Literacy: What is it? Who gets it?

I was listening to CBC Radio today - OK, I am really showing my total middle age and "un-with-it-ness. Sounds Like Canada was being broadcast from Saskatoon. Shelagh Rogers had been there for the Peter Gzowski Golf Tournament for Literacy. She interviewed two different people regarding literacy and played the speech given by the recipient of the award given by Read Saskatoon to someone who had made incredible progress in literacy development.

It reminded me that there is a mission there for us. Adult Literacy, Adolescent Literacy, literacy development - these are truly important endeavours and the radio was highlighting some of what is happening in Saskatoon.

It also hit me that we are sitting on a perfect centre, at Knox, for outreach to street youth, to those who are homeless, or to those who simply can't afford to go to school. I did my doctoral work on how literacy is enhanced by the use of technology. During our research, we learned that present technologies provide the possibilities for incredible transformations for some individuals. Unfortunately, most schools and institutions that are charged with developing literacy, view literacy only as reading and writing. Working under this narrow view has the unfortunate result of branding those who find it difficult to learn to read and write as less than acceptable (that is my euphemism for "stupid, dumb, learning-disabled, etc.). Definitely counter to what they are truly attempting to accomplish.

Paolo Frieire, an educator and revolutionary in South America, viewed literacy in much broader terms. He held that one must first be able to "read the world" before one was able to "read the word." His view of literacy included the ability to recognize one's environment, to understand its workings, and to learn how to change one's position within that context. In Frieire's sense of literacy, one could be very literate in some contexts without actually knowing how to read and write.

Using a broader sense of literacy as a base, learning literacy can involve first ascertaining how one is able to read one's world. In my work with school aged children, that meant that we had to know how each individual learned best. There was no assumption that print text was the only way to gather information. Once individuals were encouraged to gather information, process it, and share it using whatever medium one wanted, they came to view themselves as true learners. This was transformative for the non-readers that had already travelled a few years along their schooling journeys. They had come to see themselves as not quite as able as their fellow students who were readers and writers. They had come to believe the labels that I euphemistically referred to as "less than acceptable." Changing this self-definition had the effect of unleashing their curiosity. They started to pursue learning with great energy. Many previously labelled "trouble-makers" became students who preferred to stay in at lunch and recess to continue their work rather than join in the activities that previously would land them in trouble. It was wonderful to observe.

We found that there were technologies that would assist the non-reader to gather some text based information and have it read to them. The same programs allowed them to define words that they did not understand. It allowed them to keep track of where they found information on the web. It encouraged them to learn to read and write by highlighting text as it was read to them. One program even allowed them to speak their thoughts into a microphone and see it transformed into text on the screen.

So, we have a computer lab at Knox. Granted, there are only three computers. At the moment, they sit unused most of the time. This could change. I see the potential for this resource to be used to provide opportunities for those youths that live on the street to learn some of the skills the lack of which has landed them on the streets - for whatever reasons. Perhaps this is an opportunity for us to provide unthreatening environments to some of those who can not learn in traditional learning centres.

Hey, I have thirty-three years experience working with students. I don't pretend to possess all the necessary training to teach all subjects from K - 12. However, I do know how to access the needed information. I have networks that might be accessed to develop this type of environment that could respond to the needs of those who truly need it.

Any reactions?