Harste, VfM 10:3
“What
do We Mean by Literacy Now?"
What
defines a literacy? The definition has
changed in American education through history and is different from culture to
culture. Now in the U.S. educators talk
about “multiple literacies” (meaning making in the context of visual,
technological, mixed media and performance etc.) and “literacy as social practice”.
Haste
suggests that literacy in the current age requires a shift in thinking from
literacy as something you “have” to literacy is something you “do”. Involved in this shift is a change from
teacher as dispenser of knowledge to teacher as facilitator of student-centered
learning. The classroom changes from an
irrelevant, out-of-context environment to one where a community of learners is
engaging in real issues, problems and questions that they face outside of
school.
Haste
says that modern literacy teachers need to ask the following questions:
·
What
kinds of social practices are in place and, as a result, how is literacy being
defined?
·
Who
benefits from this definition of literacy?
Who is put at jeopardy?
·
What
social practices would I have to put in place to make the everyday literacies
that students bring with them to school legitimate?
·
What
kinds of things would I have to do show that I honor the home literacies that
students bring with them to school?
·
What
would I have to do to expand what it means to be literate in the 21st
century?
As
always, he says, a good language arts program includes three basic elements:
meaning making, language study, and inquiry-based learning. However, he suggests, that the demands of
modern society dictate a need for a different emphasis within each of these
elements.
Meaning
making must be extended beyond
traditional text to include visual-text in its many modern manifestations and
classroom social practices needs to encourage critical thinking and meaningful
dialog. He offers a great framework for
this type of approach in which students respond to their first reading of text
by writing on sticky notes “One Observation, One Connection, One Surprise, One
Question”. Various combinations of
discussion and re-reading of text with further inquiry can follow.
Language
study, Haste insists, must extend beyond the traditional needed, but limited
phonics, spelling, and grammar approach.
Learners must be engaged in discovering how language is used for
purposes of influence; and they must become adept and being able to use
language for a multitude of purposes.
Inquiry-based
learning, Haste insists, must grow out of questions that the learners have and must apply back to real problems that
they are engaged with regarding the world.
He still values a traditional disciplines oriented curriculum, but
emphases that inquiry in each discipline must inform real issues in the real
world.
I
appreciated Haste’s opening comments about how different cultures define
literacy differently. Just yesterday I
had a conversation with a Peace Corps newbie who has been assigned to teach
English in the country I’m living in.
She commented on how lacking in education the students are here as
indicated by the emphasis on rote learning.
I challenged her to rethink her statement. You can’t assume they are learning “nothing”. In this country, the assimiliation of mass
quantities of memorized information has always been the definition of
education. Additionally, it has always
been important to know what the “right” answers are … they are the answers
given to you by your elders. To ask
questions is a challenge to authority.
To think for yourself has been dangerous. These are cultural values that are hard for us westerners to
understand.
In
my consulting with parents overseas, I have always challenged them to think about
what kind of people they hope their children will be as young adults and what
they need to know (skills, knowledge, and attitudes) in order meet those
goals. This is very similar to Haste’s
question for teachers in regard to literacy: “What kind of lives do we want to
live and what kind of people do we want to be?” The answer to this question for each person in each
social/cultural context informs how we ultimately define literacy.
I
recognize themes for the questions we are asked to answer for Book Club coming
from the orientation to literacy that Haste promotes.
I
found this article very enlightening regarding the shift in thinking about
literacy in the United States. It
pulled together a lot of ideas I’ve been picking up in other places and helped
me to see what those ideas are built upon.
I
agree at least in principle with much of Haste’s position about what literacy
entails. He seems to have an
appreciation for the traditional content of the various disciplines while
trying to help his readers extend the application of that content to the needs
of modern learners. At the core is a
need to develop critical thinking skills.
I so firmly agree with this and have been attentive to practical ways to
do this in my own teaching as well as ways to help other teachers develop their
teaching.
I
wonder what other teachers in or class are doing. Have you found specific strategies or methodology for developing
critical thinking in your students or is it just a frame of mind that you adapt
as a teacher?
I
also agree with the idea of multiple literacies. Students still need to be able to read text, but they also need
to be able to interpret a number of other medium in modern society. Haste gave the example of using a poster
about refuges as an example of how to engage students in examining meaning and
language use in a different context.
Such examination is still using and developing important critical
thinking skills. It also enables the
struggling reader or ELL student to engage with fuller participation at a
higher level of thinking.
Check
out the following excellent site which defines various elements of critical
thinking and has great resources I’ve used for helping me to develop critical
thinking as an integrated part of my teaching. Another cool aspect of this site
is suggestions for adapting the typical textbook curriculum pre-made lesson
plans to involve more ciritical thinking.
www.criticalthinking.org
Mini critical thinking guide
for children
http://www.criticalthinking.org/Childrens%20Guide.htm
tactical and structural
recommendations
http://www.criticalthinking.org/K12/k12class/tsrecom.html
remodeled
lessons for grade 4-6
http://www.criticalthinking.org/K12/k12class/4-6/4-6index.html
CROSS-TALK
in response to Article 1
Date:
Wed Oct 20, 2004 8:59 pm
Author:
Barney, Katherine <[email protected]>
Subject:
Re: HARSTE: What do We Mean by Literacy Now?"
Pam,
I have also noticed a trend or shift in attitude towards teaching literacy. As
far as critical thinking goes I think teachers should start with being sure to
use the higher order thinking skills and move into more critical thinking from
there. I try to model critical thinking as we read together in second grade.
Then i ask my students to give me their opinions. kat
Date:
Thu Oct 21, 2004 12:14 am
Author:
Gentry, Pamela <[email protected]>
Subject:
Re: HARSTE: What do We Mean by Literacy Now?"
Do
you think the practice that you describe is common? In your estimate, what
percentage of teachers you've observed do this? In what contexts does it happen
more? Less?