This book considers three distinct areas of scholarship, literacy education in the first two years of schooling, First Nations perspectives, and critical literacy as a teaching approach and way of being. Helen Cozmescu presents a synthesized understanding of critical literacy, which draws on the work of Paulo Freire, Lorenzo Milani and contemporary scholar Hilary Janks. It merges understandings of critical literacy with data from two studies carried out in Australia, a school-based study which focused on teaching and learning practices and a large-scale study about teacher professional development. Results from these studies exemplify young students’ abilities and enthusiasm to engage with substantive topics including the role of teachers’ knowledge and positionality on First Nations perspectives; critical literacy as an imperative for education; and the need to prioritize First Nations content. The book shows how issues of power, racism, and equality can be tackled through the cultivation of critical literacy and includes discussion of work by children's authors including Isaiah Firebrace, Amy McQuire, David Millar and Coral Vass.
