Critical Literacy

Information-driven society
Information managers vs. information regurgitators
WWW is an up-to-date, highly accessible source of raw information
Textbooks are static, pre-filtered
Critical literacy cuts across the entire curriculum

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Notes:

Critical literacy was at the center of many of the projects:Two questions for students: 1. Is this information relevant to my needs? 2. How do I determine the credibility of the source? (Contrast KKK homepage with ACLU homepage when seeking information about human rights)

“Facing History”: Holocaust revisionist homepage (The Institute for Holocaust “Research”) vs. Holocaust information sites

Textbooks: out of date; must be adopted for at least 6 years; 1961 social studies book in brand-new Kipps Elementary library still referred to Native Americans as “savages.” Need to please broad diversity. Political concerns. Librarian decides what is relevant. “Package deal” libraries.