Literacy is More than Black and White Letters on a Piece of Paper

What is literacy?  Literacy to me is not only being able to read a text but being able to ingest the information in a way that it can be applied in the real world.  For instance, theoretically I'm an excellent Physicist.  I have the ability to use an equation in the classroom and decipher the correct answer.  However, I do not have the ability to apply what I have written on paper into a real life situation.  This created an embarrassing issue for me.  I can proudly pronounce that I am an 'A' student in Physics but the fact that I cannot apply it in real life means that I am technically not literate in Physics.  There is a difference.  An employer does not want someone who can only 'theoretically' practice physics.  They want someone who can apply it.  Needless to say, I will not be a Physicist in this lifetime. 

However literacy is much broader than the ability to read and apply information.   A simple Google search brings us to the Wikipedia definition which states:

"Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read and write. It is a concept claimed and defined by a range of different theoretical fields."

I think we can all agree that literacy is 'the ability to read and write' but what about the 'different theoretical fields'?  What all does literacy encompass?  I actually found an excellent video on You Tube called What Does it Mean to be Literate in the 21st Century? that defined literacy in ways I had not considered. 




In this video literacy included:

• The Basics - the ability to 'work' words and numbers.
• Critical Literacy - the ability to ingest information and apply it.
• Visual Literacy - the ability to negotiate and make sense of an image. 
• "Read the World" Literacy - the ability to understand the world around oneself.
• Information Literacy - the ability to understand and apply information not only from texts but computers as well which can include writing a computer program.
• Visual Media Literacy - understanding information that does not come from texts but images - symbols, signs, and graphs.
• Social Literacy - the ability to read and understand people in general (relationships and interactions).
• Outdoor Literacy - the ability to understand one's surroundings in the great outdoors. 

These are just a few ways to define literacy.  Literacy is beyond reading words.  It accesses key critical thinking skills so that the information ingested includes being able to apply it in many instances including social and technological skills.  I think Wikipedia sums it up best in this statement.

"Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society."

Today information is streamed from many different resources.  One hundred years ago, people had limited ways in which to receive their information.  The written word in textbooks, as well as, oral communication about traditions and gossip made ingesting information and applying it much simpler. Plus, one hundred years ago it was much harder to receive information from around the world.  Information traveled much slower and sometimes did not infiltrate small towns and villages.  Today the individual has the world at their fingertips.  Information streams from the media (locally, nationally, and worldly), social resources which include Twitter and Facebook, individual and group resources such as blogs and forums, as well as more 'conventional' textbooks.  It's quite a bombardment from one hundred years ago.  Many of these sources compete with each other and the individual has to have the ability to sort what is pertinent information and what is superfluous or incorrect.  Just as the written word is not always correct, information from the Internet is not always correct either.  For this reason the individual needs to be technologically literate.  In other words, have the ability to ingest what they read and then apply this information in the real world.  Why?  Can you think of one high paying career that does not use technology?  Computers have infiltrated the business world, the medical world, the automotive and design industry, and the entertainment industry to name a few.  A radiologist must be able to read and decipher a patients MRI which is computer based imaging.  If they are not literate in a MRI reading, then they would make a very poor radiologist and not employable.

While flipping through YouTube I came across another video called Education Today and Tomorrow that made me think.



My biggest concern with today's technology is the laziness that it has produced.  Call it an "antiquated OCD" and while I am not completely innocent when it comes to "texting" languages such as chat abbreviations and emoticons, I do believe they have a place.  That place is not in schools or the business world.  I cannot emphasize how many times I have heard this last month that West Virginians are at a "disadvantage" on high stake tests when it comes to grammar.  I have worked hard my whole life to make sure my West Virginia dialect does not enter my professional writings (which includes my blogs) or my professional communication skills in front of a classroom.  Facebook is a good example of where individuals tend to lack correct grammatical skills.  While I understand that it is a 'Social Network', I also see it as a place where I am communicating with my peers.  Grammatical errors and shortcuts lead to misunderstandings.  I do not feel I am putting my best foot forward if my peers are not able to decipher my message.  Plus the old adages 'practice makes perfect' or 'if you don't use it, you lose it' comes to mind.  Are students who are skipping apostrophes and using other grammatical shortcuts doing the same in the classroom or on high stake tests such as the WesTest or the ACT?  Do these same students know the difference between they're, their, and there?  Why does this concern me?  In the above video Education Today and Tomorrow a few statements in particular stand out:

China has more honor students than America has

and

China is rapidly becoming the #1 English speaking country

If China is becoming the "#1 English speaking country" how do American students compare?  This is scary.  In a previous blog I linked a comment from the website Critical Issue: Using Technology to Improve Student Achievement in which it states that U.S. children performed poorly on international assessments.  It further went on to point out that U.S. children lack critical thinking skills which brings us straight back to literacy.  If China is quickly becoming the "#1 English speaking country" and American students are using grammatical shortcuts - in the real world or in a professional situation can these students apply their knowledge with other international students and be understood?  In other words, are American students literate enough to be understood by other countries that understand our language as well as or possibly better than ourselves? Literacy is an important key in competing in today's world. While it is the current fad to write in grammatical shortcuts in America, it may not be understood by the rest of the world who are learning how to use our language correctly.  I believe this is a challenge worth tackling while we bring our kids into the 21st Century. 

Of course, on the same note we will not be able to stop texting languages which are currently en vogue.  So to understand ourselves within our own social structure in America, as the old saying goes "if you can't beat them join them".  Part of social literacy is the ability to communicate and be understood.  Therefore the individual has to be adaptive enough to understand language that is born from 'pop culture' and when and where to use it.