importance of literacy in society essay

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Literacy is More than Just Reading and Writing

NCTE 03.23.20 Diversity

From the NCTE Standing Committee on Global Citizenship

This post was written by NCTE member Amber Peterson, a member of the NCTE Standing Committee on Global Citizenship.

“History is written by the victors.” —Unknown

As committee members, we regularly wrestle with pinning down a comprehensive definition of literacy. The common definition, “the ability to read and write,” gets increasingly complex upon closer examination. What does mastery of reading and writing look like? How do we measure it? How do we weigh digital and technological proficiency? Where does numeracy come in? How do the values of our communities and cultural practices come into play? sWhen measuring literacy, which languages and dialects count and which do not?

Despite the complexity, literacy is the global metric we use to assess the health and competence of communities. High literacy rates have been found to correlate to everything from better access to economic opportunity, to better nutrition, to environmental sustainability.

In fact, bolstering global literacy underpins all of UNESCO’s 2030 Sustainability Goals, acknowledging the fact that ideals like gender equality, sustainable infrastructure, and eradicating poverty and hunger are not possible without literate populations. Correspondingly, UNESCO’s hefty definition of literacy is “a means of identification, understanding, interpretation, creation, and communication in an increasingly digital, text-mediated, information-rich and fast-changing world.” (UNESCO)

This focus on literacy as a tool for meaningful engagement with society makes sense. As our population expands and technology breaks down ever more barriers between us, the ability to communicate and interact with those around us becomes even more important. In our consideration of literacy, however, it is impossible to ignore the myriad ways that imperialist and colonialist systems shape gender and regional disparities in access.

Many historians propose that written language emerged at least in part as a tool for maintaining power. One’s class status dictated one’s access to literacy education, and often those without power were prohibited from learning to read and write at all. Colonialism, imperialism, and the sprawl of anglo-european, male-centered ideology from the 15th Century onward have created global power structures that still dominate today.

When considered from that perspective, it is no surprise that women make up two thirds of the world’s illiterate population, and that sub-Saharan Africa, the region arguably hit hardest by many of those inequitable power structures, has some of the lowest literacy levels in the world.

While our focus must and should be on providing everyone everywhere with the tools to “identify, understand, interpret, create, and communicate in an increasingly digital, text-mediated, information-rich, and fast changing world,” those persistent inequitable power structures dictate that progress will always be lopsided and slow.

As we slog onward, perhaps we also need to examine and consider more closely the world and experience of the “illiterate” as well. Only relatively recently has literacy been expected or even possible for the vast majority of society. For centuries, people have lived, laughed, traded, communicated, and survived without being able to read and write. Even today, though illiteracy can be a literal death sentence (studies have shown that female literacy rates can actually be a predictor of child mortality rates (Saurabh et al)), it is most certainly a metaphorical one wherein the experiences had and contributions made by those so afflicted are devalued both by design and by conceit.

We doom entire cultures and erase the experiences of entire populations by embracing the superiority of those who are literate, but illiteracy doesn’t mean ignorance. We can and should learn from everyone and we must provide other avenues to global citizenship for those who can’t read and write.

So what does this mean for our definition of literacy? At its simplest, literacy is the way that we interact with the world around us, how we shape it and are shaped by it. It is how we communicate with others via reading and writing, but also by speaking, listening, and creating. It is how we articulate our experience in the world and declare, “We Are Here!”

In my work as the director of program innovation for LitWorld, I get to interact with young people all over the world and examine the idea of literacy from many different angles. Resources for literacy education differ dramatically from one place to another, as do metric taking procedures and general best practices.

What does not change is the inherent drive for people to express themselves, to learn, and to grow. I see the enthusiasm with which young people jump at the chance to share stories of themselves and of the world, to be listened to and to absorb. I also see firsthand the devastating effect of being told that your story, your community, and your culture do not matter. I have witnessed the loss of confidence, the dwindling self-esteem, and the cycle of hopelessness that comes with the silencing of voices.

It is our charge as educators and as global citizens to embrace literacy in ALL of its forms.

5 Suggestions for Embracing Literacy for Global Citizenship in the Classroom

• Focus on students’ own stories . Find ways to center their experiences and lean in to opportunities to share them both informally and formally.
• Embrace ALL of the languages your students speak. Being multilingual is an asset, not a deficit! Many of our students are multilingual in ways we never acknowledge. Mastery of formal and standardized language structures is an important tool that every student deserves access to, but life often happens outside of and around those structures. Those everyday interactions are important, valuable, and valid as well.
• Provide regular access to diverse stories, images, experiences, and perspectives. The world is enormous and that diversity is beautiful. Help your students to see it as such. Providing access to underrepresented narratives and accounts helps to decolonize your classroom and normalize embracing the unfamiliar.
• Place value on reading, writing, speaking, listening, and creating in your students’ work. Ensure that reading and writing are not the only ways in which students are acknowledged and celebrated for taking in ideas, expressing their thoughts, or demonstrating understanding. Encouraging multiple modes of expression not only provides more opportunities for students to explore and display their own intelligence, it also primes them to seek information, inspiration, and knowledge from diverse sources.
• Read aloud together, and often . Reading aloud is effective across grade levels, despite the fact that this critical practice usually stops in elementary school. Reading aloud can provide access to content that students might not be able to access on their own. It is also a way of creating community and building a shared experience as a whole class.

The Standing Committee on Global Citizenship works to identify and address issues of broad concern to NCTE members interested in promoting global citizenship and connections across global contexts within the Council and within members’ teaching contexts.

Literacy. (2018, March 19). Retrieved March 2, 2020, from https://en.unesco.org/themes/literacy

Saurabh, S., Sarkar, S., & Pandey, D. K. (2013). Female Literacy Rate is a Better Predictor of Birth Rate and Infant Mortality Rate in India. Retrieved March 2, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4649870/

The Sustainable Development Agenda—United Nations Sustainable Development. (n.d.). Retrieved March 2, 2020, from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda/

Literacy Definition and Importance Essay

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Education is an important aspect in the economy of a country. It is a measure of a country’s potential human capital. Compared to their counterparts-illiterate people, literate people in a community not only have higher social status but also enjoy better employment and wealth prospects. The higher the literacy level, the better placed is a country in terms of its ability to spear head its set development goals/objectives. This paper seeks to give a backbone of the term ‘literacy’ and its justification.

Literacy is the process of learning whereby an individual gains the ability to understand and convey written information, gain new skills from the information, teach those skills and apply the acquired knowledge and skills for the benefit of the society. Here the key words are gain, ability to understand, teach, apply, and for a benefit. However, different people have defined literacy differently in different periods. Traditionally, people defined literacy as the ability to read, appropriately use written information and appropriately write in a range of contexts (Winch, 2007, p. 20). However, there have been new aspects arising from the definition.

This definition does not involve critical thinking in the application of the information retrieved from the written sources. It remains insufficient since it does not account for several aspects that are significant as far as literacy is concerned.

Most people perceive that literacy comprises of a set of several tangible skills, which include the cognitive skills of reading and writing. These skills ought to be independent of the context of acquiring them and the background of the individual who acquires them (Adams, 1993, p. 24). The individual should be able to decode phonetics, spelling, word recognition and vocabulary. This implies that one should not depend on pictures to denote meaning. There is emphasis on both the ability to understand orally given information and the ability to present it as written literature.

In the recent past, various scholars have started using the term ‘literacy’ in a much broader metaphorical sense to refer to other skills and competencies, for example ‘information literacy’, ‘visual literacy’, ‘media literacy’, ‘computer literacy’ and ‘scientific literacy’ (Hills, 2006, p. 6). The introduction of these concepts has brought a shift from the view of literacy as a set of words but also the interpretation of signs, symbols, pictures and sounds, which vary by social context (Cope & Kalantzis, 2000, p. 5). These skills enable an individual to gather and apply knowledge in different contexts.

An addition to the contemporary definitions of literacy is that it should be a learning process in which, individuals continually acquire knowledge and skills and use those skills for the benefit of the society (Rogoff, 2003, p. 6). According to National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy, learning to read and the teaching of reading is usually included within the broader area of literacy (2005, p. 7). Therefore, the literacy learning system should focus on strategies that are investigative, reflective, tailored, tested, embedded, purposively practiced and shared.

In conclusion, literacy includes gaining knowledge, being able to understand, to teach, to apply, and to use for a specific benefit. These aspects are equally important and therefore absence of either may translate to illiteracy. For this reason, when assessing literacy level, it is important to consider all the aspects. It applies in all fields.

Adams, R. P. (1993). Juniperus: Flora of North America North of Mexico , Vol. 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Web.

Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2000). Multiliteracies: Literacy learning and the design of social futures. London: Routledge. Web.

Hill, S. (2006). Developing early literacy: assessment and teaching . Vic: Eleanor. Web.

Curtain Pub. National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy. (2005). Report and Recommendations . Australia: Common Wealth of Australia. Web.

Rogoff, B. (2003). The cultural nature of human development . Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress. Web.

Winch, G. (2007). Literacy: reading, writing and children’s literature 3 rd Ed. Victoria: Oxford university press. Web.

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Families reading at home is just one way a culture of reading is growing in Rwanda.

Why Does Literacy Matter?

Is anything more powerful than the ability to read and to write? Through written language, we convey beliefs, record knowledge, and explore our common humanity. Alphabets may be different around the world, but literacy—that core ability to make sense of the written word—is cherished across all cultures and traditions.

On this International Literacy Day (September 8), five EDC staff members reflect on why literacy matters. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more about literacy and International Literacy Day.

The greatest gift

Simon Richmond

"Creating the concept and system of reading is one of humankind’s greatest intellectual achievements. Reading and writing magnify our capacity to learn, which is the competitive advantage of our species and the very foundation of human civilization. When a child learns to read, she unlocks and accelerates an expanding process of re-forming her self-identity and of enacting her will within the world. What more can you give her? To read is to better understand, and to understand is the greatest gift of being human."

Unlocking the world’s secrets

Jackie Bourassa

"Sharing thoughts, ideas, and emotions is key to the human experience. Developing literacy skills facilitates effective communication. Over a lifetime, children hone their skills to read, write, speak, listen, think, and respond critically—skills that unlock the world’s secrets and provide unlimited possibilities. Literacy matters because of the endless doors it opens!"

After students in the Philippines learn how to read, they begin to read to learn.

The right of literacy

Life-changing experiences.

Bill Potter

"Strong literacy skills serve as foundational building blocks for positive social development. I’ve seen this pattern repeated all over the world. Literate mothers are better able to support their families’ health, and literate children and adults develop empathy through the stories they read. Empathy leads to social awareness and fosters more supportive communities.

"Unfortunately, too many children around the world are still not afforded the life-changing experience of learning how to read and write. We owe them this right of literacy and must continue our efforts to make reading a part of their lives."

A true expression of humanity

Nancy Clark-Chiarelli

"Natalie Babbitt, the acclaimed children’s author, once remarked, ‘It’s amazing that those 26 little marks of the alphabet can arrange themselves on the pages of a book and accomplish all that.’

"It’s true; the alphabet is a wonder. But it is also just a tool. It takes a skilled teacher to help any learner decipher those little squiggles so that they are transformed into words and ideas, into stories and songs. What we do with that knowledge, that literacy, is a true expression of humanity."

A community of learning

Carrie Lewis

"Literacy matters because it brings students into a life-long community of learning that links people across borders. Literacy matters because it engage citizens in meaningful ways to participate in building a society and government of their choosing. Literacy matters because in a world with a widening gap between connected and unconnected, reading and writing and its partner, critical thinking, allow young and old to engage on equal footing."

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Chapter 1. What is Literacy? Multiple Perspectives on Literacy

Constance Beecher

“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” – Frederick Douglass

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Keywords: literacy, digital literacy, critical literacy, community-based literacies

Definitions of literacy from multiple perspectives

Literacy is the cornerstone of education by any definition. Literacy refers to the ability of people to read and write (UNESCO, 2017). Reading and writing in turn are about encoding and decoding information between written symbols and sound (Resnick, 1983; Tyner, 1998). More specifically, literacy is the ability to understand the relationship between sounds and written words such that one may read, say, and understand them (UNESCO, 2004; Vlieghe, 2015). About 67 percent of children nationwide, and more than 80 percent of those from families with low incomes, are not proficient readers by the end of third grade ( The Nation Assessment for Educational Progress; NAEP 2022 ).  Children who are not reading on grade level by third grade are 4 times more likely to drop out of school than their peers who are reading on grade level. A large body of research clearly demonstrates that Americans with fewer years of education have poorer health and shorter lives. In fact, since the 1990s, life expectancy has fallen for people without a high school education. Completing more years of education creates better access to health insurance, medical care, and the resources for living a healthier life (Saha, 2006). Americans with less education face higher rates of illness, higher rates of disability, and shorter life expectancies. In the U.S., 25-year-olds without a high school diploma can expect to die 9 years sooner than college graduates. For example, by 2011, the prevalence of diabetes had reached 15% for adults without a high -school education, compared with 7% for college graduates (Zimmerman et al., 2018).

Thus, literacy is a goal of utmost importance to society. But what does it mean to be literate, or to be able to read? What counts as literacy?

Learning Objectives

• Describe two or more definitions of literacy and the differences between them.
• Define digital and critical literacy.
• Distinguish between digital literacy, critical literacy, and community-based literacies.
• Explain multiple perspectives on literacy.

Here are some definitions to consider:

“Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society.” – United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

“The ability to understand, use, and respond appropriately to written texts.” – National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), citing the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC)

“An individual’s ability to read, write, and speak in English, compute, and solve problems, at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job, in the family of the individual, and in society.” – Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), Section 203

“The ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society.” – Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), as cited by the American Library Association’s Committee on Literacy

“Using printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one’s goals, and to develop one’s knowledge and potential.” – Kutner, Greenberg, Jin, Boyle, Hsu, & Dunleavy (2007). Literacy in Everyday Life: Results from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NCES 2007-480)

Which one of these above definitions resonates with you? Why?

New literacy practices as meaning-making practices

In the 21 st century, literacy increasingly includes understanding the roles of digital media and technology in literacy. In 1996, the New London Group coined the term “multiliteracies” or “new literacies” to describe a modern view of literacy that reflected multiple communication forms and contexts of cultural and linguistic diversity within a globalized society. They defined multiliteracies as a combination of multiple ways of communicating and making meaning, including such modes as visual, audio, spatial, behavioral, and gestural (New London Group, 1996). Most of the text’s students come across today are digital (like this textbook!). Instead of books and magazines, students are reading blogs and text messages.

For a short video on the importance of digital literacy, watch The New Media Literacies .

The National Council for Teachers of English (NCTE, 2019) makes it clear that our definitions of literacy must continue to evolve and grow ( NCTE definition of digital literacy ).

“Literacy has always been a collection of communicative and sociocultural practices shared among communities. As society and technology change, so does literacy. The world demands that a literate person possess and intentionally apply a wide range of skills, competencies, and dispositions. These literacies are interconnected, dynamic, and malleable. As in the past, they are inextricably linked with histories, narratives, life possibilities, and social trajectories of all individuals and groups. Active, successful participants in a global society must be able to:

• participate effectively and critically in a networked world.
• explore and engage critically and thoughtfully across a wide variety of inclusive texts and tools/modalities.
• consume, curate, and create actively across contexts.
• advocate for equitable access to and accessibility of texts, tools, and information.
• build and sustain intentional global and cross-cultural connections and relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and strengthen independent thought.
• promote culturally sustaining communication and recognize the bias and privilege present in the interactions.
• examine the rights, responsibilities, and ethical implications of the use and creation of information.
• determine how and to what extent texts and tools amplify one’s own and others’ narratives as well as counterproductive narratives.
• recognize and honor the multilingual literacy identities and culture experiences individuals bring to learning environments, and provide opportunities to promote, amplify, and encourage these variations of language (e.g., dialect, jargon, and register).”

In other words, literacy is not just the ability to read and write. It is also being able to effectively use digital technology to find and analyze information. Students who are digitally literate know how to do research, find reliable sources, and make judgments about what they read online and in print. Next, we will learn more about digital literacy.

• Malleable : can be changed.
• Culturally sustaining : the pedagogical preservation of the cultural and linguistic competence of young people pertaining to their communities of origin while simultaneously affording dominant-culture competence.
• Bias : a tendency to believe that some people, ideas, etc., are better than others, usually resulting in unfair treatment.
• Privilege : a right or benefit that is given to some people and not to others.
• Unproductive narrative : negative commonly held beliefs such as “all students from low-income backgrounds will struggle in school.” (Narratives are phrases or ideas that are repeated over and over and become “shared narratives.” You can spot them in common expressions and stories that almost everyone knows and holds as ingrained values or beliefs.)

Literacy in the digital age

The Iowa Core recognizes that today, literacy includes technology. The goal for students who graduate from the public education system in Iowa is:

“Each Iowa student will be empowered with the technological knowledge and skills to learn effectively and live productively. This vision, developed by the Iowa Core 21st Century Skills Committee, reflects the fact that Iowans in the 21st century live in a global environment marked by a high use of technology, giving citizens and workers the ability to collaborate and make individual contributions as never before. Iowa’s students live in a media-suffused environment, marked by access to an abundance of information and rapidly changing technological tools useful for critical thinking and problem-solving processes. Therefore, technological literacy supports preparation of students as global citizens capable of self-directed learning in preparation for an ever-changing world” (Iowa Core Standards 21 st Century Skills, n.d.).

NOTE: The essential concepts and skills of technology literacy are taken from the International Society for Technology in Education’s National Educational Technology Standards for Students: Grades K-2 | Technology Literacy Standards

Literacy in any context is defined as the ability “ to access, manage, integrate, evaluate, and create information in order to function in a knowledge society” (ICT Literacy Panel, 2002). “ When we teach only for facts (specifics)… rather than for how to go beyond facts, we teach students how to get out of date ” (Sternberg, 2008). This statement is particularly significant when applied to technology literacy. The Iowa essential concepts for technology literacy reflect broad, universal processes and skills.

Unlike the previous generations, learning in the digital age is marked using rapidly evolving technology, a deluge of information, and a highly networked global community (Dede, 2010). In such a dynamic environment, learners need skills beyond the basic cognitive ability to consume and process language. To understand the characteristics of the digital age, and what this means for how people learn in this new and changing landscape, one may turn to the evolving discussion of literacy or, as one might say now, of digital literacy. The history of literacy contextualizes digital literacy and illustrates changes in literacy over time. By looking at literacy as an evolving historical phenomenon, we can glean the fundamental characteristics of the digital age. These characteristics in turn illuminate the skills needed to take advantage of digital environments. The following discussion is an overview of digital literacy, its essential components, and why it is important for learning in the digital age.

Literacy is often considered a skill or competency. Children and adults alike can spend years developing the appropriate skills for encoding and decoding information. Over the course of thousands of years, literacy has become much more common and widespread, with a global literacy rate ranging from 81% to 90% depending on age and gender (UNESCO, 2016). From a time when literacy was the domain of an elite few, it has grown to include huge swaths of the global population. There are several reasons for this, not the least of which are some of the advantages the written word can provide. Kaestle (1985) tells us that “literacy makes it possible to preserve information as a snapshot in time, allows for recording, tracking and remembering information, and sharing information more easily across distances among others” (p. 16). In short, literacy led “to the replacement of myth by history and the replacement of magic by skepticism and science.”

If literacy involves the skills of reading and writing, digital literacy requires the ability to extend those skills to effectively take advantage of the digital world (American Library Association [ALA], 2013). More general definitions express digital literacy as the ability to read and understand information from digital sources as well as to create information in various digital formats (Bawden, 2008; Gilster, 1997; Tyner, 1998; UNESCO, 2004). Developing digital skills allows digital learners to manage a vast array of rapidly changing information and is key to both learning and working in the evolving digital landscape (Dede, 2010; Koltay, 2011; Mohammadyari & Singh, 2015). As such, it is important for people to develop certain competencies specifically for handling digital content.

ALA Digital Literacy Framework

To fully understand the many digital literacies, we will look at the American Library Association (ALA) framework. The ALA framework is laid out in terms of basic functions with enough specificity to make it easy to understand and remember but broad enough to cover a wide range of skills. The ALA framework includes the following areas:

• understanding,
• evaluating,
• creating, and
• communicating (American Library Association, 2013).

Finding information in a digital environment represents a significant departure from the way human beings have searched for information for centuries. The learner must abandon older linear or sequential approaches to finding information such as reading a book, using a card catalog, index, or table of contents, and instead use more horizontal approaches like natural language searches, hypermedia text, keywords, search engines, online databases and so on (Dede, 2010; Eshet, 2002). The shift involves developing the ability to create meaningful search limits (SCONUL, 2016). Previously, finding the information would have meant simply looking up page numbers based on an index or sorting through a card catalog. Although finding information may depend to some degree on the search tool being used (library, internet search engine, online database, etc.) the search results also depend on how well a person is able to generate appropriate keywords and construct useful Boolean searches. Failure in these two areas could easily return too many results to be helpful, vague, or generic results, or potentially no useful results at all (Hangen, 2015).

Part of the challenge of finding information is the ability to manage the results. Because there is so much data, changing so quickly, in so many different formats, it can be challenging to organize and store them in such a way as to be useful. SCONUL (2016) talks about this as the ability to organize, store, manage, and cite digital resources, while the Educational Testing Service also specifically mentions the skills of accessing and managing information. Some ways to accomplish these tasks is using social bookmarking tools such as Diigo, clipping and organizing software such as Evernote and OneNote, and bibliographic software. Many sites, such as YouTube, allow individuals with an account to bookmark videos, as well as create channels or collections of videos for specific topics or uses. Other websites have similar features.

Understanding

Understanding in the context of digital literacy perhaps most closely resembles traditional literacy because it is the ability to read and interpret text (Jones-Kavalier & Flannigan, 2006). In the digital age, however, the ability to read and understand extends much further than text alone. For example, searches may return results with any combination of text, video, sound, and audio, as well as still and moving pictures. As the internet has evolved, a whole host of visual languages have also evolved, such as moving images, emoticons, icons, data visualizations, videos, and combinations of all the above. Lankshear & Knoble (2008) refer to these modes of communication as “post typographic textual practice.” Understanding the variety of modes of digital material may also be referred to as multimedia literacy (Jones-Kavalier & Flannigan, 2006), visual literacy (Tyner, 1998), or digital literacy (Buckingham, 2006).

Evaluating digital media requires competencies ranging from assessing the importance of a piece of information to determining its accuracy and source. Evaluating information is not new to the digital age, but the nature of digital information can make it more difficult to understand who the source of information is and whether it can be trusted (Jenkins, 2018). When there are abundant and rapidly changing data across heavily populated networks, anyone with access can generate information online. This results in the learner needing to make decisions about its authenticity, trustworthiness, relevance, and significance. Learning evaluative digital skills means learning to ask questions about who is writing the information, why they are writing it, and who the intended audience is (Buckingham, 2006). Developing critical thinking skills is part of the literacy of evaluating and assessing the suitability for use of a specific piece of information (SCONUL, 2016).

Creating in the digital world makes the production of knowledge and ideas in digital formats explicit. While writing is a critical component of traditional literacy, it is not the only creative tool in the digital toolbox. Other tools are available and include creative activities such as podcasting, making audio-visual presentations, building data visualizations, 3D printing, and writing blogs. Tools that haven’t been thought of before are constantly appearing. In short, a digitally literate individual will want to be able to use all formats in which digital information may be conveyed in the creation of a product. A key component of creating with digital tools is understanding what constitutes fair use and what is considered plagiarism. While this is not new to the digital age, it may be more challenging these days to find the line between copying and extending someone else’s work.

In part, the reason for the increased difficulty in discerning between plagiarism and new work is the “cut and paste culture” of the Internet, referred to as “reproduction literacy” (Eshet 2002, p.4), or appropriation in Jenkins’ New Media Literacies (Jenkins, 2018). The question is, what kind and how much change is required to avoid the accusation of plagiarism? This skill requires the ability to think critically, evaluate a work, and make appropriate decisions. There are tools and information to help understand and find those answers, such as the Creative Commons. Learning about such resources and how to use them is part of digital literacy.

Communicating

Communicating is the final category of digital skills in the ALA digital framework. The capacity to connect with individuals all over the world creates unique opportunities for learning and sharing information, for which developing digital communication skills is vital. Some of the skills required for communicating in the digital environment include digital citizenship, collaboration, and cultural awareness. This is not to say that one does not need to develop communication skills outside of the digital environment, but that the skills required for digital communication go beyond what is required in a non-digital environment. Most of us are adept at personal, face- to-face communication, but digital communication needs the ability to engage in asynchronous environments such as email, online forums, blogs, social media, and learning platforms where what is written may not be deleted and may be misinterpreted. Add that to an environment where people number in the millions and the opportunities for misunderstanding and cultural miscues are likely.

The communication category of digital literacies covers an extensive array of skills above and beyond what one might need for face-to-face interactions. It is comprised of competencies around ethical and moral behavior, responsible communication for engagement in social and civic activities (Adam Becker et al., 2017), an awareness of audience, and an ability to evaluate the potential impact of one’s online actions. It also includes skills for handling privacy and security in online environments. These activities fall into two main categories: digital citizenship and collaboration.

Digital citizenship refers to one’s ability to interact effectively in the digital world. Part of this skill is good manners, often referred to as “netiquette.” There is a level of context which is often missing in digital communication due to physical distance, lack of personal familiarity with the people online, and the sheer volume of the people who may encounter our words. People who know us well may understand exactly what we mean when we say something sarcastic or ironic, but people online do not know us, and vocal and facial cues are missing in most digital communication, making it more likely we will be misunderstood. Furthermore, we are more likely to misunderstand or be misunderstood if we are unaware of cultural differences. So, digital citizenship includes an awareness of who we are, what we intend to say, and how it might be perceived by other people we do not know (Buckingham, 2006). It is also a process of learning to communicate clearly in ways that help others understand what we mean.

Another key digital skill is collaboration, and it is essential for effective participation in digital projects via the Internet. The Internet allows people to engage with others they may never see in person and work towards common goals, be they social, civic, or business oriented. Creating a community and working together requires a degree of trust and familiarity that can be difficult to build when there is physical distance between the participants. Greater effort must be made to be inclusive , and to overcome perceived or actual distance and disconnectedness. So, while the potential of digital technology for connecting people is impressive, it is not automatic or effortless, and it requires new skills.

Literacy narratives are stories about reading or composing a message in any form or context. They often include poignant memories that involve a personal experience with literacy. Digital literacy narratives can sometimes be categorized as ones that focus on how the writer came to understand the importance of technology in their life or pedagogy. More often, they are simply narratives that use a medium beyond the print-based essay to tell the story:

Create your own literacy narrative that tells of a significant experience you had with digital literacy. Use a multi-modal tool that includes audio and images or video. Share it with your classmates and discuss the most important ideas you notice in each other’s narratives.

Critical literacy

Literacy scholars recognize that although literacy is a cognitive skill, it is also a set of practices that communities and people participate in. Next, we turn to another perspective on literacy – critical literacy. “Critical” here is not meant as having a negative point of view, but rather using an analytic lens that detects power, privilege, and representation to understand different ways of looking at texts. For example, when groups or individuals stage a protest, do the media refer to them as “protesters” or “rioters?” What is the reason for choosing the label they do, and what are the consequences? 

Critical literacy does not have a set definition or typical history of use, but the following key tenets have been described in the literature, which will vary in their application based on the individual social context (Vasquez, 2019). Table 1 presents some key aspects of critical literacy, but this area of literacy research is growing and evolving rapidly, so this is not an exhaustive list.

An important component of critical literacy is the adoption of culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy. One definition comes from Dr. Django Paris (2012), who stated that Culturally Responsive-Sustaining (CR-S) education recognizes that cultural differences (including racial, ethnic, linguistic, gender, sexuality, and ability ones) should be treated as assets for teaching and learning. Culturally sustaining pedagogy requires teachers to support multilingualism and multiculturalism in their practice. That is, culturally sustaining pedagogy seeks to perpetuate and foster—to sustain—linguistic, literary, and cultural pluralism as part of the democratic project of schooling.

For more, see the Culturally Responsive and Sustaining F ramework . The framework helps educators to think about how to create student-centered learning environments that uphold racial, linguistic, and cultural identities. It prepares students for rigorous independent learning, develops their abilities to connect across lines of difference, elevates historically marginalized voices, and empowers them as agents of social change. CR-S education explores the relationships between historical and contemporary conditions of inequality and the ideas that shape access, participation, and outcomes for learners.

• What can you do to learn more about your students’ cultures?
• How can you build and sustain relationships with your students?
• How do the instructional materials you use affirm your students’ identities?

Community-based literacies

You may have noticed that communities are a big part of critical literacy – we understand that our environment and culture impact what we read and how we understand the world. Now think about the possible differences among three Iowa communities: a neighborhood in the middle of Des Moines, the rural community of New Hartford, and Coralville, a suburb of Iowa City:

You may not have thought about how living in a certain community might contribute to or take away from a child’s ability to learn to read. Dr. Susan Neuman (2001) did. She and her team investigated the differences between two neighborhoods regarding how much access to books and other reading materials children in those neighborhoods had. One middle-to-upper class neighborhood in Philadelphia had large bookstores, toy stores with educational materials, and well-resourced libraries. The other, a low-income neighborhood, had no bookstores or toy stores. There was a library, but it had fewer resources and served a larger number of patrons. In fact, the team found that even the signs on the businesses were harder to read, and there was less environmental printed word. Their findings showed that each child in the middle-class neighborhood had 13 books on average, while in the lower-class neighborhood there was one book per 300 children .

Dr. Neuman and her team (2019) recently revisited this question. This time, they looked at low-income neighborhoods – those where 60% or more of the people are living in poverty . They compared these to borderline neighborhoods – those with 20-40% in poverty – in three cities, Washington, D.C., Detroit, and Los Angeles. Again, they found significantly fewer books in the very low-income areas. The chart represents the preschool books available for sale in each neighborhood. Note that in the lower-income neighborhood of Washington D.C., there were no books for young children to be found at all!

Now watch this video from Campaign for Grade Level Reading. Access to books is one way that children can have new experiences, but it is not the only way!

What is the “summer slide,” and how does it contribute to the differences in children’s reading abilities?

The importance of being literate and how to get there

“Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope” – Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary-General.

Our economy is enhanced when citizens have higher literacy levels. Effective literacy skills open the doors to more educational and employment opportunities so that people can lift themselves out of poverty and chronic underemployment. In our increasingly complex and rapidly changing technological world, it is essential that individuals continuously expand their knowledge and learn new skills to keep up with the pace of change. The goal of our public school system in the United States is to “ensure that all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life, regardless of where they live.” This is the basis of the Common Core Standards, developed by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center). These groups felt that education was too inconsistent across the different states, and today’s students are preparing to enter a world in which colleges and businesses are demanding more than ever before. To ensure that all students are ready for success after high school, the Common Core State Standards established clear universal guidelines for what every student should know and be able to do in math and English language arts from kindergarten through 12th grade: “The Common Core State Standards do not tell teachers how to teach, but they do help teachers figure out the knowledge and skills their students should have” (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2012).

Explore the Core!

Go to iowacore.gov and click on Literacy Standards. Spend some time looking at the K-3 standards. Notice how consistent they are across the grade levels. Each has specific requirements within the categories:

• Reading Standards for Literature
• Reading Standards for Informational Text
• Reading Standards for Foundational Skills
• Writing Standards
• Speaking and Listening Standards
• Language Standards

Download the Iowa Core K-12 Literacy Manual . You will use it as a reference when you are creating lessons.

Next, explore the Subject Area pages and resources. What tools does the state provide to teachers to support their use of the Core?

Describe a resource you found on the website. How will you use this when you are a teacher?

Watch this video about the Iowa Literacy Core Standards:

• Literacy is typically defined as the ability to ingest, understand, and communicate information.
• Literacy has multiple definitions, each with a different point of focus.
• “New literacies,” or multiliteracies, are a combination of multiple ways of communicating and making meaning, including visual, audio, spatial, behavioral, and gestural communication.
• As online communication has become more prevalent, digital literacy has become more important for learners to engage with the wealth of information available online.
• Critical literacy develops learners’ critical thinking by asking them to use an analytic lens that detects power, privilege, and representation to understand different ways of looking at information.
• The Common Core State Standards were established to set clear, universal guidelines for what every student should know after completing high school.

Resources for teacher educators

• Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education Framework [PDF]
• Common Core State Standards
• Iowa Core Instructional Resources in Literacy

Gonzalez, N., Moll, L. C., & Amanti, C. (Eds.). (2006). Funds of knowledge: Theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms . New York, NY: Routledge.

Lau, S. M. C. (2012). Reconceptualizing critical literacy teaching in ESL classrooms. The Reading Teacher, 65 , 325–329.

Literacy. (2018, March 19). Retrieved March 2, 2020, from  https://en.unesco.org/themes/literacy

Neuman, S. B., & Celano, D. (2001). Access to print in low‐income and middle‐income communities: An ecological study of four neighborhoods. Reading Research Quarterly, 36 (1), 8-26.

Neuman, S. B., & Moland, N. (2019). Book deserts: The consequences of income segregation on children’s access to print.  Urban education, 54 (1), 126-147.

New London Group (1996). A Pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures.  Harvard Educational Review, 66 (1), 60-92.

O’Brien, J. (2001). Children reading critically: A local history. In B. Comber & A. Simpson (Eds.), Negotiating critical literacies in classrooms (pp. 41–60). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Ordoñez-Jasis, R., & Ortiz, R. W. (2006). Reading their worlds: Working with diverse families to enhance children’s early literacy development. Y C Young Children, 61 (1), 42.

Saha S. (2006). Improving literacy as a means to reducing health disparities. J Gen Intern Med. 21 (8):893-895. doi:10.1111/j.1525-1497.2006.00546.x

UNESCO. (2017). Literacy rates continue to rise from one generation to the next global literacy trends today. Retrieved from http://on.unesco.org/literacy-map.

Vasquez, V.M., Janks, H. & Comber, B. (2019). Critical Literacy as a Way of Being and Doing. Language Arts, 96 (5), 300-311.

Vlieghe, J. (2015). Traditional and digital literacy. The literacy hypothesis, technologies of reading and writing, and the ‘grammatized’ body. Ethics and Education, 10 (2), 209-226.

Zimmerman, E. B., Woolf, S. H., Blackburn, S. M., Kimmel, A. D., Barnes, A. J., & Bono, R. S. (2018). The case for considering education and health. Urban Education, 53 (6), 744-773.U.S. Department of Education. Institute of Education Sciences.

U.S. Department of Education. Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2022 Reading Assessment.

Methods of Teaching Early Literacy Copyright © 2023 by Constance Beecher is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Improving our Community, Our Economy, and Individual Lives

Literacy and English language proficiency are tools that help people move out of poverty and get better-paying jobs to support their families. Literacy allows parents to read to their children. Improved literacy skills benefit not only the struggling reader, but everyone in our community regardless of age, race, gender, or background.

(The following text is from the ProLiteracy website, October 2009.)

Adults need strong literacy skills…

…to raise children who have strong literacy skills. Learning to read begins long before a child enters school. It begins when parents read to their children, buy their children books, and encourage their children to read. The research is clear: parents who are poor readers don’t read as often to their children as do parents who are strong readers.   These children [of low-literate parents] enter school less prepared to learn to read than other children.

A mother’s reading level is the single greatest determinant in her child’s academic success (proliteracy.org).

…to be good employees. The employees most in demand in the U.S. have at least a two-year college degree. Workers must be able to read safety regulations and warnings so they and their co-workers can stay safe on the job. And working in a team means that employees must be able to communicate clearly with one another.

…to keep themselves and their families healthy. Understanding a doctor’s orders, calculating how much medicine to take, reading disease-prevention pamphlets—all are ways adults can keep themselves and their families healthy. But millions of adults lack these essential “health literacy” skills, which adds an estimated $230 billion a year to the cost of health care in the U.S.

…to avoid crime. There is a clear correlation between adult illiteracy and crime. More than 75 percent in state facilities, and 59 percent in federal corrections institutions did not graduate from high school or can be classified as low-literate.

…to be active in their communities. Political campaigns in the U.S. often stress the need for “informed voters.” But how can an individual be well informed if he or she cannot access written campaign literature or read newspaper coverage of the issues and candidates? The 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy, conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, showed that low literate adults are less likely to vote than strong readers, but become more active in their communities as their reading and writing skills improve.

…to advocate for themselves and avoid human rights abuse. People must be aware of their rights in order to assert them. Literacy gives people access to that information. Literacy plays a significant role in reducing gender, race, nationality, and religious inequality that favors one group over another in access to education, property, employment, health care, legal, and civic participation.

Home — Essay Samples — Education — Literacy — Literacy as an Essential Ingredient to The Success of Society

Literacy as an Essential Ingredient to The Success of Society

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Published: Jan 4, 2019

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A Critical Resource: The Importance of Literacy Skills

Learn about the importance of literacy skills. This article explores how improved reading and writing abilities lead to student success and prepare learners for the challenges of the 21st-century job market.

Published on May 21, 2024

Literacy as a key to the future

As work in every job sector requires research, analysis, and effective communication, literacy skills have become indispensable tools for success.

 The ability to read, write and comprehend information not only forms the foundation for academic achievement, but it also plays a significant role in shaping students’ future careers. According to Paul Deane, Principal Research Scientist at ETS, “To succeed in the twenty-first century economy, you have to have [literacy] skills that only a small percentage of the population may have needed in the 1920s.” 

Many schools emphasize reading catch-up alongside basic writing skills: grammar, structure, and mechanics. While these skills are certainly important, educators must prepare for advanced writing matters , including intensive workshopping and revising , should students want to claim greater fluency over their literacy abilities. “Schools with better prepared kids,” notes Paul Deane, “can spend more time in writing and cover more ground in writing …When you do that, you get faster skill growth and more motivated kids.” Supporting this kind of well-structured and meaningful content, in turn, has a powerful impact on a student’s future , or, as Deane puts it, “If you can’t write a good admissions essay, you’re already behind the 8-ball.”

An urgent need for literacy skills

Reading scores have remained stagnant for the past two decades - in recent years, they have declined due to the pandemic .

Information like this, which was revealed by the Nation’s Report Card by the National Assessment of Educational Progress , makes the case that to perform in today's competitive job market, students must possess proficient literacy skills . Travis Park, Associate Professor of Agricultural Education at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, wonders, “ Are we creating students who can be lifelong learners, not just the oil changers and mechanics, but the managers, the owners of the business? ” His question emphasizes the urgent need for schools to address literacy skills before the job market demands them later : “If you’re in it for that game,” Park says, “then reading is vitally important for [students’] long-term success.” 

To address the challenges of improving literacy skills, many schools are turning to tech-based solutions . The right technology can offer immediate auto-grading and diagnostic reviews. As such, educators can provide students with personalized learning experiences to improve their writing skills and guide the revision process. For example, tools like the Criterion® Online Writing Evaluation Service are designed to help students improve their core writing skills through unlimited opportunities to practice independent writing and invaluable automated feedback. Personalizing learning in this manner empowers students to engage with the material at their own pace .

Benefitting all student and teacher outcomes

We must recognize the interconnectedness of reading and writing when personalizing learning experiences.

In conjunction with this work, educators can empower students to face the challenges of the modern world with confidence and competence. Schools and districts can build better-developed students across all subjects with a renewed approach to critical writing concepts and systematic literacy approaches . Literacy skills unlock a world of opportunities: They are indispensable assets in every learner's journey towards a successful and fulfilling future. 

Want to improve literacy skills in your classroom? Check out the Criterion Online Writing Evaluation Service. 

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Six benefits of literacy in the fight against poverty

Aug 27, 2020

Literacy, as part of education, is a fundamental human right. Yet there are, according to UNESCO, 781 million illiterate adults (over the age of 15) around the globe. Over 63% of those adults are women. In countries like Niger, literacy rates are as low as 24%.

Fundamental human rights are just that — fundamental. These figures are also important because literacy (and numeracy) is one of the key solutions to ending poverty . As former UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova said in 2015: “The future starts with the alphabet.”

"The future starts with the alphabet." — Irina Bokova, former UNESCO Director-General

Here are 6 benefits of literacy as a tool for breaking the cycle of poverty .

Learn more about our work in education

1. literacy improves health.

Growing research shows positive correlations between adult literacy and lower infant mortality rates. A 2002 study in Bolivia showed that women who attended a literacy program were more likely to seek medical help for themselves and their children when needed. They were also more likely to adopt more preventive health measures, like immunization. A similar study in Nepal connected increased literacy to attitude shifts around family planning.

Literate patients also have an easier time following instructions from their doctors, and literacy is a key benefit during a health crisis. During the West African Ebola epidemic and the major Ebola outbreak in the DRC , being able to read meant the difference between life and death.

We continue to see this now during the global COVID-19 pandemic : With so much misinformation about the novel coronavirus, one of the best — and most cost-effective — responses we have is education, including educating our communities on prevention, symptoms, and what to do if they need treatment. Posters, leaflets, and other materials were created and shared in each of the countries where Concern works , meaning that literacy is one of the key tools in keeping communities safe and healthy.

2. Literacy promotes “lifelong learning” and builds skills

As many of us realize after we’ve graduated, learning is a lifelong journey. The more we learn, the more we’re able to adapt to a fast-changing world. The more we’re able to adapt, the more we can continually improve our standard of living and lead longer, healthier, and more creative lives.

Literacy and numeracy are a prerequisite for a broader education. Students who struggle to read (often due to language barriers in the classroom ) are more likely to drop out of school before they can complete a basic education. This can set off a vicious cycle: literacy rates increase as levels of completed schooling increase.

Think about it: When was the last time you learned a new skill? Or did something new for the first time? Chances are you learned that new skill or task because you could read instructions, books, or other resources to guide you through the process. When we have the confidence to read, we have the confidence to learn, both in and out of the classroom.

How does education affect poverty? It can help end it.

Access to high-quality primary education and supporting child well-being is a globally-recognized solution to the cycle of poverty.

3. Literacy improves the economy and creates jobs

Literacy is a powerful tool against  poverty. If all students in low-income countries had basic reading skills, 171 million people could escape extreme poverty. Illiteracy comes at a high price. According to the World Literacy Foundation, illiteracy costs the global economy $1.5 trillion annually.

Currently, there are 192 million people unemployed around the world. Even more people have jobs but struggle with poor pay or poor working conditions (or both). In both cases, a lack of basic literacy and numeracy skills means that many people are immediately disqualified from a high number of decent livelihoods.

Fact: Illiteracy costs the global economy $1.5 trillion annually.

As part of lifelong learning, literacy skills don’t just mean better job opportunities now. They also set people up with the ability to develop their skills and find better livelihoods in the future.

4. Literacy promotes gender equality

“Every literate woman marks a victory over poverty,” said former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Women are the most powerful agents of change in their communities, and that power is even greater when they can read. For every 10% increase of female students in a country, the gross domestic product increases by an average of 3%.

This is because literate women are also more independent and engaged within their communities. They are also more likely to send their children (especially their daughters) to school. Lenason Dinyero, a farmer and chairman of a local fathers’ group in Malawi, works to save young girls from child marriage so that they can stay in school . As he explains it: “A literate generation will benefit the entire community.”

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Whether online or in-person, millions of kids in the US will head back to their classrooms this month. But over 260 million children around the world won’t be going to school at all. Here are some of the reasons kids miss out on an education.

5. Literacy promotes democracy and peace

Illiteracy, according to Ban Ki-moon, “weakens communities and undermines democratic processes through marginalization and exclusion. These and other impacts can combine to destabilize societies.”

When citizens are literate, they’re more able to follow local politics and be informed of the issues that matter to their communities. They’re also more likely to vote and find other ways of participating in their local democracy.

"Illiteracy weakens communities and undermines democratic processes through marginalization and exclusion. These and other impacts can combine to destabilize societies." — Ban Ki-moon, former UN Secretary-General

Literacy is also a powerful tool in post-conflict situations. A 2004 study in Colombia had people who were affected by conflict write down their experiences and share them with others. By doing this, they were more able to work through trauma and build resilience .

6. Literacy builds self-esteem and overall quality of life

If nothing else, literacy builds self-esteem. Readers who struggle are more likely to have difficulty expressing themselves, even verbally. This can lead to anxiety, depression, or other issues that impact an overall quality of life.

The more able a person is to express themselves, the greater their confidence, their self-esteem, and their chance at living a happy, healthy life.

How Concern improves literacy

Concern’s work towards education for all is rooted in building literacy and numeracy in the communities we work with. In countries like Afghanistan, Somalia, Sierra Leone, and Haiti, we’ve found that a comprehensive literacy program that includes teacher training and mentoring programs has resulted in significant improvement on students’ reading fluency.

Concern’s program in Saut d’Eau, Haiti provided training, coaching, and mentoring to help teachers in their instruction of Creole literacy. Between 2014 and 2016, reading fluency for students in Grade 3 improved by 550%.

But our work doesn’t stay in the classroom. A child’s school, home, and community all play a role in the holistic environment in which they learn. Access to reading materials, especially at home, is important for kids, and we also work with parents to help build a home environment that supports performance in school. As part of our work in Liberia, we’ve found that teaching practices that include reading assignments to be done at home saw a 58% improvement in reading scores for students.

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Chapter 3: Literacies across the disciplines

3.2.2 Culinary literacy and its impact on society (synthesis essay)

Anonymous English 102 Writer

October 2020

In my last essay, I explained how important culinary literacy was to me and my family, but it is so much more important than being an interesting hobby or an impressive skill you can show off to your friends. Culinary literacy can open many more doors to the world. It can lead to understanding of health and nutrition, help you peer into the traditions of a different culture, feed the hungry, or even to lead you into other literacies. It’s all these benefits of learning culinary skills and spreading that knowledge that can leave such a lasting impression on society. The articles that I share in this essay will show just how large that impact is.

In “Food for Thought,” written by Kelley R Taylor, she explains how crucial culinary literacy is in not only teaching people how to cook tasty, healthy meals, but to help bring together communities to grow and learn together about nutrition and help those that don’t necessarily have many options for good food make the right choices in what they consume. Taylor states that food is the greatest common factor in most of the problems having to do with the wellness of the public. She mentions one of the many “food deserts” that exists within the United States, in Camden, New Jersey. The population is about 77,000 residents with only one feasible store for obtaining any source of “regular” groceries (Taylor 25). If it wasn’t already obvious by the name, a food desert is an area that lacks proper grocery stores, markets, or health food stores, with people relying heavily on processed foods from unconventional sources such as corner stores and gas stations, greatly affecting the health of people in these communities. To help combat this problem, Camden County Library created a program that teaches culinary literacy to people willing to learn, called “Books and Cooks.” The program brings a mobile kitchen to willing participants, using the latest technology to help bring knowledge and supplies to these communities in trouble. This has started to become a trend in locations like this across the country as well, with organizations such as the Charlie Cart Project, which also follows the mobile kitchen design but also integrates teaching math, English, language arts, science, and social studies (Taylor 26). According to Taylor, the Vetri Community Partnership in Philadelphia does something similar, combining the classroom with culinary, nutrition, the scientific importance of foods and the body, and marketing.

In a study on a program introducing culinary and nutritional literacy courses, “Youth Chef Academy: Pilot Results From a Plant‐Based Culinary and Nutrition Literacy Program for Sixth and Seventh Graders,” written by Amy Harley et. al., sixth and seventh graders were taught the importance of whole grains and fruits and veggies and taught culinary tips to help increase their nutritional knowledge. The study created 8 control groups of schools selected for their similarities in free/reduced price lunch, race/ethnicity, and student mobility rate (893). Much like Taylor’s article, it mentions a decline in health due to poor nutrition within communities in America. However, Harley et. al. focuses more on common eating trends and the 40% decline of food literacy classes over the years, such Home Economics, being taught in classrooms (894). Harley et. al. say, “Given the importance of diet to health and the stagnant trends in plant food consumption among youth, innovative and effective strategies addressing healthy eating are critically needed” (894). This program was not a mobile one, such as some of the programs mentioned in Taylor’s article, but follows the same idea of promoting culinary literacy and nutritional knowledge through technology, teaching basics, food trends, and history of some food choices as well. Harley et. al. found major improvements in nutritional knowledge in the intervention group, and with nutritional knowledge previously shown to heavily influence dietary intake, the findings suggest that the intervention route might be solid way to change the poor diet choices of the younger generations (899).

In a study similar to Harley et. al.’s article, in “FSU Cooks: Culinary Nutrition Workshops Help Participants Learn About Food, Cook, and Eat!” written by Catherine Wickham et. al., the Department of Food and Nutrition at Framingham State University taught groups of students about food and nutrition, taught them to cook several meals, and to allowed them to taste each other’s unique creations. The program’s goal was to see if the course was practical enough to offer to members of the community to promote the growth of culinary literacy. The researchers wanted to test the theory that hands-on experiences in the culinary world could help to extend people’s palates and confidence in making healthy meals that could help sustain themselves or their family (S63). Another interesting point this Wickham et. al. brought up from past studies is that self-sufficiency in the culinary sense of the parents directly affects a child’s diet quality and the willingness of the child to learn or try new or healthy foods. Wickham et. al.’s article was a much shorter article than the first two but still tied into the idea of spreading culinary literacy to the community, both by teaching our youth so that they can pass it on to future generations and incorporating culinary literacy within parts of society that don’t have the knowledge to stay healthy or informed.

In “What is Literacy?” James Gee introduces the idea of a primary discourse, and then other discourses relating to or stemming from that discourse, called “secondary discourses,” developing after the primary discourse (Gee 22). I believe that this goes well with the matter of culinary literacy as a secondary discourse in relation to these articles I have discussed. In the Taylor article, teaching communities with little knowledge about food and nutrition and health all stems from basic culinary literacy. In the Harley et. al. and Wickham et. al. articles, the importance of teaching the youth about nutrition through basic culinary skills was more of the theme. By learning those basics, it not only opened the subject’s minds to new ways of looking at food, cooking, and eating foods, but to being opened to trying out new experiences in the future as well. It also allowed the possibilities for offering these opportunities to the rest of the public in the future if the studies went well.

The articles stressed the importance of having that root culinary literacy as a starting point to much broader horizons. It helps to enlighten communities on what they can do to be self-sufficient in “food desert” situations, to help the youth of the country grow to learn about nutrition so that things like this won’t happen in the future, and even opens people’s minds to the other aspects of the broad spectrum of culinary, through many other subjects like science and math. As more of these stories and studies spell out the success of teaching this extremely important subject, the more I feel like it will become the norm. Culinary is a gateway into a brighter, healthier future, and hopefully will continue to shape communities to make changes to the flawed nutritional systems that are in place in this country today.

Works Cited

Harley, Amy, et al. “Youth Chef Academy: Pilot Results From a Plant‐Based Culinary and Nutrition Literacy Program for Sixth and Seventh Graders.”  Journal of School Health  88.12 (2018): 893-902.

Gee, James Paul. “What is literacy.” Negotiating academic literacies: Teaching and learning  across languages and cultures (1998): 51-59.

Taylor, Kelley R. “Food for Thought: Inspiring Food Literacy Programs Teach More than Cooking and

Nutrition.”  School Library Journal , 64.10, (2018): 24.  EBSCOhost search.ebscohost.com.proxy.ulib.csuohio.edu:2050/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsbro&AN=edsbro.A556838357&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Wickham, Catherine, Jerusha Nelson-Peterman, and Ann Johnson. “P68 FSU Cooks: Culinary Nutrition

Workshops Help Participants Learn About Food, Cook, and Eat!.”  Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior  51.7 (2019): S63.

Understanding Literacy in Our Lives by Anonymous English 102 Writer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Why educating women is more important than we realize

The Times of India

The Stri or the Female Energy is the creatrix, mother of all gods, conqueror of all evil, dispenser of all boons in the Indian culture. She is considered the divine power of the universe from where all beings are born. This divine female energy is worshipped with intense adoration and devotion in India.

Yet, it is in India itself that we find the most intense contradiction towards the female shakti.

On one hand we surrender to the divine Durga to protect us and on the other hand we look down upon the feminine principle with condemnation, contempt, cause of all failures, source of lust and miseries.

An Indian woman suffers this wrath both in her mind and heart right from her birth. She struggles to understand her true role, position, and identity in human society. She lives in a dilemma, wondering whether to relate to the feminine deities being erected all around her or to an unborn female avatar which was never allowed to be born.

Since ancient times women have not been denied legal, social, and educational rights in India but certainly in practise they have been more preoccupied and confined to domestic affairs and that is where their social subordination began.

Despite such subjugation, women have survived important roles such as bold householders, strong mothers, queens, administrators, warriors, elected representatives and leaders. Therefore, despite oppression and denial, India has, time and again, truly experienced the shakti of this female creative force.

The way forward for India and humans in general is to treat the Female Shakti (The Feminine Powerhouse) with respect, deep regard, equal access to experiences, learning and opportunities. All sexes should be allowed to find, above all sexual differences, their full inner potential.

India, the land of diversity and contrast, India the ardent worshipper of the Shakti-The Durga can perhaps lead mankind into human success based in deep regard for the deep inner potential, intellectual prowess and ingenuity of women. Denying women their due place is denying mankind its due success.

Women Across the Globe

The battle for legal, civil, social, and educational equality is a central element of woman’s rights globally. However, a deeper understanding of the women’s needs has revealed that in daily life they struggle to voice their objections and opinions, struggle to agree or disagree, condemn, or promote, speak, share, discuss, and struggle to manage, participate and lead.

Therefore, it would not be incorrect to state that the battle is only half won if the women get access to education and opportunities but no access to exercise their will.

Women across the globe may be characterized by diversity in feminine energy and feminine approach to life, work, family, and society yet their basic emotional, psychological, physical, mental, intellectual, social, professional, and creative needs tie them together to a common cause. The common cause being-women across the globe want to be active participants and decision makers in their own lives and refuse the passivity that is expected of them.

A modern progressive woman prides herself with all her feminine virtues. She wishes to embrace her own self in entirety not to put men down but only to break out of an oppressed state so that she can realize her own untapped full potential.

Women today are capable of and want to accumulate the advantages of both the sexes, but she is not willing to pay an unfair price for achieving this. For instance, a young mother wants the right to work or not to work to lie within the realms of her decision-making powers.

She wishes to be able to make a choice between scenarios where in one she wishes to fully involve herself in her motherhood and suspend her professional aspirations without being made to feel undeserving or financially dependent. Or in another scenario where she wishes to strike a balance between her motherhood and professional duties and yet not labelled as irresponsible and selfish. Such a state of choice with dignity would be true liberation for a young mother.

Equal Education is a Steppingstone Towards Gender Equality, Quality Socialization and Economic Growth

Denying women access to equal and quality education opportunities encourages gender segregation and stereotypical behaviour in society. Perceptions towards gender roles are sowed by members of family and society very early on in the lives of men and women which adversely impacts the quality of the socialization process.

Creating gender neutral learning environments can serve as a steppingstone to quality socialization. This in turn can help in creating favourable position for women in creative, scientific, technological, professional endeavours and lessen their personal and social struggles.

Any society that denies and discourages women from boldly participating in the learning process is only encouraging biased patterns that are deeply rooted in promoting the influential masculine identity.

Quality education can help both men and women understand these deep-seated issues in our society, raise their collective and individual levels of awareness, understand the importance of all people, irrespective of sex, in building a healthy and conscious society. In order to ensure sustainable development, it has become imperative to recognize the importance of all the sexes.

When a girl is educated, she is empowered. She can make her own decisions, raise the standard of living for her family and children, create more job opportunities, and reform society as a whole. As a result, a shift in attitudes toward girl child education in India is urgently needed. Every girl child deserves to be treated with love and respect. If all girls complete their education and participate in the workforce, India could add a whopping $770 billion to the country’s GDP by 2025!

Some Important Statistics

As per statistics presented by UNICEF, 129 million girls are out of school around the world, including 32 million of primary school age, 30 million of lower-secondary school age, and 67 million of upper-secondary school age.

Borgen Project, a US based not for profit, study has revealed that every year, 23 million girls in India drop out of school after they begin menstruating due to lack of sanitary napkin dispensers and overall hygiene awareness in schools.

As per National Survey of India, Literacy Rate in India has increased from 73% in 2011 to 77.7% in 2022, however it still stands behind the global literacy rate which stands at 86.5% (as per UNESCO). Of the 77.7% Indian literacy rate in 2022, male literacy rate stands at 84.7% and female literacy rate stands at 70.3% as compared to global average female literacy rate of 79% (as per UNESCO).

There are several factors that influence poorer literacy rates in women as compared to men, the biggest and most crucial factors being inequality and sex-based discrimination. This discrimination pushes the girl child to either never be born (female infanticide) or the woman to be predominantly pushed into household affairs.

Low enrolment rates, high dropout rates, social discrimination, unsafe public spaces, prioritizing boy child education are some other important factors that negatively influence female education.

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Essay on Reading Day: A Celebration of Literacy and Learning 

• Updated on  
• Jun 19, 2024

Are you familiar with Puthuvayil Narayana Panicker? He is regarded as the Father of India’s Library Movement because of his efforts to promote education and literacy in India. His dream was to make India an educational society by reading books and other academic sources. Today, we observe National Reading Day on 19 June every year to honour his determination and hard work. We will discuss a 500-word essay on Reading Day to help students understand the importance of reading and what doors of opportunities this simple habit can open.

Table of Contents

• 1.1 History
• 1.2 Importance of Reading
• 1.3 Promoting Literacy and Education
• 1.4 Celebrating Reading Day
• 1.5 The Power of Reading
• 1.6 Conclusion

Essay on Reading Day in 500 words

Reading Day is marked annually on June 19th, a day dedicated to the importance of reading. Reading Day serves as a reminder of the power that books and literature have in people’s lives. This day not only honours the act of reading but also promotes literacy and education worldwide. By recognising a day to read, we highlight the importance of literature for our personal growth and societal development.

This day is celebrated in honour of P.N. Panicker, a Keralite teacher renowned as the ‘father of the Library Movement’. Puthuvayil Narayana Panicker, also known as P.N. Panicker, worked towards the betterment of society through his literacy movements in India. Even Though the day was first observed in the 1990s,  Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially declared June 19 as National Reading Day. Since then, the day has been honoured on June 19 every year. 

Importance of Reading

Reading is a fundamental skill that is necessary for education and personal growth. Reading helps us gain information, critical thinking skills, and problem-solving skills. Reading is vital for typing children to learn the language, improve comprehension, and enhance vocabulary. Books provide a glimpse into many worlds and broaden one’s understanding of various perspectives and ideas.

For adults, reading is a tool that allows them to learn and improve themselves continuously. Fictional books inspire our imagination and creativity, whereas non-fictional books teach us about the realities of life. In a constantly changing world, understanding complicated information and being able to read are critical skills. It enables people to stay informed, make sound decisions, and fully engage in society.

Promoting Literacy and Education

One of the main objectives of Reading Day is to encourage literacy and address challenges associated with it worldwide. Despite significant educational advancements, the world continues to face challenges with literacy. According to UNESCO, around 773 million individuals globally lack basic literacy abilities, while millions of youngsters do not receive an education. Reading Day emphasises the need for successful literacy programmes and equal access to reading resources for all. Community initiatives, such as book distribution or library expansions, can have a huge impact. Working together, we can ensure that everyone has the opportunity to study and benefit from the knowledge that books offer.

Celebrating Reading Day

Reading Day can be celebrated in a variety of ways. Schools frequently play an important part in the celebration of reading. By organising book fairs, creative writing workshops, and storytelling sessions, we can instill a love of reading in the next generation. Libraries are also an important element of this event. Public libraries can reach out to the community by organising mobile libraries and establishing reading areas in public places. Parents can also help their children develop the habit of reading.

The Power of Reading

The impact of reading extends far beyond the individual. It can transform societies. Reading promotes empathy and cultural awareness. Through literature, an individual can learn about diverse ideas and cultures, allowing them to be a more active participant in the democratic process. Furthermore, reading can inspire and stimulate creativity. Many stories inspire us to pursue our dreams and fight social norms.

Reading Day celebrates written words and their importance in our lives. This occasion is an opportunity to promote literacy, instil a love of books, and acknowledge the significant impact reading has on individuals and societies. Let us celebrate this day as a chance to instill a lifelong appreciation of reading in individuals and work towards an educated and progressive society.

Also Read: Importance of Reading for Students

Ans: Reading Day is marked annually on June 19th, a day dedicated to the importance of reading. The first reading was celebrated on 19th June 1996 in honor of P.N. Panicker, a Kerala teacher.

Ans: This day is celebrated in honour of P.N. Panicker, a Keralite teacher renowned as the ‘father of the Library Movement’. Puthuvayil Narayana Panicker, also known as P.N. Panicker, worked towards the betterment of society through his literacy movements in India. Reading Day serves as a reminder of the power that books and literature have in people’s lives. This day not only honours the act of reading but also promotes literacy and education worldwide. 

Ans: Reading is a tool that allows them to learn and improve themselves continuously. Fictional books inspire our imagination and creativity, whereas non-fictional books teach us about the realities of life. In a constantly changing world, understanding complicated information and being able to read are critical skills. It enables people to stay informed, make sound decisions, and fully engage in society.

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The importance of math literacy as a civil right

• By Xavier Washington
• Jun 24, 2024

Math literacy is increasingly recognized as a fundamental civil right  for securing a living wage and participating fully in modern society. This belief was strongly advocated by civil rights activist Bob Moses during the Civil Rights Movement. Moses, who founded the Algebra Project in 1982, aimed to ensure comprehensive math literacy for all students, particularly those historically disadvantaged.

The importance of math literacy

Recent studies and reports highlight a troubling trend in math education across the United States. The Nation’s Report Card revealed that only a small fraction of students achieve proficiency in math by the eighth grade, with even lower scores among low-income students and students of color. These disparities are exacerbated by unequal access to qualified teachers and high-quality resources.

Innovative approaches to math education

The Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD) has received national attention for its progressive policies to increase math literacy. In 2019, Dallas ISD adopted a policy where middle school students are automatically enrolled in honors math classes, with the option to opt out, rather than needing a recommendation to opt in. This shift has led to a significant increase in enrollment among Black and Latino students, with steady overall math scores and high pass rates on state exams.

Other districts, like the San Francisco Unified School District, are following suit by implementing similar programs to offer Algebra 1 in eighth grade, aiming to make advanced math more accessible and equitable.

Challenges and equity concerns

Despite these efforts, challenges remain. Some districts have ceased offering Algebra 1 in eighth grade altogether, which can limit opportunities for students to advance in math during high school. In Cambridge, Massachusetts, for example, the phasing out of accelerated math tracks has led to concerns about increased inequity, as advanced math becomes accessible primarily to those who can afford additional support outside of school.

The ongoing struggle for equitable math education underscores the importance of both top-down policy changes and grassroots support to ensure that all students, regardless of their background, have the opportunity to achieve math literacy.

As we move forward, it’s clear that expanding access to algebra is not just an educational issue but a pressing civil rights concern, echoing the vision of leaders like Bob Moses who saw math literacy as crucial for the empowerment and advancement of future generations.

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• Algebra , bob moses , civil rights , digital , educational disparity , math education , math literacy , the algebra project

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