Literacy

In the fall of 2007, the Second Conference on New Literacies will be sponsored by KU’s department of English. According the conference website, the event will emphasize the need to understand literature and composition relative to a changing world. At the conference, many questions will be raised. How do we define literacy? How has literacy changed? What are some new literacies? How can influential writers like Richard Rodriguez and Paulo Friere help us broaden our understanding?

For some, literacy may be the ability to read and write. To others, it may be the ability to speak a language or use a computer. We can try to make a universal definition for literacy, but it is impossible to be too specific. This is because literacy changes with time, and differs from place to place.

The best attempt at defining literacy would be to use more of a universal version. For example, according to an Ohio State English website, literacy is the set of a socially constructed combination of skills and understandings that are effective for communication in a specific time and place (Literacy and Computers).

Let’s begin by looking at the literacies of specific time. “Old literacies” are literacies of our past. If we go back far enough, children were often taught those oh so famous 3 R’s: reading, writing, and arithmetic (3 R’s roll off the tongue easy enough to justify it being inherently incorrect). Computers and Televisions were nowhere to be found but pencils and paper were plentiful.

Interestingly enough, this education was sufficient. Many years ago most people were either farmers or factory workers anyway. Many jobs didn’t require that much education sans doctors or lawyers. In fact, Andrew Carnegie, the richest man of the 1800s/1900s didn’t continue to pursue formal education after elementary school. However, this began to change. A quote by Mike Rose from his book Lives on the Boundary sums up some changes in literacy definition.

“In the 1930s "functional literacy" was defined as having three or more years of schooling; during World War II, fourth grade; in 1947, fifth grade; in 1952, sixth grade; in 1960, eighth grade. By the late 1970s, some authorities were suggesting completion of high school (Rose 33).”

Jump forward another 30 years, the specific time would be the post-millennium era, an era synonymous with the Digital Revolution. Now, kids in America use sophisticated computers at school to learn how to type, spell, surf, and communicate. In fact, according to the Digest of Education Statistics, 83% of elementary school kids use computers daily. It is interesting to note that at middle and high school levels, the percentage is even higher.

Kids are also learning in other ways. Instead of simply copying notes from the blackboard, students can view PowerPoint presentations with bullets, movies, and images. Furthermore, many textbooks now come with DVDs so you can learn on television or computer. Visual learning is now complimenting auditory learning, and students are getting smarter.

The work force has changed as well. Farming and factory working are no longer popular careers. Now, people want to own a business or work their way up the corporate ladder. Better education and multiple job opportunities make for stiffer competition. If you want to land that dream job you better be going to college and getting good grades.

An interesting contrast to Andrew Carnegie in the digital revolution would be a man by the name of Bill Gates. Gates did to computers what Carnegie had done to steal. However, Gates was a genius that attended Harvard.

It is easy to see how the importance of education and literacy has changed, but what is the new literacy? According to the North Central Regional Education Laboratory, several new litericies exist. The laboratory lists the following 8 literacies: Basic Literacy, Scientific Literacy, Economic Literacy, Technological Literacy, Visual Literacy, Information Literacy, Multicultural Literacy and Global Awareness (21st Century Skills).

This list seems to cover the basis, but do we truly need to be literate in every one? A major goal of literacy is to communicate effectively and surely this is possible without being literate in all areas. Take for example an auto mechanic who has no idea how to run digital gadgets. He runs a business, has