"If we talk about literacy, we have to talk about how to enhance our children's mastery over the tools needed to live intelligent, creative, and involved lives."
-Danny Glover
Concretely Abstract
My Personal Denial of "Ordinary Literacy"
By: Holly Kimball
In the spring of 2011 as I began my two and a half year journey toward obtaining my master’s degree with a concentration in literacy I thought I knew two things to be true: first, that reading was a path to learning and second, anything you wish to learn or read about is in a book somewhere; you just have to find it. My goal at the time was to integrate a variety of literature in order to inspire a generation of readers. While my ideals in that respect have not changed, my perspective about literacy education throughout the MAEd program has broadened tremendously.
Literacy used to be a simple concept – can the person read and write a text and does he or she want to do so? As I reflect back I must admit that my previous definition of literacy directly coincides with the generic belief that society tends to accept. Over the course of the past two years, however, literacy has become more of an abstract concept, and I can say without hesitation that that is what was intended for literacy to be. Abstract. The abstract definition allows literacy to evolve with societal changes. As an educator I have always tried to emphasize and model life-long learning for my students. Yet the rigid societal definition of literacy sends the message that once we know how to read the words, we no longer have room to grow and learn in this area. My perspective about literacy has been altered forever by my personal journey to further my own education through a master’s degree. I now personally believe that it is not about reading the words anymore, it is about using the words to further ourselves as individuals. As modes of communication continue to grow and change, so must my definition of literacy, and thus, it continues to evolve and remains more abstract that ever.
Now, in the spring of 2013, as a “master” of literacy my goals have not necessarily changed, but have expanded to fit with the ever evolving face of literature. I still believe that reading is one path to learning, but everything you want to learn is not in a book. The act of being “literate” is to be well-read and knowledgeable, and in order to do so one has to be able to “read” and understand a multitude of communication techniques ranging from books and photos to the internet and videos. The act of reading is not enough. In order to be literate in the 21st century the participant must play an active role in “reading” all forms of media. This role includes reading, and/or viewing as well as verbal discussions or communication through the use of any other devices. From my perspective, literacy will no longer be one dimensional where one can passively read and forget. Literacy practices have become active and interactive activities that continue to evolve and thus, my view of literacy becomes ever more concretely abstract.
