If all we do in schools is what we've always done, we are perpetuating a white-centric curriculum and a white-centered world. Using literacy to pursue criticality across all disciplines humanizes our students and their stories. As this video demonstrates, critical literacy is one way we can teach students to question the world, to question who is being represented and who is not. Criticality focuses on the identities of our students and teaches them how to use their skills and intellect to respond to injustices in the world. Muhammad defines criticality as, "the capacity to read, write, and think in ways of understanding power, privilege, social justice, and oppression, particularly for populations who have been historically marginalized in the world" (p. 120). Criticality asks students to dismantle deficit thinking and to examine the world from different perspectives. It helps students differentiate between fact and fiction. Like intellect, Muhammad points to criticality as a path toward productive citizenship that extends beyond the classroom: "Criticality allows for discernment to make positive decisions that are healthy for them and their communities" (p. 123). So, as we begin designing our learning experiences, Muhammad reminds us to ask ourselves: 

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"How will my instruction engage students' thinking about power and equity and the disruption of oppression?"

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The following lessons and challenges are designed to help you explore the criticality pursuits of examining media texts for representation and power dynamics, as well as to engage in practices that help us distinguish between fact and fiction. Through criticality, students develop an understanding of the power structures of the world and how messages can be manipulated to perpetuate these structures. Only through such an examination can students make the changes needed to disrupt oppression and create a more equitable world.