ql-align-justify"> Critical literacies pedagogy reframes reading as an analytical and political practice rather than a purely technical skill. In Philippine Junior High School English classes, Critical Literature Pedagogy (CLP) shifts instruction from “reading to comprehend” toward “reading to critique,” treating texts as socially produced and historically situated. Filipino literature becomes a site for examining power, inequality, and representation, enabling students to interrogate how narratives shape public understanding rather than simply identify literary elements.

A concrete application appears in the study of Martial Law–era texts. Protest songs, short stories, and poems from this period are analyzed as responses to repression and resistance. Students examine the social conditions reflected in these works, identify whose perspectives are centered or marginalized, and evaluate how media and institutions influence collective memory. Texts are approached not as static artifacts but as interventions within ongoing political discourse.

Instructional strategies operationalize this approach. Reading against the text requires students to uncover implicit ideologies such as class conflict, gender dynamics, and nationalism embedded in narratives. Counter-text production—through essays, poetry, spoken word, or multimedia—allows students to challenge dominant narratives on issues including poverty, environmental injustice, and historical revisionism. Connecting textual analysis to lived experience positions learners as participants capable of interpreting and responding to social realities.

The strengths of CLP include the development of critical thinking, civic consciousness, and learner agency. It legitimizes student voice and situates literacy within real social contexts. Limitations include the need for strong pedagogical guidance and the possibility that foundational language skills receive less emphasis if instruction lacks balance.

In contrast, functional literacy prioritizes comprehension, vocabulary, and communication for everyday use. Critical literacy extends beyond functionality by questioning whose interests literacy serves and how texts reproduce or resist power. Both approaches support societal participation, but functional literacy emphasizes use, while critical literacy emphasizes critique, transformation, and social accountability.

References:

[1] https://newlearningonline.com/literacies/chapter-7

[2] https://cids.up.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/UP-CIDS-Discussion-Paper-2019-14.pdf

Literacy as an Act of Resistance!