ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces Critical Democratic Literacy (CDL) by defining it, explaining the philosophical and disciplinary roots of CDL, and providing a rationale for CDL's necessity as part of the elementary literacy and social studies curricula. The literacy of CDL relies on notions of critical literacy as described by Lytle. The chapter adapts Lytle's idea about critical literacy within the knowledge of democratic/citizenship education. Education for CDL builds a needed resiliency to navigate, understand, and evaluate political and civic information via new literacies in order to remain an engaged and informed participant in society. To aid in the development of CDL for young children, the chapter proposes utilizing four guiding civic concepts to frame an elementary CDL curriculum: civic virtue, civic engagement, civil discourse and civil disobedience. These four concepts provide a foundation for an elementary focus on civic education. Finally, the chapter defines critical literacy and its relationship to democratic engagement.
