- Szwed’s five elements of literacy are phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Phonics are one of the more interesting elements to me because, even though the English language has a ton of rules and exceptions, understanding the relationship between sounds and letters allows us to understand new words.
- Szwed recommends using ethnographies to study literacy. These are created using field study observations or interviews, which allows the researcher to understand literacy in a broader sense, encompassing not only basic literacy, but the socioeconomic factors that also contribute to other forms of literacy (like financial, medical, and classroom literacy).
- When Szwed writes “we must come to terms with the lives of people without patronizing them”, he’s pointing out that people who struggle with literacy don’t need pity or condescension as the reasons they may be struggling are often due to things out of their control. The meritocratic approach to literacy is short-sighted at best, life-ruiningly ignorant at it’s worst. Ethnocentric misunderstanding of how socioeconomic conditions affect literacy leads to higher incarceration rates for people with lower literacy rates, biased data resulting from standardized testing, and overall, a lack of empathy for people without the resources to improve their material conditions.
- I would teach literacy using ethnographies to see what the students already felt confident with and use that as a gauge for what lessons to teach. Understanding what groundwork is already laid down will help build a more firm foundation. Practicing critical thinking exercises, daily affirmations, and developing a safe space where kids would feel comfortable being open about anything they need help with outside of school are all things to consider.
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