ABSTRACT
Critical literacy may defy easy definition but internationally it has developed into a well established if varied approach to literacy education. In South Africa it has, thus far, had an uneven but interesting trajectory, with the only constant being the scholarship of Hilary Janks. This chapter begins with a historical overview of the field in South Africa, arguing that its trajectory has been shaped by both the sociopolitical terrain as well as by the waves of curriculum change that have been a feature of the process of democratisation of the country. Thereafter the chapter is dedicated to the discussion of three instances of critical literacy practice or performance. First, I look at the development of Janks and colleagues’ critical literacy teaching materials from local (Janks 1993a, 1993b; Granville 1993; Newfield 1993; Orlek 1993; Rule 1993) to global (Janks et al. 2014) audience. Second, I look at how a critical literacy course in teacher education (Govender 2017, 2019) uses worksheet design on controversial issues as a critical literacy teaching performance. And last, I provide an example from my own work (2013), which uses a critical literacy orientation to curriculum design to invite the kinds of classroom talk that capitalises on learner diversity for critical learning. I conclude by suggesting that the field is poised for renewed challenge and growth.
