This article explains Janks' (2010) interdependent framework for critical literacy education, how it was developed and how it can be applied. The explanation focuses on each part of the framework: power, identity/diversity, access and design/redesign and it provides an argument for their interdependence. The framework is then applied to three illustrative case studies all of which relate to critical literacy education. The first relates to curriculum, the second to pedagogy and the third to research.