Critical Literacy for Diverse Communities

This unit considers the challenges and barriers experienced by students from the non-hegemonic mainstream. It focuses on how teachers can support and include students from diverse backgrounds across areas such as socio-economic background, culture, ‘race’, Indigeneity, gender, sexuality and ability/disability. This unit explores what it means to be literate and draws on a range of standpoints and perspectives in considering effective ways to engage diverse students by drawing on multicultural education models. A critical pedagogy framework will be used to challenge dominant discourses and explore issues such as privilege, power and oppression. Pre-service teachers will integrate the literacies in their specialisation and will demonstrate their understanding of inclusion by drawing on curriculum requirements, policy documents and professional standards. Students will present their personal theoretical understanding of what it means to be an inclusive and culturally responsive teacher with reference to a range of literature in the field.