BUILDING - AND ENHANCING NEW LITERACIES ACROSS THE CURRICULUM aeES \ CHAPTER 1 ing RX Vito OXY Introduction to 21st Century i) an Literacies OBJECTIVES At the end of this chapter, you should be able to develop a clear and practical understanding of the following: * definitions of conventional literacy: and '* expanded views of literacy in the 21st century. Caples Literacy is defined by dictionaries as the state of being able to read and write (Literacy, Literate, n.d.). Although it is the ultimate thesis of this chapter that such a traditional definition no longer suffices in the information age, a thorough understanding of literacy and its past nuances will give us a solid foundation in exploring and discussing the “new” literacies of the 21st century - “and why possessing them is now mandatory for both teachers and students in “all levels of education. “A * | This chapter explores several definitions of literacy and what beingliterate ‘ means in the multiplicity of contexts in the 21st century, with the goal of ising awareness in readers who might be presently unaware of the evolving “perspectives on literacy and giving teachers the opportunity to pause and | lect on their own literacies even as they attempt to teach the new literacies y to their students. ¢ tional or Conventional Literacythe word “literate,” which first a mn. i u Pisin con ived from the Latin word litte “(a_ person) m i is, “distinguished or id letters"—and it carrie HGosoted, Since the subjects of the time (2.0. arcrmnes logic, geometry, etc.) allhad written texts (which were | composed of lel oon studied, the abil toread and write was thererors, of prime’ leading fo the strong association of being “iterate” with the ab and write. Miller (1973) divides this conventional concept of literacy’ categories: 1. Basic Literacy -Its the ability to correspond visual shap sounds in order'to decode written materials and trans oral language. Simply put, it is the ability to recogr words, This would be akin to recognizing that the “'p-c-s-a" forms the word basa in Filipino, what it means. ,prehension Literacy Its the ability to understan ‘is being read. To capitalize on the example abe knowing that basa can mean either “to read” ional or Practical Literacy - It is the ability to rea comprehend) written materials needed to al tasks. This is the equivalent of reading pabasa.” and being able to unders ing and not to being wet. } this conventional view of literacy, refore literacy) to exist: (1) ee read; and (2) a meaning or message the reader to extract. Without a text, theAs the rest of this chapter will argue, this synchronicity betwe h , en dec: jal symbols and being able to extract and understand their Tere me part of being literate, even as the new contexts of the 21st century the nature of what the “text” is, and what it means to “read” and Views of Literacy Despite the popularity of American films in the Philippines, many Filipinos ot follow the actors’ dialogue, and thus resort to guessing the overall story don the actions onscreen. Despite the ubiquity of the traditional view of literacy, Roberts (1995) notes t “in the past fifty years, hundreds of definitions of ‘literacy’ have been anced by scholars, adult literacy workers, and programme planners,” with yn the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization CO, 2006) acknowledging that literacy as a concept has proven to be x and dynamic, it being continually defined and interpreted in multiple In 2004, UNESCO formally defined literacy as “the ability to identify, derstand, interpret, create, communicate, and compute, using printed nd written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a tinuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop ir knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and der society.” Note that “reading” does not appear in UNESCO's definition of literacy. st itera cy has taken on a definition more akin to “knowing about and what to do with it.” In this vein, Mkandawire (2018) more succinctly posits that literacy is “a \owledge, competence, and skills in a particular field or area," being > 1006), Barton (2007), and Mkandawire, Simooya- ich acknowledged that—as we have justtu teracy in the 21st Century When viewed from the perspective of conventional/traditional literacy, the concept of “new” literacies is a bit of a misnomer, as even these new literacies of the 21st century make generous use of being able to read and write, rather than supplant them as skills necessary for survival. However, when viewed from the perspective of literacy as knowledge, the new literacies begin to make sense as they are the “skills and bodies of knowledge” that are necessary for survival and productivity in the information age. _ In the same vein of reasoning, the new literacies are not “new” per se— Gs in the sense that they never existed before. Rather, we consider them to be new because the contexis in which old skils and knowledge are being Pe bake new, both in nature and in scope. The ability to translate textual Per RARE sees 'S not a new skill, but it'is the Ability to do so in a way aes omplete, and clear that is certainly new, given that it will be Percent of the population will be informed on the issue, Si being able to verify : the truth ; path sb berg able to do so wher gn oeY Of @ document is nak available fo you online 3 en there are a hundred similar docCase in point: Throughout history, humans have communi part from the spoken and written word, for example, visually, ung hoe "distance communication system of smoke signals used by the ancient Chine, ‘the ancient Greeks, and the indigenous peoples of North America, ; Inthe Victor where the ‘olor, ghd arrangement of a bouquet of flowers were used to communicate messages that could not otherwise be spoken aloud in ee” society (Gre’naway, 1884). For example, a bouquet of oak leaves “(representing strength). purple roses (sorrow), white ilies (resurrection), and pale yellow tulips and rosemary (memory or remembrance) would altogether communicate a message of sympathy, usually over the death of a loved one, successfully interpreting these “visual languages" required a kind of “visual * to understand the message being presented and to manage the mation encoded therein—skils which, as following chapters will further eal, are Coming into use again in the 2Ist century literacies. The difference there was such a thing as the “Language of Flowers,” ‘and images from a hundred different sources at a nearly non-stop rate to point where accuracy, validity, and reliability of the messages we interpret mthe basis forsome very important personal and collective decision-making. _ Another difference involves the question of necessity: One did not need to literate in the language of flowers to live a fruitful and fulfiled life in Victorian- fa England, but to be not media or digitally literate in the 21st century makes ne vulnerable to manipulation by those who are, and such manipulation can sly Cost an individual ime, money, property, and even life. These so-called “new’ literacies arose from the increasing availability of inication technologies that were once unavailable to the average dividual. Technologies like bloggi in text-messaging change and expand both the extent and the form of st communication—bI edent and viogging, social networking, and lending text, sound, and images in ways unforeseen ted (Richardson, 2014). Never before have the opinions of a fe year-old child in an unheard-of town in an unheard-of country been able for everyone on earth to read and hear, and while adults might at a child's opinions, that child might have more than a thousand online ibers who certainly think his or her opinions are important, maybe even so than the opinions of adults. things have been critical in the rise of the new literacies: d unpreceith people of different cultures one joao aeecammunication, work ona rent PeISPECT + do we do when some of these: sin age where information is powe eon spell the difference between s knowing mo oth current ond emergent technolog falure—how do we lever guctive and profitable? Moreover, how: itable minefield of information that ‘ow online. for all the world to How do Ww have vastly differ feligious beliefs, an' taboo and pri we like it or not? hh complex questions requires new sets of at our school system have neverhad toteach m, how, and why we communicate, ke sense of the changes, but also to use in meaningful and productive s t of teachers as well. considered judge, whether ‘Answering suc! knowledge—ones th these changes in with who are required not only to mal technologies and paradigms required not only of students, but Tobetter address the need for teachers to beliteratein these this book discusses and explores them in the ensuing chapters, + Globalization and Multicultural Literacy discusses how our inc! to communicate with almost anyone, anywhere, in reall time ‘and attitudes in interacting with people with cultures, perspectives, and priorities different from our own, particularly with the end- peace and understanding, but also mutual benefit and prod need for the ability to navigate our own social networks—of | ‘and off-line variety—to not only communicate clearly, but resources which we ourselves might not possess. At the same fit ae ‘the notorious problem of short-sightednessin Personal finances and how this must be addressed at an i IC -an incr ‘age to help mitigate the ever-widening gap between the rich aneCritical Literacy addresses the increasing need to discem the 9 (and offen tacit) messages behind the new “texts” of the 21st in an ever-increasingly multicuttural society where ideas, and ideologies vie with one another for power and dominance in the. ‘the masses. ‘of the ways students can be trained in the new literaciesis to engage in digital storytelling, wherein the students take part in the traditional ot }, but with some digital enhancements, They choose a a ich, write a script, develop a story, and through the use media, create something that can be played online or on a computer. elling can be broken down into following six steps: Writing — Write about a particular story from your life. The story must have a central theme. eloping a Script - Develop a script that identifies the important its of your story. ating a Storyboard - Create a storyboard that visually organizes flow of the story. Assign a particular image to portions of the script. cating Multimedia - Use search engines to locate photos and jideos. Photos and videos from one's personal collection may also used. “ the Digital Story - Record the voice over for your movie. the movie using the software that is available to you. ding - Share your story in class and upload youryeractical Literacy: which is the ability to | Mraterials needed 1° perform everyday vocational |, modem views of fteracy equate it with knowledge. %, ‘a ie increased reach, increase jiteracies have risen due to Mmmunication. oid increased breadth of content. These ney globalization ‘and multicultural literacy, social and media and: ‘cyber/digital literacy: ecoliteracy, artistic and crea ‘and critical literacy: a a cog s and instructions carefully, Write your 3, Functional questions to Ponder Read the question: space provided. 1. Given the raditional/conventional concept of literacy, how il How deep is your level of comprehension? AS a pre-servic , sca Ghefonie nee ee aka an you understand them? Are you.teracies are you knowledgeable in? Which of the new ige ine onin the Philippines aims to develop Functional/ s, what level of literacy is being deve 9s focus more on memorization rather thar Aer2. Describe the changes in the 21st century that have led to the literacies. x