I understand the inclination to default to the more manageable (i.e., testable) demands of academic literacy as the measure of success, but the reality is, literacy demands have shifted and we do our students a disservice if we fail to teach to these demands.
The following discussion of the change in the definition of literacy was enlightening as well. I have never reflected on it in quite this way. I love the ever-evolving definition of literacy:
A set of skills that reflect the needs of the time (7).
Today's definition of literacy is different than what it was when the majority of teachers were in school. And this magnifies one of the primary problems in education today: Teachers are teaching according to how they were taught instead of according to what's best for today's students.
It's time we stand up for the needs of 21st Century students and teach them to produce (not consume) information (p. 8).
2 comments:
Ruth, Kylene's words about the changing definition of literacy spoke to me as well. Here explanation of how literacy has changed through the years really stood out to me as a passage that every teacher should read. It is amazing to me that you can still see the remnants of each time period in many schools and classrooms. Teachers holding on to the way they were taught has led us to hold on to some practices that were valuable at the time but are no longer serving any real purpose in our classrooms.
I also liked the questions posed by Kylene on page 11
But what if schooling looked different? What if we recognized that the world in which we now all work and live is different and what if education were about preparing students to live productively in that world? What if learning were interdisciplinary and not arbitrarily divided into forty-five-minute chunks with teachers who rarely have the time to speak to one another, let alone collaborate?
and the belief statement on page 13.
we believe that in teaching all students, we must first teach each student, and that each student is a promise of a better tomorrow;-- we believe that what you do and what you say to the students in your classrooms make an incredible difference. -- We believe students' promise for a better tomorrow begins, in part, with the practices you offer them today.
I can't wait to read more.
Angela --
It is inspiring & makes you want to read & read & read, doesn't it? Thanks for weighing in on the discussion -- you help me become a better educator!
Ruth
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