010. Youth Participation in Shaping the Textual Landscape

Students can only recognise their 'true selves' when they are able to detach themselves from society's general stereotypical view of them by labelling them into certain 'categories'. Thus to begin, students can be asked to think of some categories that has been labelled unto them.

Moving on, students have to be taught critical reading and thinking skills so that they are able to decipher the ideologies that society has of them. If one is uncritical, he/she may fail to recognise that texts can be biased or present a distorted view. Thus, with the categories that the students have taught of, they can be given a few texts to critically read and analyse it, and see if there are underlying ideologies in the text.

Next, students can discuss if these ideologies or categories that were presented is true of them, true of the class etc and justify why it is or not so.