
An Exploration of Teachers’ Practices of Critical (Visual) Literacy and the Factors Impeding the Implementation Thereof
Issue: Vol.5 No.6 Issue Article 20 pp.1045-1058
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20245620 | Published online 28th June, 2024
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Although there are many definitions and context-specific use of critical literacy and critical visual literacy, there is unfortunately very little support to teachers on how to implement it in their classrooms. This desktop research thus explored the practices of, and the challenges pre-service and service teachers face when dealing with critical literacy and critical visual literacy. Data collection included online articles on the subject matter from the year 2005 to the present in various contexts; to understand critical literacy and critical visual literacy practices among teachers around the world. The study discussed the various accepted definitions of critical literacy and critical visual literacy. It then discusses their place in an Apartheid ridden South Africa. The literature reviewed revealed that teachers face internal, contextual, and external barriers in their attempts to teach critical literacy and critical visual literacy. In addition, while they have the power to overcome certain barriers, they do not have such power with others. Ultimately, this research ends with establishing the gaps in terms of research around critical visual literacy and the pedagogical practices thereof, and suggested areas for future research to better understand teachers’ challenges.
Keywords: critical literacy; critical visual literacy; critical literacy theory; teachers’ practices
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Lehlogonolo Maditse is an experienced Grades 7-12 CAPS and Cambridge English Home Language educator. She has recently completed her bachelor of education honours degree with distinction in the Division of Languages, Literacies, and Literature, School of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, and she is currently pursuing her Master of Education in the same field. Her research interests are visual literacy and critical visual literacy.
Dr. Peter Oluwaseun Merisi is a Senior Lecturer in the Division of Languages, Literacies and Literature, School of Education, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), South Africa. Prior to his arrival at Wits in January 2023, Dr Merisi had lectured for close to a decade at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Durban University of Technology. Thereafter, he was appointed as the postgraduate research advising specialist and academic developer on the Mafikeng campus of the North-West University (February 2021- December 2022). Dr. Merisi has published several articles and book chapters in reputable and accredited local and international journals. He has also supervised several postgraduate students. His research areas include Academic literacy, grammar teaching, multilingualism, teacher education, teaching English as a second language, digital humanities, language and assessments, language policies, visual literacy, etc. He is currently coordinating the bachelor of honours degree programme in the English Education Unit of Wits School of Education.
Maditse, Lehlogonolo & Peter Merisi. “An Exploration of Teachers’ Practices of Critical (Visual) Literacy and the Factors Impeding the Implementation Thereof,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 5, no.6 (2024): 1045-1058. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20245620
© 2024 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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