A History of Black People as Readers: A Genealogy of Critical Literacy

Teaching Strategies

Strategy One: Four Quadrant Art Analysis

To discuss art in my classroom with students, I have learned about and use four quadrant analysis with my students. Instead of having my students look at an entire piece of art at once, I will have students look at the four quadrants of a given piece and focus on what they notice. This is a great way to engage all learners in a classroom by creating a low-stakes invitation to share their observations, as they are sharing only what they notice. I create a graphic organizer containing the questions below to record observations and thinking. There is also a helpful resource that I include in the teacher resource section on four quadrant art analysis.

Title of the Piece: _____________________________

What do you think the title means?

Break the piece into four sections. Carefully describe what you see in each section.

Analyze the piece. What do you think it means? Talk about your observations.

Research the piece. What do others think it means?

Reflect. After our class conversation, what do you think about the piece? Do you agree or disagree with what other people think?

Strategy Two: Revisionist Narratives/Interrogating Authorial Intent

Another strategy that I would like to explore to bring more balance to the unit that I created with Jessica Brantley is exploring one piece a bit deeper, specifically considering revisionist narratives. One of the paintings that we already read and discuss is Norman Rockwell’s The Problem We All Live With. In this piece, Rockwell’s decided to go into a different direction and explore issues that many of his followers were unaccustomed to him tackling such as racism and events in the South during the Civil Rights Movement.³⁰

In thinking about the possibilities of having my students engage deeper with the work, I would want my students to rewrite or reinterpret text from the perspective of marginalized characters or groups, offering alternative narratives that center their experiences and voices. For example, they might reimagine a classic novel from the viewpoint of a Black protagonist, providing insights into their thoughts, feelings, and struggles that were previously ignored or misrepresented. I think a piece that might work well for this would be Norman Rockwell’s The Problem We All Live With.³¹ This painting is easily accessible online by doing a quick Google search. I am going to explore why it is important to reconsider the point of view.

What would this painting or scene look like envisioned by a Black artist and in contemporary times? I would create an assignment in which students have the open-ended invitation to envision a critical response to the work after they fully understand the concept of counter-narrative.

Strategy Three: Opposing Viewpoints

Many educators pride themselves on creating activities that improve critical thinking. It is a term that is thrown around and has become so familiar that the original intent of it may be lost. When teachers want students to engage in critical thinking, we want them to be able to be objective while they analyze and evaluate information to form an insight or judgement.³² Being able to engage in critical thinking is so important for teachers to develop in students given the nature of public and political discourse today, given that so much attention and airspace is given to misinformation and disinformation. This skill is built in part by having students explore opposing viewpoints.

An opposing viewpoint directly contrasts a commonly held opinion on a subject. It often presents alternative arguments based on different values, evidence, or interpretations. To build student capacity to consider interpretations that challenge or oppose dominant narratives, students first need to be able to consider different perspectives. This takes practice that we need to be mindful of and provide students in ways that make sense. Woodward (2005) argues that the media is filled with differing opinions that makes it difficult for individuals to determine who is most credible.³³ There is a series of books called Opposing Viewpoints that has issues and explores both sides of the issue; for example, "The Movie Industry Fosters Anti-Religious Attitudes" vs. "The Movie Industry Has Begun to Foster Respect for Religion." argument engages students to think about the "author's credibility, facts, argumentation styles, use of persuasive techniques, and other stylistic tools."³⁵ Being able to analyze different perspectives, evaluate evidence, and form reasoned opinions are some of the requisite skills for the work of developing counter-narratives. Creating counter-narratives involves constructing strong arguments and supporting evidence. By engaging with opposing viewpoints, students learn to anticipate objections, strengthen their own arguments, and effectively communicate their ideas. This process is essential for developing intellectual rigor and the ability to navigate complex issues.