Post 4: Social Literacy

We’ve learned over the course of the last month that literacy can no longer be defined as an individual test of skills. Rather, literacy can and should be studied within a social context. I take this to mean several things. Firstly, as expressed by John F. Szwed, the old model of literacy is outdated and increasingly unuseful.  Literacy is taking new and varying forms. Secondly, as expressed by Sylvia Scribener, definitions of literacy change depending on environment. Finally, as expressed by Deborah Brandt, individual literacies are shaped by sponsors and by the literacies of previous generations “piling up” around us.

According to Szwed, literacy can take different forms depending on one’s age, socio-economic class, ethnic group etc. Depending on these factors, it would be possible to encounter “a variety of configurations of literacy, a plurality of literacies.” Understanding of this concept becomes vital as educators continue to teach and test on an outdated set of principles.

Scribener addresses this concern in the section entitled “Literacy as Adaptation.” She asks, “Do all communities and cultural groups in our class based and heterogeneous society confront equivalent functional demands?” Taken within the social context, schools can develop different curriculum depending on perceived literacy necessities. This becomes tricky as state and federal organizations begin making broad policy changes.

These government entities are one example of what Brandt describes as “literacy sponsors.” Sponsors take the form of anyone o anything that has shaped an individuals literacy practices (either positively or negatively). Taken within a social context, these sponsors are often encountered over the course of one’s life (i.e teachers, peers, bosses etc.). Furthermore, literacy has the potential to pile up, with multiple forms or layers of literacy from previous generations encountered in a single household and potentially in conversation with one another.  For example, a child may take notes with pad and pencil in the style of his grandparents while watching a movie on his father’s television, only to turn around and post what he’s learned on a school sanctioned blog site.