Call for Book Chapters: “Critical literacy for information professionals” (Facet Publishing)
This book, aimed at library professionals, students and researchers, will draw together contributors from across library and information sectors and regions to reflect on current critical literacy practices within the sector. It will explore how these are being implemented in various settings and the impact on information professionals and the communities they support.
A number of terms have been used to describe this approach, for example, New Literacies (Lankshear, 1997) or Critical Social Literacies (Walton, 1996) as well as critical literacy, but they share the fundamental notion that, in all media, texts are constructed and serve particular interests. The objective of critical literacy is not to discover and interpret the ‘correct’ information, but to challenge and question social and cultural assumptions. Thus, critical literacy involves a commitment to equity and social justice and supports the active involvement of educators (including librarians) in shaping the future of communities and societies.
Possible chapter topics include:
- Critical literacy with different social groups e.g. English as an Additional Language (EAL) learners (or other non-native speakers), gender-specific groups, young children, learners with special educational needs
- Critical literacy and new media (e.g. digital, visual, multiliteracies)
- Critical literacy in different settings (e.g. public libraries, school libraries, higher and further education libraries, health information, workplaces, community settings, informal learning)
- Critical literacy across different societies, communities and cultures
- Fiction and critical literacy in the library
- Libraries, critical literacy and community engagement and action
- Using different models of critical literacy instruction eg critical literacy tool-kit (Morgan & Ramanathan, 2005), four resources model (Freebody & Luke, 1990)
- Student/learner engagement and critical literacy
- Critical literacy across the curriculum (e.g. working with science, arts, languages)
- Practical methods of teaching critical literacy (e.g. juxtaposition of texts, producing counter-texts)
- Potential conflicts between critical literacy and existing models of education and library and information provision.
If you are interested in submitting a chapter, please send a 200-300 word abstract to Sarah McNicol (s.mcnicol@mmu.ac.uk) by Friday 27th March 2015 together with a brief biographical statement. If you want to discuss your idea prior to submitting an abstract, please do contact me on the above email or telephone +44 161 247 5104.
I am keen to encourage new authors as well as established writers so if you have a strong idea for a chapter but limited experience of academic writing, please get in touch and we can discuss additional support or co-authorship options.
