The Decline Of Literacy In Schools Chapter 1 Summary
Deborah Brandt, author of “Sponsors of Literacy,” has spent years studying people’s literacy acquisition across America to analyze trends and differences among them that emerge over time. Across time, Brandt notes consistencies across literacy development: it has sponsors, it is influenced by global conditions, and it adopts various forms. However, within those broad, consistent, overarching themes, there is dramatic variation that emerges with the rise of changing ideology, varying global circumstances, and new technologies. Brandt’s work has allowed me to synthesize the seemingly typical experiences of two average Americans who I recently interviewed in light of trends, patterns, and factors that ultimately contribute to the uniqueness of
“Teachers of English and literature have either submitted, or are expected to submit, along with teachers of the more "practical" disciplines, to the doctrine that the purpose of education is the mass production of producers and consumers” (Berry). Berry uses the word practical to describe the way in which we produce students as though they were massed produced. School systems today demonstrate specialization, and with that follows oversimplification. “In our society, which exists in an atmosphere of prepared, public language-language that is either written or being read illiteracy is both a personal and a public danger” (Berry). While schools relax their education standards and primarily focus on profitability, we become vulnerable to loss of literacy through
Chapter 11 of Fundamentals of Literacy Instruction and Assessment, FLIA, and Chapter 5 of Pathways to the Common Core, PCC, relate very well to each other. One of the most difficult types of texts to comprehend for many are informational texts, yet they are also very important in a student’s education. Both chapters talk about the importance of comprehending the text and what must happen for students to comprehend what they are reading. While FLIA discusses different comprehension strategies, instructional strategies, and how to specifically approach reading comprehension with students, PCC discusses what comprehending the text will look like and what the students will gain from comprehending the text. They each are important in their own way.
Today’s youth spend countless hours on the internet for various reasons. Whether it is for research purposes, indulging in social media, watching videos, or playing games, reading is involved in some shape or form. Regardless of the content, reading online gives children certain abilities, such as expanding their vocabulary, adapting to different wordings and writing styles, identifying errors, understanding the material, and identifying the importance of details/imagery in their writing, that they may or may not be getting from books. In the article Literacy Debate: R U Really Reading?
Throughout the preface, Hirsch indicates how passionate and devoted he is by writing about Cultural Literacy and wanting to have reform. He is motivated by the fact that he truly believes that Cultural Literacy would benefit many citizens, especially, “disadvantaged children” because of the opportunity it constitutes. It allows them an opportunity to be able to flee from the path of a future where no progress or success is sought. Hirsch discovers, that through changing the curriculum and breaking the cycle, there will be more cultural literacy and more success in those disadvantaged children, as well as, many other people. Since this discovery, he is making an effort to convince his audience of how beneficial changing the curriculum and education
Knoblauch’s scholarly article, Literacy and Politics of Education, he elucidates that literacy isn’t just reading and writing. Literacy is much more than that. In fact, someone could be literate in just about anything. To expand, Knoblauch also explains literacy in different areas in life, such as the basic needs to function and personal development. These two concepts go hand in hand with Barry’s situation.
In 1998, Congress established an effect by generating fixed goals of what children should be learning in the areas of literacy, language and numeracy which created a huge controversy. Congress desired for all school children to be conscious of a minimum of ten letters of the alphabet. If there was a lack of evidently articulated standards, it would influence the curriculum as well as children’s progress. An example of this would be the reality that the teachers in the Head Start school failed to register how significant it is for children to grasp the alphabet until the establishment of Child Outcomes framework. Recognizing the importance of learning the alphabet leads to the child’s later success in reading and writing.
In “Literacy in Three Metaphors,” Sylvia Scribner tries to define and explain what literacy really is. Scribner says that literacy as a notion may be defined in many different ways, and I agree with this statement. She states that it depends on a particular society and certain standards of this society. Scribner offers the solution to the problem of defining literacy. This solution consists of examining and discussing the three metaphors: literacy as adaptation, literacy as power and literacy as a state of grace.
“What Every American Should Know” by Eric Liu thoroughly examines the issue of cultural literacy and its place in modern America. It presents a convincing argument against E.D. Hirsch’s book on the same topic which included some 5000 things that he thought defined cultural literacy and every American should know. Liu argues that America has changed over time, becoming more multicultural, and to capture the cultural literacy of the country, no one person should sit down and propose what they think everyone else should know. Instead he suggests that in order to capture a contemporary view of the nation, every American should be involved in the making of the list. The most engaging part of this article is Liu’s idea that this new crowd-sourced
Literacy Narrative “Nothing is said of the silence that comes to separate the boy from his parents” (Rodriguez 69”). Silence. Silence is powerful. Silence, in a dramatic movie to make someone sit on the edge of their seat wondering what is about to happen. Silence, at a funeral of a loved one to grieve for the loss.
In the article “Past Experiences and Future Attitudes in Literacy” by Erika J. Peterson, she explains how our experiences affect our learning of reading and writing and even the future. Everyone has their own different experiences growing up whether you were praised for it or not. As children, they are more sensitive from the feedback given from their leaders such as their parents and teachers. This feedback affects their confidence whether it be negative or positive. Erika ties in an experiment done by Rick Evans and Alisa Belzer in which they interviewed and conducted questionnaires on a group of middle-class college students on how they learned to read and write.
McGray uses statistics to bring the issue into focus for the audience, so they can see how drastically foreign education changed in a short period of time. The article discusses the change from how in the late 1940s, “more than 90% of kids who studied a foreign language learned French, Spanish, or Latin” (). Then later describes how “two thirds of American students never studied a second language by the year 2000” (). This brings into focus of how things have changed in the American school system. In between these quotes, McGray discusses how a 13,000 high school students learned Chinese, thinking that China would be the next world power ().
In the essay “The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society”, written by Jonathan Kozol and published in the Reading for Writers, New York, 2013, the author is raising awareness of illiteracy and the effects it has on society to his audience, the literate who can read and can do something about the issue. Pointing out the illiteracy problem in the United States that is unknown to most, he explains the impact that such a vast amount of illiterate people can have on voting and the government. Being that such a large amount of individuals are uneducated on the voting candidates, he goes on to say that many often do not vote or vote for someone for the wrong reason. With the use of statistics from the 1980 presidential vote to argue his point, he said that Ronald Reagan likely would not have been the president.
Free will is considered to be the capacity to freely choose, think and act for any possible outcome and to not have our future predetermined. Free will, “…is the capacity to so choose or decide to act…” and accept that these “…actions are implemented in the world internally and externally” (Tse, P. 2013. p. 19-22). To be considered self determined is to ultimately accept free will and to distinguish multiple alternatives to each action, thought and decision (Watson, G. 2003 p.1-5).
Poverty exists all around us, whether people realize it or not. Those living in poverty encounter problems that one may not understand. Children are born into poverty and are more likely to develop learning disabilities, have less parent-child interactions, and have a lower academic performance compared to those children not living in poverty (Brooks-Gunn, J., & Duncan, G. J, 1997). A major problem that is related to those living in poverty is illiteracy. Adults living in poverty tend to have higher rates of illiteracy compare to those adults not living in poverty.
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