Critical Literacy
the ability to understand, read, interpret, evaluate a wide array of increasingly diverse media sources/types in order to reach more authentic understanding
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As society becomes overwhelmed with so many different types of media, we have to develop a literacy that can separate that which is misleading and potentially damaging from that which is more beneficial and sincere/authentic. Tweets, facebook posts, sensationalized news reporting, televisual sources often rely on stereotypes and generalizations (incl. those which distort reality) which adversely impact the attitudes of viewers. This is especially dangerous when the media consumer's background is different from the one being viewed (sexually, ethnically, religiously, etc). Critical literacy provides the lens through which we can see beyond and through such (mis)representations in order to arrive at a more sincere understanding. Being able to resist the perpetuated ignorance and avoiding the traps set in these media is vital to the development of students leaving school now and in the coming years.