It’s About More Than You Think

Literacy seems like something that should be as simple as the ability to read and write. I would have gone as far before as to say literacy is the ability to articulate words specifically in the realm of academics. I have quickly learned that there is more to it. There is more to this idea of literacy that we negate to actually comprehend because something is so different to us. I think this has what led me to see the complex idea of literacy to be something that is extravagant and amazing because of how it can take on different forms from different cultures.

We have to know our context!

Understanding literacy is understanding the context of the people and the societies that they are leaving. Cope writes in his book, “…we want to extend the idea and scope of literacy pedagogy to account for the context of our culturally and linguistically diverse and increasingly globalized societies…” (Multiliteracies, 2002. 9) The context of where people come from, their culture, ethnicity, or even nationality have to be considered when we are looking at the literacy of individuals. Literacy is not dwindled down to one simple definition, or if it is think we have just ignored the context of individuals that we are encountering. Understanding a person’s context widens the playing field of what we can describe as literacy. Because of the person where we are, our culture, social-status, or other factors can play into how someone interprets something, or speaks their mind about what they have seen. One’s interpretation can be seen as illiterate because they are unlike us, but we have created this close-mindedness. It is important to encourage students to understand one’s context, or “understand where they are coming from”.

Why Start Over?

As we spoke on in our class, the kids that we are teaching know things. They do not come into classrooms not having any information or knowledge of anything. We talked about how students know these video games and the way they work, so we can bring these types of things into the classroom that they build upon what they know. Growing up each year and going to school, I did not start over every year. My grades did, which sometimes helped, but what I knew and my experiences had not. I was bringing my knowledge to the classroom just like all the other students. Just because someone comes in the classroom and does not enjoy reading the textbook does not mean they are illiterate or they can’t, but it is us who needs to change and adapt. Perry writes in his journal, “understanding and acknowledging the informal ways in which people gain access to new texts and practices in their everyday lives may lead to insights into the effective skills and strategies learners already use that can be built upon in formal instructional settings” (What is Literacy, 2012, 63) This is a call to action to the educators who are teaching our students to not continue to make the same mistakes, or expect less out of the students, but to challenge and build up what they already know. As a teacher you can continue to do the same thing over and over, but are we truly helping our students, or are we doing them a disservice? Are we chalking students up as illiterate just because they can’t follow the same thing that has been taught for 20–40 years. I believe we truly don’t understand literacy if that is the case.

Consider the Calling

Being an educator is seen as a calling because the reason we ultimately do this is for the students. We go every day to be with the kids, and some days it may be hard, but it is for them. The purpose of the job is to educate them, but it is also much more than that. We are something very consistent in the lives of our students and we are with them 180 days a year. That is a lot! It is important for the students to know that we are their support. Why do I bring this up? It is important in considering that literacy can take on many different forms and it is not one particular definition, but ultimately the way in which we can continue to build upon what the children know is to be supportive, and especially to those who need a lot of support. If we can begin to see that literacy is not one concrete set of attributes, but that sometimes the students need our support in order to build upon the foundations that the students have. (What is Literacy? The Power of a Definition, 2011) We have to allow the students to branch out and understand the people that they are, their context, culture, and anything else that makes them the person they are.

Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (Eds.). (2000). Multiliteracies: Literacy learning and the design of social futures. Psychology Press.

Perry, K. H. (2012). What Is Literacy? — A Critical Overview of Sociocultural Perspectives. Journal of Language and Literacy Education, 8(1), 50–71.

Keefe, E. B., & Copeland, S. R. (2011). What is literacy? The power of a definition. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 36(3–4), 92–99.

Gee, J. P. (2015). Literacy and education. New York: Routledge.

G. (2015, July 20). Context is king. Retrieved September 07, 2017, from http://gabriellemaston.com/context-is-king/

VTUK. (n.d.). Retrieved September 07, 2017, from https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/sponsored-content/2015/4/%E2%80%9Cinsanity-is-doing-the-same-thing-over-and-over-again-and-expecting-different-results%E2%80%9D-%E2%80%93-albert-einstein