Literacy for the 21st Century

At the end of last term, my Principal encouraged us to participate in the MoE’s 3^rd Annual Professional Development Workshop for Teachers: July – August 2010. There are a host of workshops and teachers were asked to register for 2 per teacher. I registered (done online) for “Critical Literacy” and “Creating the 21^st Century Classroom”. I observed a lot of teachers registering for the latter. Since then I have been reading and these are two (2) definitions put forward by Braunger & Lewis (2006, p.3) for “Literacy for the 21^st Century”:

· “Reading comprehension is an interactive process involving the reader, the text, and the activity or purpose for reading. These elements interact in and are affected by the larger sociocultural context. Learning to read well is a long-term developmental process. At the end point, the proficient adult reader can read a variety of materials with ease and interest, can read for varying purposes, and can read with comprehension even when the material is neither easy to understand nor intrinsically interesting.” (RAND Reading Study Group)

· “Being literate in contemporary society means being active, critical, and creative users not only of print and spoken language but also of the visual language of film and television, commercial and political advertising, photography, and more (images, icons, graphics, etc.).” (International Reading Association [IRA] & National Council of Teachers of English [NCTE])

Can you gleam the scope and depth of the literacy demands contained in these definitions? I hope you have taken the opportunity to participate, or if you have missed it this time look out for it next year June/July, as you continue to map your professional growth. Look out for my blog about the workshop.

Braunger, Jane, & Lewis, Jan P. (2006). Building a knowledge base in reading. International Reading Association, USA. www.reading.org