Questions from the readings
Please address/answer/discuss at least two questions: In total your response/s, including comments on others posts, should be no less than 200 words and no more than 350 words.
Scribner:
- Why would there be proponents of bounded literacy, i.e., why would there be supporters of a conception of literacy that has fixed boundaries?
- Would it be fair to argue that the quest to offer a universal definition of literacy can be explained, at least in part, by an over-reliance on classification or scientism that (arguably) pervades western intellectual thought? Why or why not?
- Do you agree with Scribner that definitions of literacy can only be arrived at synchronically, i.e., at a particular moment as opposed to diachronically (over time)? Why or why not?
- How is literacy a social justice issue?
- To this question, how has literacy been used as a "hegemonic tool"; and, how can the obverse be made true, that is, how can literacy be used as a tactical, subversive tool? Offer an example.
Hull:
- What does it mean to expand our conception of literacy?
- How can the use of digital media serve to create more agentive young people; more specifically, how can it help traditionally marginalized (and therefore silenced) young people find their respective voices?
Willis:
- How does ethnography afford a space for representation?
- (According to Willis), why is self-making so important; and, what role, if any, does literacy play in the creation of self?
- Do you think Willis overreaches when he creates an analog between qualitative research, i.e., ethnography, and art? Why or why not?
- How do definitional issues around literacy speak to or at the very least invoke questions regarding both structural and institutional inequity?
Bogdan and Biklen:
- How are value judgments problematic with regard to field note creation? How can they be avoided?
The use of digital media allows young people to take a step back and actually examine their environment and their role within it. I wouldn't say that young people are marginalized, rather I believe that they have never been given the opportunity and multiple sources of approaching self analysis that digital media affords us. They have never been given this opportunity to reflect on the self on so many different levels. Digital media not only provides the medium through which they can reflect on the self and the power they can command in the world through this different source of literacy, but more importantly gives young people a chance to act on this power of literacy and express themselves in ways never encountered before. Moreover, young people realize through digital media the multiple identities they assume in day to day life in all types of settings whether it's at home, at school, and so on. It's not just a school-based literacy that is helps them interpret their own education and learning, but moreover a literacy that helps them learn about their identity in the larger scheme of the world. Digital media provides young people with an awareness of just how powerful their voice is and gives them a means of acting on it, making them more agentive.
ReplyDeleteI just want to clarify what it is that I meant when I invoked the term/concept "marginalized". There are many education scholars (Leonardo 2009; Noguera 2006; Giroux 1998; Apple 1985; Freire 1971, etc.) who argue that our educational system has a very clear central focus: creating and re-creating a center/periphery dialectical dynamic. More specifically, many of these thinkers argue that schooling as we know it today is geared towards reaffirming a very clear, very white, middle class aesthetic. If this is the case, then, it follows that students who fit this criterion are in fact the central focus of schooling, i.e., they are the center. Again, if this is in fact true, anyone who does not fit this criterion and who is either unable or unwilling to force her or himself into it must then make up the periphery (or the margins). This is not intended to be a terminal interpretation of marginalization; it is, however, the definition that I am working with here.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, the denial of opportunity that you mention above is altogether consistent with marginalization as I have defined it.
Lastly,thank you for posting so soon and with such a thoughtful answer. And, I agree with you: not all young people are marginalized; however, many are. And what's most alarming to me about this is that traditionally marginalized student groups are fairly static in our society.
Giving literacy strict boundaries would make it very easy to create educational curricula. If some people choose to consider literacy the functional ability to decipher and encode text, they can focus on reading strategies. If others choose to define literacy as the ability to recognize and (re-)create concepts from different media, they can focus on literature and prior discourse. The simpler literacy is defined, the easier the means of improving it seem to be. Furthermore, so long as something as broad as literacy is tamed within specific boundaries, the politics of literacy are less chaotic. Given a limitless definition of literacy, people would continue to debate on teaching methods and eventually lose focus on teaching any specific literary skills. Students would be bombarded with different approaches, and in the end would only know that literacy is “good.” Bounded literacy is not meant to be a complete definition of literacy; rather it allows people to act on what literacy means to them – whether it serves functional, spiritual, or social purposes.
ReplyDeleteDigital media has given rise to a fairer way to express ourselves. Both positive and negative reactions to various events can be accessed through the Internet, and because of this, newer generations are acquiring new types of literacy. Sure communication is now quick and people can now easily be heard, but for the very same reasons, people are becoming better listeners. Previously, people received their information from one-way mediums, like Television. As a result, they were presented information that could then be analyzed, debated, accepted, and/or rejected by individuals themselves. Because technology has become so interactive, however, such one-way thinking can no longer occur. People can respond to what they perceive, but more importantly, they can see how others react. People are no longer literate on just information; they are becoming literate on society. The reason why this great interconnectivity has allowed people to project their voices is not only because of its ease of broadcast, but because the speaker/author himself now has the knowledge and experience gained from listening to be able to fairly stand his ground and be acknowledged. Literacy in this case is serving to integrate, rather than segregate, people of different backgrounds.
Supporters of a fixed definition of literacy would find the entire issue of illiteracy much easier to tackle if there were a simple way to classify the problem and to identify the solutions to increase literacy in nations where illiteracy is an increasing at an alarming rate. When trying to find a cure for a holistic problem, the overall effectiveness of the fix seems to be lost in the classification of the problem. However, once there are set boundaries to the issue, even with the understanding that it is simply a part or an integral aspect of the entire problem of literacy, educators and policy makers know they are at least addressing one part of the entire literacy problem. Literacy as a whole would be much easier to understand if there were a set definition to make teaching young children, secondary school students, and returning students the elements of literacy that are necessary to succeed, depending on the chosen definition. For example, based on the metaphors given in the Scribner reading, if educators were to reach a consensus that literacy is a matter of functionality, they would focus on teaching students the applicable portions of literacy that would allow people to prepare for a job interview, read a bus schedule, or help their children with homework. This method can be applied to the other metaphors given in the Scribner reading along with any other types of literacy that could be readily identified. The ability to classify literacy allows people the freedom to focus on how to best facilitate teaching people to read, write, and communicate without spending exorbitant amounts of time constantly revising the definition of the issue they are dealing with on a regular basis.
ReplyDeleteDigital media is an important means of creating more productive youth because the new technology that is so readily available has the power to allow them to express their ideas in a number of ways that all encompass a certain dialect of literacy that has not been reached at such a permeable level as now. When focusing on marginalized youth, there is a plethora of experiences that they do not have the access to share because they have not had the freedoms that other demographic groups had to express themselves. Therefore, there is a group of youth in our population who are not reaching their full potential simply because the means of literacy that has been used to teach them literacy has not catered to their understanding of the world they live in. However, digital media gives them the chance to put their thoughts together in a literate and comprehensive manner, allowing them to exercise their traditional literacy skills of reading and writing in a novel literacy style of video editing and music mixing on computers. As they become more fluent in digital media, it becomes part of the educators’ responsibility to make sure they incorporate the traditional literacy skills into the digital media format so that the youth, not simply marginalized, but the youth who have had academic advantages, can learn both dialects of literacy, reading-writing and digital media.
According to Willis, self-making is important because it allows humans to make sense of, and learn about, the role that they play in the world around them. Self-making lifts humans from a merely materialistic world and gives them something more, something deeper, to strive for. Willis does not specifically address the idea of literacy in relation to self-making, but if literacy can be seen as “the ability to express oneself,” this ties into Willis’s idea that self-making is a constant attempt to express oneself by building on what has come before. In other words, literacy is the medium (or one of them) with which humans can achieve self-making.
ReplyDeleteValue judgments are problematic when it comes to field note creation because it is introducing a bias or an assumption into a situation that should be objective. Thus, it runs the risk of turning an observation into an opinionated statement. Because observers are not robots, value judgments cannot be entirely avoided, but an observer will be able to lessen the impact of their judgments by being honest and open about their thoughts, beliefs, and opinions. As a result, the reader will be able to understand that any value judgments come from the observer and should not be taken as fact.
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ReplyDeleteEveryday, there are students in classrooms who do not participate in class because they do not feel comfortable enough to express themselves before their peers. However, by utilizing the vast amount of technology available today, students are able to explore and discover their voice and ultimately, their identity.
ReplyDeleteThe interaction between students and teachers is not as personal and direct as the interaction between students and technology. Since students are able to interact with technology personally, their ability to find their voice through various forms of digital media increases greatly. Students have great freedom as they use technology, allowing them to in vision their identity in whatever form they decide. This control over their self-image encourages students to creatively express themselves and create a voice for themselves.
Today, students turn to technology to interact with their peers and expand their horizons. These key characteristics of technology allow students to fluently navigate through digital media programs to create a voice for themselves that some would not have before. These students, who did not have the confidence to speak out before, can express themselves in a manner that they feel comfortable with. The students, who would have otherwise been marginalized, are empowered with independence and creativity to create a voice for themselves through digital media projects.
Individuals interpret literacy in various ways; generally, most view a lack of literacy in a negative manner, while they perceive those who are highly literate to be more cultured than others. To be literate in a language is a skill that many find significant and necessary to survive daily life. Literacy is an issue that should concern us all, and there should be efforts to help those who are illiterate become literate.
Literacy is defined as the ability to read and write in a given language and as the competence or knowledge in a specified area. Without these skills, it would be difficult for many individuals to survive in society as productive members. It is important for everyone to positively impact society, and one of the first steps of doing so is to become literate in the language. By having the ability to fluently communicate one’s ideas to others, the individual is empowered with the ability to create an identity for himself/herself. Along with this newfound identity comes the power to contribute to society as a whole. Literacy should be taken seriously as a social issue because it is imperative to help all individuals become literate. By enabling individuals with the power to communicate with others, we can ensure that our society is moving forward to a brighter future.
Giedre Novikaite
ReplyDelete(refers to both questions from the Hull article)
According to Hull, there should be an expanded conception of literacy, which could be defined as “a familiarity with the full range of communicative tools, modes, and media, plus an awareness of and a sensitivity to the power and importance of representation of self and others, along with the space and support to communicate critically, aesthetically, lovingly, and agentively” (p. 230). At the same time, traditionally marginalized young people can find their respective voices through digital media because of its accessibility. In the new age of technology, everyone can be a publisher without any previous education or even extensive computer knowledge. Blogs, online articles, forums, comments, Youtube, etc. allow vast possibilities for self-expression. Furthermore, social websites, such as Facebook, allow anyone to publicize their work and expose others (voluntarily or not) to their ideas.
Another thing to consider, however, would be the quality of these self-expressions. Because it is so accessible, we can assuredly say that for every respectable piece of work there are ten that cheapen the purpose and possibilities of digital media. For example, there are a few success stories of musicians or artists who credit their current success to myspace or some obscure blog. However, how many more ‘artists’ litter the virtual space with creations that are mediocre at best? While at DUSTY the students are encouraged “to tell stories about self and community, and to use those moments of narrative reconstruction to reflect on past events, present activities, and future goals”, their meaningful productions make up a very small minority. And even though every bit of digital media is exposed to more criticism that any print source, it is as easy to ignore (or delete) it as a click of a mouse pad.
According to Willis, self-making is important because it is more than just concerning oneself with the material world or surviving. Instead it is about individuals making meaning of themselves in their own worlds in which Willis specifies is emphasized through cultural means. For example, the cultural practices individuals now perform, generate something that was once missing, or only partial, and helps create their cultural worlds. As Willis states, “In making our cultural worlds we make ourselves.” They make an identity based on such cultural practices, which vary from person to person. And with this, literacy plays as a tool because it allows one to self-transform by making decisions, judgments, etc that require some literate sense. Therefore it is essential when self-making because one must express themselves through these “creative cultural practices” which Willis talks about in the reading and makes up their cultural world and themselves.
ReplyDeleteTo expand our conception of literacy means to think out of the ordinary idea that it simply means the ability to read and write, which of course is true in one sense, but then again there are many other ideas and "definitions" that can fit into the broad spectrum of the term literacy. The term is different when in context of the place and time. For instance now, it can be more technology based then it once was, and through time and different circumstances it will continue to be different. In her article, Hull states "to explore and learn from the new formulations of literacy...", meaning that in youth literacy can take on a new meaning, with media and so forth.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Scribner’s idea that the definition of literacy can only be arrived at synchronically as opposed to diachronically because of the cultural advances people in a society experience as time progresses. Since literacy is a direct result of the competency an individual contains in the different forms and mediums of communications used within the community, a consistent definition of literacy over a large period of time is unattainable. As Scribner states in the part of the text discussing literacy as an adaptation, during World War I literacy was focused on accomplishing the tasks of “modern soldiering,” while today the requirements of being able to function in an everyday situation such as reading street signs to reach a certain destination or even to distinguish the correct bathroom sign a certain gender can enter into. The important aspects within a culture changes with time therefore the concepts of what it is to be “literate” also alters. For example, in the 1990s beepers were more common then cell phones and people were only allotted a certain amount of numbers they could send to someone else which required the recipient to be literate of how to read beeper texts. However, today it is more common that people are able to communicate through their phones using texts, so the standards of literacy have shifted and to be literate in using a cell phone texting one must know how to read and send text messages.
ReplyDeleteTo expand the conception of literacy, it must be recognized that literacy is far beyond the lines of reading and writing. In actuality, literacy is being affluent and understanding in the common and basic tools of a given culture during that time period. As seen in the video made by a group of students from last semester, even knowing the terms used in football or the dialect of a foreign language is part of literacy. Professor Hull makes this claim in her article that the students using digital stories, writing rap songs, or performing poetry are different forms of literacy that are produced by a culture and understood within a given subset of that culture.
Willis’ description of ethnographic imagination immediately recalled the case for digital media presented in Hull’s reading. In particular, I found that Willis’ statement that “embodied ‘sense’ is often not expressed in language; sometimes, more strongly, it is organized against, or in tension with language” (xii) presents a persuasive reason in favor of digital media. This dissonance between language and meaning presents a formidable challenge to the traditional definition of literacy, which heavily relies on a purely linguistic means of communication. Despite the apparent benefits of to the traditional and restrictive definition that others have already discussed, Willis’ observation succinctly highlights the irreconcilable flaw inherent in such an approach. The artificiality of literacy, in terms of merely reading and writing, necessitates an external force that continually pushes an individual to overcome the tension.
ReplyDeleteTherefore, Willis reinforces the advantages of a multimedia approach to literacy. Digital media allows students to bridge the gap between the linguistic signifier and referent and enables them to express themselves through a medium that is perhaps more comfortable to them and familiar to their respective backgrounds. By expanding our definition of literacy, we extend Scribner’s “literacy as a state of grace” to groups marginalized by the predominant limited conception of literacy. A combination of the lofty register of the word “literacy” and our overarching tendency to think of literacy in a linguistic context – a previous comment spoke of digital media as a “dialect of literacy,” which I found both apt and fascinating for this very reason – effectively marginalizes other communicative media. The incorporation of music, art, and technology into “literacy” indicates that these skills, too, are socially valuable. With the recognition of the importance of digital media, young people challenged by linguistic expression can communicate through a more intuitive vehicle, thus allowing them a greater facility and consequently, a greater confidence in self-expression.
I just wanted to thank all of you who submitted posts. The posts are very thoughtful and very perspicacious; I am really impressed. Please remember, if possible, to bring in a copy of your post to reference for discussion today (it can be electronic).
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ReplyDeleteHull explains that the definition of literacy changes over time, according to certain technologies. She explains that times change, and our logic must change with it. For example, digital technology brings together different forms of media as well as authorship, causing popular culture to spread at a much faster rate. Because of this, literacy extends on a global scale as people from different places are connected. Literacy online enables people of different backgrounds to bring together ideas and beliefs. In this manner, people can gain a greater understanding into the lives of others and the workings of another place. Hull suggests that we understand these different types of communication so that we may be more aware of others. Having a broader sense of literacy will allow people of different backgrounds to communicate more fully. If we understand literacy on different platforms, we can recognize its malleable quality and communicate beyond basic text.
ReplyDeleteBogdan and Biklin describe the two different aspects of fieldwork: descriptive and reflective. Fieldnotes are the written account of observations and feelings in a study. The descriptions for qualitative data should have nothing to do with the observer. This is a written account of what was happening. Reflective notes, on the other hand, are comments from the observer regarding what they saw in the field. Personal thoughts regarding likes and dislikes are described in an effort to improve one’s notes. The problem here is that observers almost always have their own beliefs heading into the study. Assumptions affect how the observer takes notes. Observers should be aware of their preconceptions and understand that being in the field may change these. Value judgments can be avoided by having an open mind and be aware of different outcomes.
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ReplyDeleteIn response to Scribner:
ReplyDeleteHistorically, literacy has been used as a method of in-group and out-group identification. A great example comes from early American history, where citizens were required to pass a literacy test in order to vote. While this seems slightly reasonable for the time, this was mostly a poorly masked effort to disenfranchise the black minority, who were most likely to be illiterate. In today's society, children are often deemed as “literate” or “illiterate” at a very early stage and put into remedial classes if necessary. However, just as a child deemed “gifted” is often put on the fast track to a 4-year college, those in remedial courses often have difficulty breaking out of their “track”.
As far as arriving at a definition of literacy, I believe that it can be built upon over time as we gather new information and aquire new technologies, however it can never be allowed to stagnate. Once a definition of literacy is allowed to set in stone, it immediately becomes obsolete. Take for example, a commonly accepted popular version of literacy, which says that if you can read, you are considered literate. However, if you are a computer programmer by profession, and can read the words that say “for i=1:n let x=5” but have no idea what they mean because you have never programmed in MatLab, you are by definition of a new form of literacy, illiterate.
What Hull calls for with this questions is that literacy encompasses a wider range than previous notions about literacy and in these modern times there exists and extensive array of communicative tools, models and media that require a degree of literacy. Digital storytelling, for instance, provides students in the DUSTY program with distinct contrasts to letter-based forms of textual reasonings found in schools. The ability to operate computers and other devices to create these stories accompanied by visual and audio components not only demands some form of intelligence about creating a multi-layered story but also makes great improvements upon standard storytelling.
ReplyDeleteSelf-making is important because as humans we try to make sense of where we stand in our own cultural world. According to Willis, human beings are driven not only to struggle to survive by making and remaking their material conditions of existence, but also to survive by creating meaning in life. Culture weighs heavily in defining the self, since a person's creative aspect is rendered by cultural practices. Literacy plays an immense part in the creation of self since as humans who try to understand their place simultaneously also want to express this understanding through work-upon forms.
The digital media has totally brought people into another communication level. The use of digital media has allowed young people to freely produce and create what ever they can come up with. This platform gives them the opportunity to explore and experience as much as they can. In the past, without this medium, they could never express the idea to the whole world. However, the new age of digital media has widely expanded the conception of literacy.
ReplyDeleteThis new technology has the power to break space and time. Now, people are able to express their ideas in different ways and share it with someone on the other side of the world. It allows the youth to reflect on the self and the power they gain from literacy. Other than learning from school or home, the digital media provides a place for youth to understand the literacy of the world. This learning process is way beyond reading and writing. According to the article of Professor Hull, she pointed out that students usng digital stories, writing rap songs and even performing poetry are demonstrating different forms of literacy that evolved from the digital media culture. This is also how more and more educator are adding the traditional literacy elements into the new media format in order to become successful in this modern world.
I really enjoyed the discussion we had about the benefits and consequences of rigid and fluid definitions of literacy in class on Thursday. Noticing that a large number of us have addressed how society as a whole should interpret literacy, I'd like to throw my opinion in as well. If we can agree on a general goal of expanding and enhancing literacy, then I believe it to be necessary to have a foundational, and concrete, definition of literacy. Without being able to define literacy, how can one be expected to teach it effectively to another person? However, such a foundation would admittedly have to be fairly basic, and must include the recognition of alternative forms of literacy that stretch far beyond the common definition of the ability to read and write. Because an exclusively bounded concept of literacy severely limits not only ambitious students, but teachers as well, a basic definition is not enough. The idea of synchronically arriving at a definition of literacy suggested by Scribner is very accurate. Any model of literacy, be it a specific definition, free-flowing, or a combination of the two, must always be free to change based on its historical context.
ReplyDeleteI just noticed I'm being sort of self-contradictory. The "rigid" definition I described does not mean unchanging, just a clear and tangible way to define what qualifies as "literate". I strongly believe that the definition should be open to change. And am now replacing every instance of "rigid" with a more specific term.
To describe literacy accurately would be to only give the loose bounds if offers. There is no strict definition because it is such a loosely understood concept since it is entirely non-quantitative. However, tests such as the CAHSEE and the SATs strive to put a number on the level of proficiency a student has achieved, the level of literacy they achieved reflected in the reading/writing/English score. While many argue these tests only serve to quantify a child’s potential, a quality that cannot possibly be measured, perhaps the supporters of bounding literacy have a noble goal. When there is a goal to be achieved, a level of mastery that must be passed, students strive to do their best to reach this level. When a standard is set, students are naturally reared to achieve at least the average, this standard, to be at least average in life. These averages, such as the average ability to read that would make us determine a person as literate, then become necessary for us to function normally in life without being hindered by our lack of reaching a standard. With this in mind, the tests that create a confined definition of literacy are compiled to simply represent the average proficiency of a language necessary at that point in life. CAHSEE is easy for most of us who are literate and use English every day, but maintain a good level of challenge for those who struggle with English since a decent level of literacy is still necessary. Though I am not sure I personally agree with setting confines of literacy, I am afraid that the lack of a standard is worse than a rigid standard. Having a definition of literacy will prevent students from aiming higher than the standard, but having no standard at all provides no exemplar of what to strive for and blocks any expectations.
ReplyDeletePeople would support a strict single definition of litearcy because, to put it simply, it's easier. With a strict definition of literacy then people can define the intellect of someone through a rigid system such as test scores, or SAT or essay writing based on 2 graders on the AP tests... However, I disagree on hving a rigid definition. There are many different kinds of literacy whether it's sports talk, or scientific discussion requiring knowledge of certain terms, or texting, or even reading facial expressions. Each type of literacy requires a totally different type of skill and knowledge of different subject. To define all these types of literacy under one definition is limiting the possibilities of different kinds of literacy. I think this also ties into what Hull means into expanding our conception of literacy. By acknowledging different forms of lieracy we are expanding our conception of what lieracy is.
ReplyDeleteLiteracy is also a social justice issue. As discussed in class, there are various kinds of literacy only attainable to those who have the economic support to provide the resources to understand them. An example that I came to think of for saying literacy as a social justice issue is as follows. Under many definitions, literacy is also knowing one's rights as a human. However, there are some around the world even today, who do not understand those rights. There are those who are born into slave trafficking, who are denied freedom ever since they were strong enough to work, probably chose since they were born. With facts like these, literacy turns into a social justice issue defining or limiting a person's right as a human, when one doesn't know such definitions of literacy.
We need a boundary to define something and differentiate the entity from other, which provides an entity with a distinctive meaning and identity, so that we can determine what we notice (pay attention) and what we ignore. The boundaries of literacy allow us to perceive what literacy is. The supporters of a conception of literacy that has fixed boundaries most likely are from education sector, as they want to give direction to the education program, as the education system is the nurture process for literacy. By defining what literacy is, it gives the direction that what we (the next generation) need to learn and what tool we need to equip with in order to the live in this complex society. With the tool (literacy), we learn our culture, our society and our world, learn how to see the world from the ‘words’. But literacy is not the only way to learn our world.
ReplyDeleteLiteracy is one of the ability and serves as a tool that provides different functions as you use it. The fundamental value/concept of literacy is the ability to manipulate words. Reading the word and understand metaphor, writing the fact and its inner meaning, which I think the most important. We can use the words/literacy for different aspect, for example emotional expression (a state of grace), empowerment (power), communication (Adaptation), understanding and recording the cultural value and historical record, and so on. If you are good at manipulating words, it can be one of the powerful tools to mobilize social change and achieve social justice. It can serve a medium for social justice, as literacy provide knowledge and perspective to see the world, it helps to nurture and inspire people the concepts of what is right and what is wrong, what is their human right by learning the ideas and texts from other society.
As the time passes, the function of literacy is changing through the history. We may agree with what Scribner said that the definition of literacy can only be arrived at synchronically as the fundamental things/concept about literacy is unchanged; or we may disagree with his viewpoint as some of the components and functions are changing which you think it is essential in the concept/boundary of literacy. The term ‘universal’ or ‘fixed’ or ‘tighter’ is a subjective term to describe the definition of literacy. The world is the world we define. The literacy is the literacy we define. As the subjective viewpoints from different group, we have different meaning/definition to it.
In my opinion, I think the definition of literacy is in flux. The way we draw the boundary varies significantly from one society to another as well as across historical periods even within the same society. In this technological era, the literacy is different from our traditional text, which contain different images, video, digital stuffs. As Professor Hull said “we should expand our conceptions of what it means to be fully literate in new times”.
According to Hull, expanding our concept of literacy means to not only think about literacy as the ability to read and write, but to also include different ways of communications such as digital media and others, where the students are allowed to use language, their voices and bodies to represent themselves, and therefore, strengthening what it means to communicate. Digital media is also important because it offers students a different alternative to the texts and forms of reasoning that are usually taught at school and allows students to be creative, communicate their ideas and their takes on the world.
ReplyDeleteDigital media can also help traditionally marginalized young people find their voices by allowing young people to tell stories about themselves and their communities, which position them as agents, who are able to act upon their own desires and change their world. This is important because the current educational system reinforces a white middle class aesthetic while marginalizing students that do not fit in this criterion, and therefore denying them the opportunity to express themselves. This system also takes away their power to become agents in their communities, and for this reason, programs such as the digital media ones are important because they introduce a space where, the usually marginalize students can express themselves, and find out that through their actions, they have the power to change their world.
When you hear the word literacy, most people think of reading and writing; but Hull talks about expanding our conception of literacy in a way to promote awareness that literacy goes beyond just reading and writing in the classroom and actually consists of every aspect of life. Things such as sports, digital media, poetry, etc are all different forms of literacy that aren’t usually recognized or associated with the word literacy. Hull’s piece on DUSTY illustrates just how digital storytelling can be a form of literacy that can “push us to think anew about theories of literacy” (Hull 231). Most educators have mixed feelings when it comes to relying on images as a core part of communication and thus find digital storytelling problematic as a form of literacy. But I find that the use of digital media can be useful and helpful to marginalized students to find their voice. Digital media is another form of communication and through this medium, silenced students who are too shy in class can finally express themselves and share their stories. Through digital media, students are given the opportunity to experience a different learning space as well as an alternate form of expressing their ideas. The idea of giving students different opportunities to demonstrate their abilities is beneficial to the students because it deters them from giving up and dropping out.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the purpose of fieldnotes is to portray your subjective experience into words, it can be problematic to include value judgements. Value judgements introduce bias into your fieldnotes that inevitably enforce your opinion in the writing. Fieldnotes require a certain amount of objectivity and exact observations that are open to interpretation later on in a case study. Allowing your opinion to enter the fieldnotes can muddle the validity and trustworthiness of your observations.
ReplyDeleteIf literacy had fixed boundaries, then the boundaries give it a definition. With a definition, it is much easier, policywise, to determine cutoffs to separate those who are “literate” and those who are not. There are many who would like to have literacy with a simple definition. A bounded definition would make school curricula much easier to create since it can be applied to school. On a less positive note, Scribner describes in her analogy of literacy as power, “Historically, literacy has been a potent tool in maintaining the hegemony of elites and dominant classes in certain societies”. Thus, people in power can use a bounded definition of literacy to keep others down and themselves in power.
ReplyDeleteIt is easy to see then, how literacy could become a social justice issue. Since people with already with power typically control the means of becoming literate, they can keep the illiterate down and out of power. As discussed in class, literacy takes many forms. By restricting what types of literacy a person can know, it fundamentally eliminates many possible futures for that person. Presently, the majority of the “illiterate” are impoverished. In their struggle, they usually do not have the means or the opportunity to lift themselves out of their problems, creating the potential issue of a neverending cycle.
I think it is not fair to quest for universal definition of literacy with being overly relying upon classification of western thought. Western classification of literacy are more likely to consider those who mastered written language as literate. It, particularly, perceives those who are familiarize oneself with the content and techniques of the sciences, arts, and humanities by means of written text as a literate. However, not all cultures have the same value system. Unlike western society, some other society may value pragmatic, ideological, and intellectual knowledge in the same degree. They may consider knowledge transmitted orally from their grandfather as valuable as the knowledge from the text or formal, school-based knowledge.
ReplyDeleteExpanding our conception of literacy means in addition to relying upon alphabetic texts and the forms of textual reasoning to formulate literacy, we also employ image or other kinds of signification that are mediated by technologies. Expand from literacy as reading and writing, with the advance of technologies, uploading videos in Youtube or making digital storytelling considered to be ‘literacy.’ Because, while uploading videos or making digital story, knowledge of technical devices is needed in addition to storytelling and composing plotline. So, in contrast to the students in the past, who only develops the knowledge of how to compose a story, today’s students, who makes the digital story and tell their story through youtube, develop their knowledge of managing technical devices in addition to composing storylines.
Scribner reading response:
ReplyDeleteLiteracy is a social justice issue because, as Scribner says, “Effective literacy education … creates a critical consciousness through which a community can analyze its condition of social existence and engage in effective action for a just society. Not to be literate is a state of victimization” (pp.75). Simply put, literacy enlightens people to their present situation. Without literacy, a person would be ignorant to what is going on and be taken advantage of. A prominent example of this is slavery, where the South made teaching slaves to read illegal. The objective was to keep slaves from reaching a political consciousness and overturning the institution of slavery. This also happened against women and the working class. Therefore, literacy becomes a social issue since being informed is a prerequisite to producing change.
There are proponents for bounded literacy because they believe it would be easier to grasp and employ literacy with a defined notion. If literacy were made too broad, how would one approach it? Literacy thus needs to be something tangible that people can expand on. Focus is important, as an unbounded literacy would be too broad and complex a topic to approach. Bounded literacy basically then provides this jumping off point from which people can orient themselves when it comes to literacy.