Introduction

In concert with Paulo Freire’s integrated vision of language literacy and pedagogy, critical literacy does not constitute a subfield or a different approach to literacy; rather, it is one of the major pillars of critical pedagogy. For Freire, an emancipatory education is founded on an evolving capacity to read the world critically and effectively problematize the asymmetrical relations of power which structurally reproduce inequalities and social exclusions within schools and society. Media literacy has also received increasing attention in the last two decades, as greater classroom emphasis continues to be placed on the use of different forms of visual media. Moreover, the link between literacy, media, and popular culture has also played a significant role in how critical educators have theorized the images and messages that students are exposed to out in the world as consumers of media.