Thursday, 13 December 2012

What is Literacy?


I think it is safe to say that there is no agreed definition for literacy as its uses shift and adapt and meet contextualised needs as they are encountered.  
Often a specific context is assumed and ‘literacies’ are discussed as if they emerge from this.  But Literacy is not the same as learning. Research about whether literacy learning  has the ability to encourage transferable skills and other learning fails to definitively state that literacy is a panacea that can encourage a ‘light-bulb’ moment in an otherwise low-functioning student.  
So rather than considering literacy as a means to transmit skills and learning functions, it might be better to consider literacy as a means to negotiate life – literacy emerges as a social consequence of learning, or as a social practice. 
Literacy is not limited to classroom practices and curricula, we use literacy when we order a meal, use a cash machine or google a definition. It is everywhere. 

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