Chapter 1

Introduction to 21st Century Literacies

Objectives:

At the end of this chapter, you should be able to develop a clear

and practical understanding of the following:

● definitions of conventional literacy; and

● expanded views of literacy in the 21st century.

Explore:

Literacy is defined by dictionaries as the state of being able to read and write

(Literacy, Literate, n.d.). Although it is the ultimate thesis of this chapter that

such a traditional definition no longer suffices in the information age, a

thorough understanding of literacy and its past nuances will give us a solid

foundation in exploring and discussing the "new literacies of the 21st century

and why possessing them is now mandatory for both teachers and students

in all levels of education.

This chapter explores several definitions of literacy and what being literate

means in the multiplicity of contexts in the 21st century, with the goal of

raising awareness in readers who might be presently unaware of the evolving

literacy and giving teachers the opportunity to pause and perspectives reflect

on their own literacies even as they attempt to teach the new literacies to

their students.

Traditional or Conventional Literacy:

The word "literacy” stems from the world “literate”, which first appeared in the

15th century and is in turn derived from the Latin word litteratus, meaning “(a

person) marked with letters -- that is, "distinguished or identified by letters” --

and it carried with it the idea that such a person was cultured and educated.

Since the subjects of the time (e.g., grammar, logic, arithmetic geometry. etc.)

all had written texts (which were composed of letters) that had
to be studied, the ability to read and write was therefore of prime importance

leading to the strong association of being literate with the ability to read and

write.

Miler (1973) divides this conventional concept of literacy into three subcategories: 1.

Basic Literacy - it is the ability to correspond visual shapes to spoken sounds in order to

decode written materials and translate them into oral language. Simply put, it is the

ability to recognize letters and words. This would be akin to recognizing that the

sequence of letters “b-a-s-a” forms the word basa in Filipino, even without

understanding what it means.

2. Comprehension Literacy- it is the ability to understand the meaning of what

is being read. To capitalize on the example above, this would be like knowing

that basa can mean either “to read” or “to be wet.” 3. Functional or Practical

Literacy- it is the ability to read (i.e., decode and comprehend) written

materials needed to perform everyday vocational tasks. This is the equivalent

of reading the text "Ang bata ay nagbabasa.” and being able to understand

that basa here refers to reading and not to being wet. Based on this

conventional view of literacy, we notice two things for reading (and therefore

literacy) to exist: (1) a text (consisting of symbols and grammar) to be read; and

(2) a meaning or message being communicated by the text for the reader to

extract. Without a text, there would be nothing to

read; without meaning, the text is reduced to a series of

incomprehensible doodles.

It should therefore be noted that even in Miller's definition of literacy, the act

of reading implies a level of understanding. Simply knowing how to say a

word (or a series of words) is not the same as being able to understand what

it means. Without understanding the meaning of the words, reading has not

taken place. Based on this, Schlechty (2001) defines the concept of functional

literacy as the state of being able to read, but not well enough to manage
 daily living and employment tasks that require reading skills beyond a

basic level.

As the rest of this chapter will argue, this synchronicity between

decoding textual symbols and being able to extract and understand their

meaning is a necessary part of being literate, even as the new contexts of

the 21st century change the nature of what the "text” is, and what it means

to “read” and “write."

Expanded Views of Literacy:

Despite the popularity of American films in the Philippines, many

Filipinos cannot follow the actors' dialogue, and thus resort to guessing

the overall story based on the actions on screen.

Despite the ubiquity of the traditional view of literacy, Roberts (1995) notes

that "in the past fifty years, hundreds of definitions of "literacy” have been

advanced by scholars, adult literacy workers, and programme planners,” with

even the United Nations Educational, Scientific., and Cultural Organization

(UNESCO, 2006) acknowledging that literacy as a concept has proven to be

complex and dynamic, if being continually defined and interpreted in multiple

ways.

In 2004, UNESCO formally defined literacy as "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."

Note that "reading does not appear in UNESCO's definition of

literacy instead, literacy has taken on a definition more akin to

knowing about something and what to do with it"

In this vein. Mkandawire (2018) more succinctly posits that literacy is "a form
 of knowledge, competence, and skills in a particular field or area," being

supported by UNESCO (2006), Barforn (2007) and Mkandawire, Simooya-

Mudenda, & Cheelo (2017), which acknowledged that-as we have just

pointed out-modern views appear to equate literacy with knowledge.

This shift in the definition of literacy from “reading and writing” to

"knowledge" is especially important as we explore the "new" literacies of

the 21st century that seem far-removed from the contexts upon which

conventional literacy is based.

Literacy in the 21st Century:

When viewed from the perspective of conventional/ traditional literacy,

the concept of "new literacies'' is a bit of a misnomer, as even these new

literacies of the 21st century make generous use of being able to read and

write, rather than supplant them as skills necessary for survival. However, when

viewed from the perspective of literacy as knowledge, the new literacies begin

to make sense as they are the “skills and bodies of knowledge" that are

necessary for survival and productivity in the information age.

In the same vein of reasoning, the new literacies are not "new per se

as in the sense that they. never existed before. Rather, we consider them to

be new because the contexts in which old skills and knowledge are being

employed are new, both in nature and in scope. The ability to translate textual

information into images is not a new skill, but if it is the ability to do so in a

way that is concise, complete, and clear that is certainly new, given that it will

be how ninety percent of the population will be informed on the issue.

Similarly, being able to verify the truth-value and veracity of a document is

not a new skill-but being able to do so when there are a hundred similar

documents available to you online is.

Case in point: Throughout history, humans have communicated on

levels apart from the spoken and written word, for example, visually, using the
long distance communication system of smoke signals used by the ancient

Chinese, the ancient Greeks, and the indigenous peoples of North America. In

the Victorian era, there was such a thing as the "Language of

Flowers,” where the kind, color, and arrangement of a bouquet of flowers

were used to communicate messages that could not otherwise be spoken

aloud in Victorian society (Greenaway,1884). For example, a bouquet of oak

leaves (representing strength), purple roses (sorrow), white lilies

(resurrection), and pale yellow tulips and rosemary (memory or remembrance)

would altogether communicate a message of sympathy, usually over the death

of a loved one.

Successfully interpreting these "visual languages" required a kind of

“visual literacy” to understand the message being presented and to manage

the information encoded therein-skills which, as following chapters will further

reveal, are coming into use again in the 21st century literacies. The difference

is that now we are not analyzing smoke signals or bouquets, but ratner sounds,

texts, and images from a hundred different sources at a nearly nonstop rate to

the point where accuracy, validity, and reliability of the messages we interpret

form the basis for some very important personal and collective decision-

making.

Another difference involves the question of necessity: One did not need

to be literate in the language of flowers to live a fruitful and fulfilled life in

VIctorian-era England, but to be not media or digitally literate in the 21st

century makes one vulnerable to manipulation by those who are, and such

manipulation can easily cost an individual time, money. property, and even life.

These so-called "new" literacies arose from the increasing availability of

communication technologies that were once unavailable to the average

individual. Technologies like blogging and vlogging, social networking, and even

text-messaging change and expand both the extent and the form of our
communication-blending fext. sound, and images in ways unforeseen and

unprecedented (Richardson, 2014). Never before have the opinions of a twelve

year-old child in an unheard-of town in an unheard-of country been available

for everyone on earth to read and hear, and while adults might scoff

at a child's opinions, that child might have more than a thousand online

subscribers who certainly think his or her opinions are important, maybe

even more so than the opinions of adults.

Simply put, three things have been critical in the rise of the

new literacies:

1. Increased Reach- We are communicating with more people, from

more diverse cultures, across vast distances than ever before.

2. Increased Means of Communication- We are communicating in

more ways and at faster speeds than ever before.

3. Increased Breadth of Content- We are communicating about

more things than ever before.

How do we work together with people of different cultures who

might have vastly different perspectives on communication, work ethics,

values, religious beliefs, and worldviews? What do we do when some of these

might be mutually exclusive to our own? In an age where information is

power-where knowing more and knowing first can spell the difference

between success and failure- how do we leverage both current and emergent

technologies so that our endeavors are both productive and profitable?

Moreover, how do we navigate and manage the veritable minefield of

information that was once considered taboo and private and is now online,

for all the world to see and judge, whether we like it or not?

Answering such complex questions requires new sets of skills and

knowledge-- ones that our school system has never had to teach before. With

these changes in with whom, how, and why we communicate, new literacies
are required not only to make sense of the changes, but also to use these new

technologies and paradigms in meaningful and productive ways something

required not only of students, but of teachers as well.

To better address the need for teachers to be literate in these new

literacies, this book discusses and explores them in the ensuring chapters,

namely:

Globalization and Multicultural Literacy discusses how our increasing ability to

communicate with almost anyone, anywhere, in real time requires new skills

and attitudes in interacting with people with cultures. perspectives, worldviews,

and priorities different from our own, particularly with the end-view of not only

peace and understanding but also mutual benefit and productivity. Social and

Financial Literacies meanwhile explores the

need for the ability to navigate our own social networks-of both the online

and off-line variety-to not only communicate clearly, but also to leverage

resources which we ourselves might not possess. At the same time, the

chapter addresses the notorious problem of short-sightedness in Filipino

culture regarding personal finances and how this must be addressed at an

increasingly earlier age to help mitigate the ever-widening gap between the

rich and the poor.

Media and Cyber/Digital Literacies explore the emerging need to

locate, verify, and ultimately manage online information, especially in an age

where information is power and where having the right(and wrong) information

and the ability to communicate it with others and use it to address real-world

problems easily spell the difference between both personal and career success

and failure.

Ecoliteracy and Artistic and Creative Literacy explore the emerging

demands for knowing how to effectively and sustainably manage the

natural resources that our increased industrialization and demands for

productivity also brings with it an increased demand for arts and

aesthetics and to develop ways of effectively communicating through the

creative arts in industries dominated by objective data.

Finally, Critical Literacy addresses the increasing need to discern the

underlying (and often tacit) messages behind the new "texts” of the 21st

century, particularly in an ever-increasingly multicultural society where ideas,

cultures, and ideologies vie with one another for power and dominance in

the minds of the masses.

Enhance

One of the ways students can be trained in the new literacies is to engage

them in digital storytelling, wherein the students take part in the traditional

process of storytelling, but with some digital enhancements. They choose a

topic, conduct research, and write a script. develop a story, and through the

use of multimedia, create something that can be played online or on a

computer.

Digital Storytelling can be broken down into following six steps: 1. Writing-

Write about a particular story from your life. The story must have a

central theme.

2. Developing a Script-Develop a script that identifies the

important points of your story.

3. Creating a Storyboard-Create a storyboard that visually organizes the

flow of the story. Assign a particular image to portions of the script. 4.

Locating Multimedia -Use search engines to locate photos and videos.

Photos and videos from one's personal collection may also be used. 5.

Creating the Digital Story-Record the voice over for your movie Create

the movie using the software that is available to you.

6. Sharing and Uploading-Share your story in class and upload

Reflect

Wrap Up

● Traditional literacy is the ability to read and write.

● The traditional or conventional concept of literacy can be divided into

subcategories:

1. Basic Literacy, which is the ability to recognize letters and words;

the meaning of what is being read; and

3. Functional/Practical Literacy, which is the ability to read written

materials needed to perform everyday vocational tasks.

● Modern views of literacy equate it with knowledge.

● New literacies have risen due to increased reach, increased means of

communication, and increased breadth of content. These new literacies

are globalization and multicultural literacy, social and financial literacy,

media and cyber/digital literacy, ecoliteracy, artistic and creative

literacy, and critical literacy.

Evaluate

Read the questions and instructions carefully. Write your answers

in Another sheet of paper.

1. Compare and contrast the traditional concept of literacy to the modern

view of literacy.

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2. Describe the changes in the 21st century that have led to the rise of new

literacies.

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3. What teaching strategies and forms of assessment could you use to

help develop functional literacy?

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Activity 1

1. Lesson Planning: Prepare and deliver a lesson that incorporates some

of the new literacies.