Comments on: New Literacy Studies 1 – Is the damage already done?

By: Armando Codina

Armando Codina — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 08:13:38 +0000

Finally have all the info I need for my research, great post!

By: MarkSpizer

MarkSpizer — Mon, 03 May 2010 14:48:56 +0000

great post as usual!

By: Martin

Martin — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 22:44:10 +0000

Hi Beth, thanks for reading the post. I've been doing some research into children's perceptions of literacy and I have found (so far) that they have become incredibly influenced by the 'standard' view of literacy presented in curricula documents. The concerning thing for me is that some educators class this narrow conception of literacy as being the 'correct' definition and one that should be privileged. They see digital technologies as a frivolous add-on rather than communicative system. Unfortunately this has led to a transmission model here in the UK which sounds like what your son is experiencing too. It's sometimes hard to work against this when other people can comment that you may not be covering the basics. I would completely agree with you that it is all a mixed up mess! I will try and write the follow up to his post soon but I'm very busy with this research project over the next week or so!

By: Beth

Beth — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 19:18:53 +0000

Hi Martin. Thanks for the nudge to read this post. I think your concerns are right on. The literacy situation is discouraging here in the US. More and more, funding for schools, and even pay for teachers, is tied to test scores and "the basics." The tests reinforce to the autonomous model. You can guess what gets taught, unfortunately.

I see the separation between the NLS and what is happening in classrooms quite a bit. And here in the US, the pendulum in teacher education has definitely swung to valuing what happens in the classroom over what is debated or advocated in their methods courses. Young teachers learning their profession are far more persuaded by what they see in classrooms than by what they read about in course texts – which strikes me as ironic, since the "basics" seem to be so committed to the power of the written over the visual. It is all a mixed up mess, I think.

Of course, I do hear about educators doing wonderful things here in classrooms. They create spaces for critical inquiry and multiple literacies. I wish I could say they were becoming more the norm, but I don't see it that way. I hope I am wrong.

My son is 12 and he hates school. He is painfully bored. I asked him the other day what could make school better. He talked about taking local trips and getting his hands into learning. He wants to "do learning," not just receive information. Why is that so hard?

Beth (@librarybeth)

By: Julie Warner

Julie Warner — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 22:16:17 +0000

I like that you use "simulated literacy events". Your response makes me wonder what the value might be in having students design their own "simulated literacy events" based on their own favorite out-of-school literacy practices given a particular objective based out of some of the timeless/universally important schooled literacy objectives.

By: Martin

Martin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:49:17 +0000

Thanks for your reply Julie. I would agree that the demarcation between 'authentic' and 'schooled' literacy is a challenging area for educators. While both are valid in their own right - some schooled literacy skills will always remain important; I feel that the 'authentic' aspect is something that is often misguided. I have seen numerous projects planned that incorporate, for example, video games as a topic i.e. themed work across the curriculum. This to me does not represent authentic engagement with ideological literacy but rather encourages tenuous links between popular culture and traditional school literacy, which are neither meaningful or relevant to the children's learning. However, it is hard to bring children's popular culture into the classroom and create the 'authentic' literacy practices that Street describes since all classroom activities are going to be subject to teacher design and intervention. Can a literacy event be truly authentic in school? I've invented the term 'simulated literacy events' to describe literacy events designed and implemented by teachers which try to develop out-of-school literacy practices and take build on chilren's popular cultures (but are still subject to teacher design). However, I do believe that meaningful and successful projects can be planned that engage children and build on popular culture if it is at the core of the project rather than an add-on or theme. Children need to see the links to literacy in the real world rather than just schooled literacy.

By: Julie Warner

Julie Warner — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:52:55 +0000

I think the point about the line of demarcation between what is "authentic" and what we have kids do in schools is what I grapple with most. Oftentimes teachers approach this problem by simply colonizing students' out-of-school/unsanctioned literacy practices which doesn't strike me as the best approach. I think the issue at the heart of this matter is the way in which school literacy teaching and learning is often decontextualized. The ultimate audience for student work is the teacher. Meanwhile the research being done on kids writing in web 2.0 environments shows that they value the feedback and the self-selected communities of practice.