The Moral and Ethical Dimensions of Dialogic Critical Literacy Learning

Dialogic learning is an essential element of the high school English language arts (ELA) classroom and the foundation of critical literacy. Critical literacy dialogues explore controversial and conflictual issues of social justice, including topics of power, race, gender, and politics. However, while the examination of power and social justice that promote reflection and understanding is an objective of critical literacy, some dialogues may become contentious and raise ethical issues for teachers who acknowledge the importance of critical literacy but are pedagogically unprepared for dialogical conflict. Teachers must recognize their ethical role in determining the quality of students’ education and the ethical concerns of politicized classroom dialogues. Notwithstanding the Manitoba English language arts (ELA) curriculum’s promotion of critical literacy praxis, only a limited examination of the ethical complexities within critical literacy research has been conducted. In response, this philosophical inquiry examines the theoretical foundations of critical literacy and dialogic learning, their respective moral and ethical dimensions, and explores the ethical implications teachers and students face when engaged in conflictual dialogic learning in the ELA classroom.Ph.D