Literacy

Literacy has a new definition for me. When I entered into this classroom, I thought of literacy as the process and ability to read and write. Now, I have come to believe that literacy is much more complicated than this simple notion of reading and writing. In fact, if I were to fully analyze reading and writing, I would have to say that they are not part of literacy; instead, they are part of technology.

I have been thinking a lot about the theorists we've been reading and how their definitions of literacy have complicated my simple definition. No longer does my simple definition exist. Where has it gone? I'm not sure where it went, but I wonder more about where it came from...
Anyway, in the place of my old definition of literacy a new concept has taken up residence.
Maybe my old definition just grew up...

This new concept is attractive. For purposes of defining this new literacy, I have decided to give it personal traits. My new concept is strong; he has roots in his culture and has a sense of community. He is open and talkative; he was raised in an environment that values oral communication. He is growing; he is evolving with time and has become multi-faceted with new skills such as writing and reading. Thus, I suppose he looks a lot his baby pictures... hmm...


He also has some traits that are not all that pretty. For instance, he can have a real attitude; most of the time he is Marxist. This doesn't mean that he must be discounted, but it does mean that he tends to spend time with people who might manipulate him to further their own agendas. Perhaps he could be described as naive.

As an instructor of Literacy, I think my goal should be to further his progress. I talked about how he is open and talkative, he also likes to mingle with others. This is how he bcomes multi-faceted. I think that my job as his friend is to introduce him to more and more people. I think that people have heard of Literacy, but they don't really know him. They think he is just reading and writing, but he is so much more.

I have been bringing him to class for a long time, but I never formally introduced him to my students. I could actually start classes allowing them to describe him as they know him (I imagine they would think of him as I used to). They might think that he is a boring old man that they met a long time ago. Instead, I would like them to meet the new and exciting youth that I have with me.

The old Literacy that I was bringing to class was nothing like the new one that I have with me today. My students would love this Literacy. This Literacy would influence them to think more about the purpose of their writing (and reading), how the classes they take can be enhanced with their new friend Literacy, and how they can create their own friend named Literacy. I wonder if they know that... Maybe this should be my goal, maybe this should be every teacher's goal...