Critical Literacies in Australia

In this chapter, the authors provide background on the social, political, and demographic context of Australia and introduce the Australian schooling system considered to have been a fertile space for a multifarious critical literacies project over time. A brief sequential survey of critical literacies in Australia over the past five decades gives insight to the social justice foundations of critical literacies approaches put forward in the country. The chapter highlights the applied nature of much of the critical literacies work progressed in Australia and points out that critical literacies scholars have influenced English and literacies policy at numerous points in time. Critical literacies in Australia has often been a partnership between educators and researchers, with many notable long-term projects involving practitioner researchers and their academic collaborators. Australian critical literacies researchers have also networked effectively with colleagues from South Africa, the United States, Canada, and beyond, and the influence of these collaborations are evident in the project and how it has developed in this context. Looking to future possibilities, the authors envision a transnational project where the strength of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges and understandings are foregrounded, and where there is a broad focus on critical understandings of diverse sexualities, culture, race, and gender and a nuanced understanding of how these come together with class and socio-economic status in the current Australian education landscape.