Critical literacy practices in foreign language teachers education

Abstract

The Ministry of Education has been investing on measures which attempt at guiding regular school teaching, taking into account academic studies developed in the teaching and learning area as well as the socio-cultural changes generated by globalization and technological advances. In spite of that, it is observed that there is a gap between the conceptions of education and language matters in the National Curricular Parameters (PCN), the Curricular Guidance for Secondary School (OCEM) and other initiatives, such as the National Plan for Didactic Books (PNLD), for example, and its implementation in Primary Education. In the path to be followed towards diminishing this gap, a crucial issue is raised: the theoretical-methodological conceptions which set up the referred initiatives must reverberate meaningfully in initial and continuing education in order for them to do so in the performance of teachers in regular school classrooms too. Therefore, starting from this assumption, this article aims at discussing the dilemmas and the implications of the incorporation of critical literacy practices in the initial education of foreign language teachers.