Teachers' knowledge base and cultural stances affect classroom practice and the school climate. In respect to immigrant populations, teachers' perceptions delimit what students come to believe they can accomplish. Teachers who espouse the goals of cultural pluralism validate the backgrounds of learners as well as legitimize bilingual bicultural identities (Igoa, 1995; Pang, 2005). This article addresses why it is important that teachers examine their pedagogy and identify ways to implement critical pedagogy with monolingual and bilingual learners. For English language learners (ELLs) in the United States, as well as for other immigrant populations or speakers of a language that is not the dominant language of the country where they reside, critical literacy is a path to becoming citizens who know it is safe to have a voice within the political and educational system of their country. Critical pedagogy provides a path to understanding and gaining access to the norms and beliefs of those who speak a language other than one's own. Literacy approaches may either empower or disempower learners. A teacher's greatest challenge in this regard is acquiring the preparation needed to understand and address the cultural heterogeneity of students (Taylor & Sobel, 2001). Knowing and implementing the ideologies of critical literacy meets this mandate.