Reflection on literacy

Before stepping into our literacy studies class, I had no idea what to expect, just like I have no idea what to expect in any other class, but it sounded interesting to me. I had always thought as the majority does of literacy only being about reading and writing but something about the word “literacy” itself sounding so broad to me made me think that reading and writing could not even begin to cover what literacy is, and that’s exactly what we’ve been learning in class.

Literacy is not just about reading and writing, it encompasses so much more. Reading and writing themselves are not so black and white either. There are different types of reading and writing that one can do and they’re not the same thing to every person out there because we all have different literacy practices/skills based on our place in society, our ethnicity, etc. We are all on different reading and writing levels, and take different approaches and techniques when it comes to reading and writing. There is no right or wrong way to go about it. No concrete meaning that can be attached to literacy. No concrete set of rules that can be applied to our learning, reading, and writing processes. We have to follow what we feel is the right way to go about these things.

The fact that literacy is not black and white is liberating when one actually comes to term with all it has to encompass especially for those who have been told that they are illiterate or who feel that they can’t read or don’t know how to read and write, and those who have been placed on lower reading and writing levels that make them feel stupid. Having kids take standardized tests that rank them on their reading and writing skills and placing them into certain categories is a disservice to kids. It can hinder and discourage and even worse, instructors that feel that they can’t be helped and won’t be able to move forward from their low levels just give up on the kids and that’s so sad because every kid deserves a chance to better themselves intellectually and to be able to move forward. Everybody is literate is some way, shape, or form it just may not be the same as yours but that is no reason to write them off as being illiterate. Working in our book clubs and article groups, I felt a deeper and better understanding of this.

The book I read in my book club was “Just Girls” which followed two different groups of middle school girls and their literacy practives, while also giving the reader some background information on each of the girl’s lives in school and at home. The two groups of girls were labeled as the “social queens” and the “tough cookies.” The “social queens” were the popular girls in the school and the “tough cookies” were the more quiet, not so popular, smart, outcasts of the school. Each group had their own literacy practices, the “social queens” mostly read teen magazines and passed notes during class while the tough cookies actually did their school work and read books as opposed to magazines and they weren’t note-passers. What I got from the book is that literacy practices can be seen and made to create social boundaries. Certain literacy practices are associated within certain social groups and the priorites of each social group differ. For example the parents of the “social queens” (who come from money) didn’t worry much about their daughter’s literacy practices, saying that being socially involved in school activities and sports were just as important if not more important than being good in school, while the “tought cookies” parents were more or less opposite since they weren’t rich and thought having a good education would be beneficial to getting a good job and would benefit the family.

In my article group of hip hop and literacy, the literacy practices I saw were more of a means of self-expression. The kids in one of the articles that I read which is called, “A love for the thing…” by Susan Weinstien, all have their own styles of rapping and self-expression. The kids in the article are siblings but each of them raps about different topics or themes and have distinct sounds to them. This was the most interesting article that I read for my article group and it opens the possibilities to the use of what literacy practices can be and how literacy is used by different groups of people. Reading and writing is a means of self-expression and it is an indication to the type of person you are and can point out your likes and dislikes depending on the type of material you read and the style in which you write and express yourself, which in my opinion, is so vital to our literacy practices and ways of learning.

One idea that sums up what I believe literacy to be and that sums up what I have learned through out the semester comes from Gee’s idea that “literacy as the ability to read and write situates literacy in the individual person, rather than in society. The practices of social groups are never just literacy practices; they also involve ways of talking, interacting, thinking, valuing, and believing. Can not pull apart literacy practices from non-literacy practices.” (Yes I totally just took this from “Defining literacy… not an easy thing” post from Professor Jaxon, but anyways this all that has stood out to me in our class.

To sign off this post I thought I’d throw in a little treat, a “rap” or poem is what I think I’ll call it, that I came up with for my hip hop and literacy article group that I didn’t include in our presentation:

Music, lyrics, poetry

tell me what’s the meaning

an expression, escape from depression

tell me what you’re feeling

and get started on your healing

you can make and earning

but also use them for learning

-Danielle Mota