ABSTRACT
For today's children, a new childhood beckons. The traditional educators — family, church and school — no longer hold the monopoly on how children learn. They need to become literate in areas such as computers, pop culture, fashion and technological gadgetry with new levels of sophistication that often make them ‘smarter’ than their parents. Nowhere is this more urgent than among immigrant children. This chapter illustrates how committed teenagers (govies) enabled nine- and ten-year-old children of migrant workers to critically read their new world. It urges educators to broaden their definition of literacy and to embrace innovative strategies which incorporate critical approaches that help children understand the new texts that are meaningful to their lives. It also shows how the school curriculum can be made more meaningful for children if their cultural capital is taken into consideration.
