Critical Consciousness Checklist

Concept

In this chapter, teachers will undergo the process of analyzing their lessons through a critical lens. Similarly, administrators will also be able to utilize the tools outlined in this chapter to deconstruct their programs to ensure student equity and cultural sustainment. While TESOL teachers have extensive expertise in language acquisition, Simmons (2019) notes that, “there is a gap in knowledge pertaining to the extent of critical consciousness among teachers of ELs” (p. 15). When taking into consideration that ELs, or English Learners, are a significant portion of minority groups in the English speaking world, it becomes clear that teachers of ELs can better cater to the needs of their student base by investing in raising their own critical consciousness.

Raising critical consciousness will be achieved through a checklist of questions targeted at the level of success a lesson or curriculum has had within critically addressing the culture and identity of the students. These questions can be further used as a springboard into discussions among staff, community members, and community leaders. After analyzing and reflecting, teachers and staff will be prompted to improve the critical consciousness of their lessons through continued research and inquiry into answers for the questions put forth.

Changes that are implemented as a result of a critical consciousness analysis can benefit students in a variety of ways. Simmons (2019) suggests that if teachers are successful in integrating critical consciousness into their pedagogy, students will also internalize critical consciousness and become better learners. Huang (2013) also describes how raising critical awareness within students can lead to stronger written work and stronger analytical reading skills as students are able to take on a variety of personal identities. It is therefore likely that the students with internalized critical consciousness will be more invested in, and score higher, on their classes, and in turn, score higher on standardized tests that require an essay component.

The check-list of questions put forth will cover a range of critically conscious topics including: positions of power, funds of knowledge, empowering students and their identities, and providing for authentic dialogue, or meaning making. All of these topics are key to understanding and implementing critical consciousness, a term that itself has had numerous interpretations over the years. Critical consciousness was detailed by Freire (1970), who discusses a critical pedagogy as one that empowers those who have historically been institutionally disadvantaged. As English speakers have colonized the world, ELs almost always fall into the category or institutionally disadvantaged. It is up to students’ teachers to raise both the students and the teacher’s own critical consciousness, which according to Diemer et al. (2017) is a combination of reflection and action towards the goal of social justice and sociopolitical participation (as cited in Simmons, 2019). Examples of sociopolitical participation could be attending city council meetings or writing letters to your congressman to enact social and political change. Within the classroom, this often takes on the appearance of providing a safe space for students to voice their concerns about social inequalities, which cover a broad range of topics such as racial injustices of incarcerated peoples, or the wage gap between lower-rung workers and CEOs. Giroux (1983) believed that teachers had a responsibility to guide students in the expansion of their skills as agents of social change. For teachers unaccustomed with guiding their students in this manner, the checklist in this chapter presents an accessible, simple introduction to critical consciousness while also creating opportunities for deeper reflection on critical consciousness.