Hi Everyone, and thank you for all your posts and discussion in week 2.
Some highlights from the conversation:
Abdel-Hamid: 5 elements of literacy, according to Szwed, are text, participant, motivation, function and context. Tak: “Text” is spoken as any material in which people read and write about and can relate to the geography and occupations of residents to an area. Adham: Szwed recommends the method of studying literacy through ethnography. Ethnography involves direct observation and immersion in a particular community or group to understand their practices and behaviors. Alyxandria: In order to understand a person’s motivation for reading, we must understand the person, or participant, themselves. Andy: Following Szwed’s advise as a literacy instructor in the Bronx could include developing a curriculum that represents the students’ ethnic variety and experiences. Arta: The reason why I would choose motivation is because without motivation, I believe the interest within literacy would be null as you wouldn’t have the motivation to put in the effort. Jie: One method of studying literacy that Szwed recommend is that using ethnography, a different way of studying literacy, can provide more valuable insights compared to traditional methods like questionnaires and surveys. Ashley: In other words, ethnography in literature is recommended by Szwed because it can help counteract stereotypes and biases by presenting a more diverse and inclusive range of culture. Eleanor: Quite simply, I think the element I think about the most has to be context: the situations in which one is reading or writing something. Jiayang: Ethnography employs techniques like field observations, interviews, and direct communication to comprehend how cultural backgrounds influence literacy levels as manifested in conversations. Kayla: Orality refers to the reliance on spoken language and oral traditions, while literacy refers to the ability to read and write. Marsten: “We must come to terms with the lives of people without patronizing them” means we must understand and empathize with others’ backgrounds without judging them, and that there is more than one way to interpret culture and literature. Murphy: I will encourage my students to identify their weaknesses and strengths in a list when writing and reading because this will help understand what needs to be worked on and also will be useful to recognize the potential of their differences. Mya: teaching literacy in the Bronx may require literature that uses more casual parlance than the classic literature used in American education. Naydelyn: Literacy doesn’t mean reading and writing only. It also means health literacy, financial literacy, and etc. Nicolle: The two models of Literacy according to Perry are: The autonomous model. The ideological model. Pamela: autonomous falls into the formal form of literacy, which uses neutral skills that can be applied in any format. Ideological literacy, is defined as a set of practices (instead of skills) that comes from specific contexts like culture and power structures in society. Sam: Literacy standards are created by the education system, policymakers and society. Sharice: Our literacy practices are shaped by the expectations, values, and norms of the communities we are part of and raised in. Shayla: These standards are intended to define what individuals should know and be able to do in terms of literacy at various stages of education. Sullivan: Orality is the primary verbal medium used by cultures with little or no exposure to writing. Literacy is the ability to read and write.
I will leave you with the following question: given Szwed’s and Baker’s progressive definitions of literacy, how can we ensure that the current literacy standards serve everyone without discriminating on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity and background?
A few of you listed the 5 elements of literacy incorrectly. Please revise- I replied to you here on the OL.
Again, please email me or visit me during my let’s chat hours if your grade is lower than you’d like it to be, or if you have any questions and/ or concerns, or if you simply would like to chat about the class. I’ve also left comments next to your grade on Blackboard if there was something missing. If I make a mistake, please let me know. If you are falling behind, as I know some of you are, reach out!
Keep up the great work,
Prof. Barnes
