New literacy: your daily practice and classroom learning
To begin with, the main themes to be played in this book are the following: literacy, literacy and illiteracy. According to the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), literacy consists in teaching someone to read and write, literacy are the basic knowledge of reading and writing, and illiteracy is the lack of elementary instruction of a country, especially referred to the number of their citizens who do not know how to read. It is important to note that the literacy index or level is high in Spain, which is very important.
Currently, literacy is a very important issue or that is considered as a central theme in politics, mainly in the field of education (development of the curriculum, among other things). However, although today surprises us, literacy, many years ago, barely appeared in formal educational discourse.
In 1970, the word literacy was linked to educational environments that were not formal that offered help to those adults who did not know or read, that is, adults who were considered illiterate.
On the one hand, there is currently something very important to highlight. In many countries, as well as in England or Australia, it has been demonstrated (according to official statistics) that illiteracy levels (in adults) are close or around zero. This is due to literacy initiatives that we cite previously. These consisted of voluntary works, in which some people, called "adult literacy tutors", worked with them. This type of activity was also called "Literacy Teaching". According to the book, this word referred to the following: "Marginal spaces of non -formal educational work that intended to give a second chance to people whose illiteracy was often considered directly related to other weakening conditions and circumstances".
Some examples could be the following:
- People who were unemployed.
- Prisoners.
- People addicted to drugs or alcohol.
- And pregnant girls at an early age (adolescence).
But of course, this occurs mainly in countries that are quite developed. However, what happens in the Third World or also called developing countries? In these, the situation is very different. More or less, 80% of the population is illiterate. According to Lankshear and Knobel, this is due to: "The lack of more or less equivalent reading skills to second or third grade levels in primary school".
Therefore, between 1950 and 1990 a term became fashionable, which was called by theorists as "preparation of a country for economic takeoff". This means that, for a specific country to have good economic income, much of the population has to stop being illiterate.
Because of this, illiteracy was considered an impediment if we talk about the economic development of a country. To avoid this, literacy campaigns were proposed to obtain the necessary requirements so that there was an acceptable level with respect to labor, and that would help improve the economy, and this, as I said at the beginning, refers to non -formal programs To help people learn to read and write.
On the other hand, according to Lankshear and Knobel, literacy was identified as a formal educational ideal. In other words, reading and writing were as important that they were considered essential tools in learning, but for pedagogues it was more important to speak, investigate and discuss reading and writing and not on literacy. It was not until 1970 in the United States when the opposite was really thought (importance to literacy).
This is due to many reasons, of which three of them are the most important:
The first was the prominence that was given thanks to Paulo Freire’s work within the radical movement of education. He showed that, for example, working with peasants, literacy work was essential to have a more radical vision of education. With this, he wanted or tried that the members of the group of apprentices collaborate each other among them.
With respect to illiteracy, from Freire’s perspective, this was considered "a consequence of unfair social processes" and it was thought that it could be changed through human action.
In Freire’s pedagogy, knowing how to write and read words is an objective that will help people to have a critical awareness in their lives.
The second reason was the discovery of the invention of an adult literacy in the United States in the 70s. With this there was talk of a possible literacy crisis coinciding with the change of the economy (structural change), due to the progress of the society of that moment towards a post -industrial society.
And the third and final reason was the development and popularity of the sociocultural perspective within the study of language and social sciences. Between 1980 and 1990, this influenced all practices or actions related to the use of texts. Some important works that were carried out on it were the following:
- Harvey Graff’s book called The Literacy Myth (1979).
- Silvia Scribner’s book and Michael Cole called The Psychology of Literacy (1981).
- Ron’s book and Suzanne Scollon called Narrative, Literacy and Face In Interethnic Communication (1981).
Finally, it was concluded that, due to the historical context of the time at that time, literacy had a fundamental role in formal education and for the administrators and planners of the moment.
Conclusion:
I think it is very important that the majority, if not all people in a country must have the right to education, which implies knowing how to read and write. Unfortunately, many boys and girls, due to the economic position of their parents, cannot go to a school to learn, so we can consider that illiteracy is “an unfair fact or action” that, as a consequence, leads to the not only individual poverty, but also collective, since that affects the development and progress of a country. In addition, this does not happen only to young people. There are many adults who, due to the historical situation or context, have had to abandon their studies to be able to work and thus earn money to help keep their respective families.
However, illiteracy occurs mainly in poor or less developed countries, as well as Peru or Africa countries.
All this has made me really consider that I want to be a good teacher to help all those people who want and want to learn.
Bibliography:
- LANKSHEAR, c. And Knobel, M. (2008). New literacy. Their daily practice and learning in the classroom. Madrid: Morata.
- Royal Spanish Academy (RAE).
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