughout teacher education programs as a foundational framework rather than treated as an isolated topic. Teacher candidates should be provided opportunities to analyze diverse texts, examine issues of representation, investigate structural inequities, and reflect critically on their own assumptions and beliefs. They should also develop pedagogical approaches for facilitating respectful and inclusive discussions of controversial issues while supporting students in evaluating multiple perspectives and engaging in informed dialogue. Such practices promote critical thinking not by directing students what to think, but by equipping them with the tools to analyze, question, and interpret the world around them.

My experience teaching a course on sociocultural perspectives in education illustrates the potential of this approach. Using critical literacy as an interpretive framework, I allowed my students to engage in the analysis of texts, discourse, and recurring educational issues, enabling them to critically examine assumptions and consider the broader social contexts that shape educational experiences and help them reflect on practices and exercises that can help them come with solutions as future teachers.

Developing Critically Conscious Citizens

One of the central aims of critical literacy is to support the development of critically conscious citizens. Although teachers may have limited influence over educational policy and often work within the constraints of standardized curricula and assessments, they play a significant role in shaping how students understand themselves and the world around them. Through curriculum, classroom dialogue, and instructional practices, teachers contribute to students’ intellectual, social, and ethical development. Critical literacy provides opportunities for students to question assumptions, critically evaluate information, and consider multiple perspectives. These capacities are essential for informed participation in a democratic society. Consequently, teacher educators should prepare teacher candidates to cultivate critical inquiry and reflective thinking in their future classrooms.

Furthermore, teacher educators, through critical literacy, have the potential to promote social cohesion rather than division when implemented thoughtfully and purposefully. Critics often argue that discussions of race, inequality, and power create conflict within educational settings. However, avoiding such topics does not eliminate social tensions; instead, it may leave misunderstandings and prejudices unexamined. Through structured opportunities for dialogue, reflection, and analysis (Pandya et al., 2022), critical literacy encourages students to engage respectfully with diverse perspectives and experiences. In doing so, it can foster empathy, intercultural understanding, and mutual respect. These outcomes are particularly important in multicultural societies, where effective democratic participation requires individuals from diverse backgrounds to collaborate across differences.