"Literacies are bound up with social, institutional and cultural relationships, and can only be understood when they are situated within their social, cultural and historical contexts" (12)
In a recent class discussion on this chapter, there seemed to be some confusion or difficulty in pinning down, and itemizing 'new' literacies. Speaking for myself, I was under the impression that there was some new pedagogical model called New Literacy. After going back to this chapter, I've ruled out that possibility. Because ____ & ____ state that 'new' literacies are made of different ontological "stuff," I'd like to clarify at least what it isn't. I don't anticipate reaching transcendence, "in which two forces that exist in tension with one another 'work out their differences', as it were and evolve into something that bears the stamp of both, yet is qualitatively different from each of them" (29). I'm not feeling that ambitious.
Below, I summarize some of the movements discussed in this chapter, and draw connections to my teaching experience. I also raise some questions that I think may hold 'new' literacies accountable to the past. It's not transcendence, but no one was really expecting to find that in a grad student's blog.
-Paulo Freire (1970s, Brazil & Chili)
- Literacy in the radical education movement, literacy in opposition to oppression
- Begins with decoding and encoding print, but the words decoded were always contextualized: "In Freire's pedagogy, learning to write and read words become a focus for adult in pursing critical awareness of how oppressive practices and relations operated in everyday life. Words that were highly charged for meaning for them - words that expressed their fears, hopes, troubles and their dreams for a better life - provided the vocabulary by which they learned to read and write." (p?)
Literacy here cannot be separated from it's purpose, as the means to oppose oppression. The content of students' reading material served to define oppressive forces for Brazilian peasants. The content (I assume) has immediate value to the students, and understanding (or reading or interpreting) the textual content is not the final aim. The students begin encoding (writing) in response and opposition to their reading.
Testing/Evaluating Literacy: Groups would "analyze and evaluate the results of their action in order to take the next step in cultural action" (p?). This seems similar to the kind of education used during the civil rights movement in the US, where organizations borrowed the theories and practices of non-violence from the Indian independence movement, and tested the results against their ability, for example, to end segregation in particular sectors of public life, in (bus, particular shopping district, Little Rock Arkansas Public schools) (check for examples).
Questions Raised
- So, what does new literacy oppose?
- In this context, "illiteracy" "...is seen as a consequence of unjust social processes and relations..." (p?). What would define 'new' illiteracy?
- What are the conditions and results of this lacking?
-Non-formal instruction, alternative education for adults and out-of-school teens ("prior to 1970s" and onward)
- "Intended to provide a 'second chance'"
- Illiteracy associated with "debilitating" conditions like "unemployment, imprisonment, drug and alcohol abuse, teenage pregnancy, inferior physical and psychic health, and so on.
The article doesn't specify how content of reading material would be chosen (for learning to decode), or what the purpose of writing (encoding) would be. ____ and _____ descriptions are remarkably similar to the mission of the organization where I first began teaching, right after finishing my BA. The Center for Literacy was formed in 1968, in Philadelphia. When I taught there, there were several programs: GED, Adult Basic Education (ABE, which prepared students for the GED class), English Second Language (ESL, though there are many more acronyms depending on the organization), and the Youth department (which included after school programs for students still enrolled in high school, but potentially at risk, and out-of-school youth classes, for students 16-21, who, for a variety of reasons, dropped out of high school).
The GED classes had the primary goal of preparing students for the GED exam. However, the GED (and ABE) instructors recognized the limitations of using only GED prep materials for class content. Many teachers included units on "job-readiness," practicing interviewing skills, resume writing, proper work attire and conduct, etc.
The GED and ESL departments shared many similar functions for students. In my ESL classes, I also taught job readiness, along with citizenship exam preparation.
In this context, illiteracy was defined in terms of the circumstances of individuals' lives. Literacy was the ability to apply to community college, attain and maintain employment, secure proper documentation and citizenship status, along with the ability to articulate and monitor personal life-goals.
The content vocabulary was largely student-centered. However, being not-for-profit, and not directly tax-payer funded as public schools are, content was just as often driven by requirements set by grants. For example, I have taught classes funded by the EL Civics grant. For those classes, I was expected to cover content related US History or preparation for the citizenship test, which I would report on to my program manager, who would then include this in the proposal for the next EL Civics grant.
Testing/Evaluating Literacy: Defined by the ability to pass the GED, citizenship, or college entrance exams.
Questions Raised:
Questions Raised:
- What circumstances are new literacies concerned with?
- Do 'new' literacies address the goals of individuals (which is the driving force for adult education programs in my experience in Philadelphia and Queens, NY)?
- What restrictions in funding mandate the limits of content and application of new literacies?
- How will new literacies be tested and evaluated?
Hi Eric,
ReplyDeletethis is a great post!! You've helped me understand the concepts mentioned in the text that were rather abstract due to the authors' lack of real-life examples. I’ve been teaching the writing and speaking sections of TOEFL to Korean students, and I also try to incorporate the real-life applications of the skills I am teaching. For instance, I ask students to record their voicemail greetings using the points of conventional intonation I’ve taught in class, and I create sample reading passages that are from the fields students want to major in once they enter the grad schools. I think establishing that real-life connection is particularly important in post-secondary education, where students are mostly concerned with how they can internalize what they have learned and apply in their daily lives.