Sponsored By
  • Marathon 
  • Half Marathon 
  • Marathon Relay 
  • 5k Walk 
  • Kid's Marathon 
Agents of Change

Using Critical Literacy to Promote Social Action
Shanda B. Bandi, M.Ed.
University of Oklahoma
November 21, 2006

My Personal Journey Towards Social Action Teaching

I have always searched for answers, for knowledge.  By nature, I am a curious person.  As multiple quests for truth in my teaching and learning endeavors came to abrupt halts when I was confronted with more questions than answers, I knew there had to be something more to me, to my life, to my career as a teacher than trying to find the “right way, the correct answer.”  See, the problem with looking for answers is that we look to a person thought to be the guardian of all knowledge and we want them to spoon feed us “what to do” so that we can just do it and get it over with.  It becomes a thoughtless, voiceless, meaningless experience.  Often we don’t think that there can be multiple ways of looking at the question and we don’t realize that the “answer” is dependent upon the perspective of its author.  My new quest is for wisdom and comfort in the endless journey of questions and curiosities. 

One of the biggest questions I had growing up was, “what is the purpose of studying history?”  If it’s in the past and if I can’t take action to make a difference now, then what difference does it make to me?  I needed a purpose for reading, for writing, for learning and my purpose had to be linked to a meaningful action I could take. Because of my need to take purposeful action in my life and world, history was not my favorite subject in school because it seemed so one-dimensional and useless; it was a closed book.  I could memorize names and dates and even write convincing essays in regard to historical events.  However, I was always distanced from history and not as motivated to learn it’s content because I could not make a personal connection to it.  My social studies education in elementary school, middle school, and even to some degree in high school was one of citizenship transmission in which teachers directly transmitted what someone had deemed to be ideal values to the me (the student) to create a “loyal believer” in a particular set of truths.  I made my ship replica to “celebrate” Columbus Day and I faithfully wrote my “I Have A Dream” speech each year in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday (the one time each year we discussed this monumental historical figure).  However, facts, dates, and people were transmitted to me in meaningless ways, disconnecting the lessons of the past from my potential actions in the future.

After choosing a career in education, I was concerned about how I could be an effective social studies teacher if I was not interested in the topic myself.  During my undergraduate education, my whole view of social studies education changed for good and for the better.  I was introduced to the idea that social studies education should explore an area of the human mind that the current transmission style couldn’t reach, probing deeper than the recall of facts to contact the very essence of my character.  The theory used was a critical literacy approach to promote social action.  When presented with this format of instruction, I was instantly engaged.

presented by



Copyright 2008 OKC Memorial Marathon   |   Website by Phase 2 Interactive   |