Blog #3

      I learn alot about how literacy changes over time according to the environment and the progression of human innovations.I now understand why literacy is almost undefinable because there is no solid standard to measure individuals gained or ungained skill set upon. Literacy as a measurement of skills varies according to social status, social needs,  culture, religious stands, communication with one another, its almost impossible to measure literacy rate in whole societies, maybe on a case by case basis.

      So lets give this a shot on a purely case by case basis! I chose a really close friend of mine who i have know for many years. Her name is Kath, she is a retired assistant Teacher at a elementary school I once attended. What she had to say was really surprising to me, the especially the technique and approaches when being taught how to read and write. Everything was approached from a basic fundamental ideology that you had to learn to read to write in order to survive in this world or it would eat you alive.

3) What stories did you parents tell you about their own efforts to learn to read and write? What kind of values did they place on reading and writing?

 

“They had chalk boards and had to walk 10 miles in the snow, rain, heat up hill both ways” They had grown up in the depression era, a lot of male couldn’t go to school because they had to get a job(s) to support their family. It was a little easier for my mom to got to school than my dad,because he was 1 of 11 and she well had grown up in a middle class family.

    Their values were straight forward, stay in school until your finished. They believed in getting out into the real world and earning a living through sweat and blood. There was no big push to continue schooling after high school, unless you family had enough money to pay your way.