Title
Critical Literacy in Neighborhood Bridges: An Exploratory Study
Publisher
Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement
Abstract
This report describes and examines the meaning and use of critical literacy in The Children’s Theatre
Company’s Neighborhood Bridges (Bridges) program. Critical literacy is an orientation to reading
that includes an understanding of how texts (oral stories, books, media) position readers
(listeners/viewers), how readers position texts, and how texts are positioned within social, cultural,
historical, and political contexts. Critical literacy is central to the philosophy of Bridges, which
involves elementary and middle school students in storytelling and creative drama. An important
goal of the program is to develop in children the capacity to analyze and challenge dominant social
and cultural storylines as they create new storylines through imaginative retellings and reenactments.
Suggested Citation
Ingram, Debra; Lewis, Cynthia; Erasmus, Yvette; Ewing Flynn, Jill; Janowiec, Abigail.
(2010).
Critical Literacy in Neighborhood Bridges: An Exploratory Study.
Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement.
Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy,
https://hdl.handle.net/11299/139268.