Critical Pedagogy and the Teaching of Reading for Social Action.

Reading teachers, novice or experienced, face the hard task of having to teach students how to read by moving beyond the mere "surface level" of reading (finding meanings in the text) into a more critical perspective (assigning meaning to what is being read). Many teachers struggle in trying to reconcile these two perspectives as they teach learners how to read. In addition, teachers also struggle with assessment, particularly as it relates to the expected outcomes of reading. Instead of being evaluated based on what the students consider relevant and meaningful (what the text means to the students), students are evaluated on what teachers expect them to take from a reading activity (what the teachers think the text should mean). In this article, the author will explore the contributions of critical pedagogy to the teaching of reading and discuss an approach that helps learners move beyond the level of comprehension and use what they have learned in reading towards engaging in some kind of social action. The author argues that, for reading to be effective and purposeful for both teachers and students, there needs to be a concrete connection between the text and the real world, and that this connection can be achieved through encouraging social action.