"Literacy is a key indicator for comparing individuals and nations in contemporary society. It is central to public debates about the nature of the public sphere, economic markets, citizenship and ...self-governance. Literacy and the Politics of Representation aims to uncover the constructed nature of public understandings of literacy by examining detailed examples of how literacy is represented in a range of public contexts. It looks at the ways in which knowledge about literacy is created and distributed, the location and relative power of the knowledge-makers, and examines the different semiotic resources used in such representations: images and metaphors, numerical and statistical models, and textual narratives and how they are related to one another. The book focuses on the UK from 1970 to the present, but includes a range of international comparisons and examples. In addition, exemplar chapters offer a model of analysis that can be used to deconstruct the representations of social policy issues. This book is vital reading for postgraduate students in the areas of education studies, literacy, discourse analysis and multimodality"--
To date, most published health literacy research has focused on assessing and improving personal skills and abilities. More recently, a better understanding has emerged of the extent to which these ...skills and abilities are mediated by environmental demands and situational complexities — the context in which health literacy is developed and applied. This has led to much greater attention being given to ways of reducing the situational demands and complexity in which an individual makes a health decision. This collection of papers examines current progress in understanding health literacy "in context", by improving our understanding of the mutual impact of a range of social, economic, environmental, and organisational influences on health literacy.
These papers provide unique and original perspectives on the concept, distribution, and application of health literacy in very diverse populations, offering cultural insights and a clear indication of the impact of social and environmental context on health literacy. These perspectives include an examination of differing national policy responses to health literacy illustrating how policy and practice can (and should) respond to this more complete but complex understanding of health literacy. Other papers look at the application of new digital media and the creative harnessing of popular culture as routes to extend the reach and customisation of communications.
These papers also illustrate good progress in the evolution of research in the contexts in which health literacy is developed and applied, as well as signaling some areas in which more research would be useful.
‘This is a map of the field of critical literacy – drawn with precision and care. Our guide on the journey is a scholar and teacher, political activist and woman warrior of the greatest strength and ...wisdom.’
Alan Luke, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
‘Hilary Janks argues that to critically change the educational system you need to understand the interrelationship between language and power. Her framework of dominance, diversity, access and design constitutes a complete theory of critical literacy, one that explains the successes and failures of past and current educational movements. Her thinking has helped me and the U.S. and Canadian teachers I work with outgrow our very selves as we plan new, more powerful, and more critical ways to change education.’
Jerome C. Harste, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA
‘Unlike the biblical prophets, Janks is honoured in her own country, South Africa, for her enormous contribution to language and literacy education in complex linguistic and socio-cultural contexts. As a writer, her special gift is to make the complex accessible in ways that move readers to cry, to laugh, and most of all, to begin or to renew a commitment to critical literacy teaching and research.’
Yvonne Reed, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
‘Readers who know Janks’ ground-breaking work with critical language awareness with teachers and learners in South Africa have been waiting for this book. For those who don’t, now at last there’s an opportunity to learn how to make critical discourse analysis a central part of a pedagogical repertoire for critical literacy. Immediately helpful to teachers, teacher educators and researchers who are concerned with literacy and power, this fabulous book provides a review of key theory, original approaches to text analyses, and illuminating accounts from classrooms. It makes you want to teach. This will become the essential guidebook for language and literacy educators and researchers.’
Barbara Comber, University of South Australia
‘Hilary Janks develops an innovative model of critical literacy which makes a major contribution to the field. You will look at texts in new ways after reading this book. It will transform your understanding of how language works, it will give you new insights into language and politics in South Africa, and it will provide a principled basis for rethinking the teaching of language and literacy in your own context.’
Roz Ivaniĉ, Lancaster University, UK
‘Admirers of Janks’ scholarship will welcome Literacy and Power and recognise its qualities of lucidity, argumentative coherence, courage and compassion. With its organisation around four interdependent themes of domination, access, diversity and design, this book is the best introduction to critical literacies around.’
Terry Locke, University of Waikato, New Zealand
This issue of Journal of Literacy Research explores multiple contexts in which the autonomous boundaries between language, literacy, and learning remain dominant and resisted.
Media Smart Burkhardt, Joanna M
2022, 2022-03-31
eBook
The most important thing today's students can learn is how to find and evaluate information. This book provides in-depth discussion of aspects of media literacy and how they can be used to manipulate ...information. Classroom exercises are provided to help instructors teach vital media literacy skills to their students.
PDF
