The use of critical theory as a framework is intended to be liberatory. Thus my effort in applying critical theory as a tool in this study may be judged as only partially successful since I neglected to involve my participants in activities that would have encouraged their reflexivity and may have empowered them to act in ways that may have been liberating to them.

In my research, I attempted to move beyond more traditional research approaches to examine the complexities of literacy, specifically family literacy, in our modern society. At the outset, I critically analyzed my position as a middle class researcher entering this low-income community. I thought about how my background, beliefs, values, and experiences might affect interactions with the participants, or impact on my analysis of results. While I respected my participants' realities which encouraged my participants to be open with me, as Olson said, I had "positioned [myself] to intervene effectively in their reality" (Olson, 1992, ¶p.3). Moreover, I neglected to provide opportunities for my participants to reflect on their life circumstances.

Had I employed some of the liberatory pedagogical techniques espoused by Freire in his work with peasants in Brazil, I may have been instrumental in encouraging my participants to engage in praxis or reflection plus action that may well have reaped more positive literacy outcomes. Freire respected the people he worked with and used dialogue to continually challenge them to increase their curiosity and improve their understanding. In Freire's 'conscientization', a coordinator encourages participants to talk about themes that are relevant to them. Reflecting and then coming to a state of consciousness is the first step in practical liberation through education and/or literacy (Freire, 1980).

Olson (1992) indicated that Freire had an "unshakable faith that we all can come to comprehend and transform [reality]" (Olson, 1992, ¶4). Zigman (2002) adds that, according to Freire, who witnessed exploitation of impoverished powerless people, we must begin to effect change in how the oppressed view their situation. She also states that Freire found that one problem was that the oppressed people often lacked the skills to participate and needed to be educated so they can participate in determining their own political and cultural lifestyles.