Out with the old and in with the new,
Illiteracy's a deficit view.
I can read and write and talk and hear,
But that's not all - no where near.
There's gestural, spatial, tactile too,
Communication between me and you.
Everyone uses literacy,
Girls and boys and birds and bees
Meaning-making; that's the key,
That's the modern literacy.
The definition of literacy has evolved from meaning the ability to read and write, and now includes all domains where meaning is interpreted. Everything we see, hear, smell, touch or taste is registered in our minds, and we recognise what it means. This recognition is the skill of literacy and can be as abstract as seeing a large rectangle in front of us with a small sphere attached and recognising a door which can be opened and closed. With such a broad definition of literacy, I asked myself:
"Is it then possible to be illiterate?"
Photo taken by Chloe Mountford on 25/12/2012. In photo: Anthony Mountford |
I thought about traditionally illiterate people - people who were unable to read or write, but they would still be literate in a number of different modes including gestural, visual, spatial, etc. So I moved on to thinking about my pets, but they can understand commands such as "sit", and "stay", which means they are aurally and gesturally literate. My family pet Pandy (above) is also visually literate as she often watches TV, bobs her head to the music of the ads and goes crazy when another dog comes on screen.
I have come to appreciate that all people and animals are literate in their own way, and as teachers it is our job to recognise students' literacies and therefore learning styles, even if they are not included in our school's cultural capital.
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