Literacy! Literacy! Literacy! What Does That Word ‘Literacy’ Even Mean?

Literacy is a hot buzzword at the moment. But, what exactly does this word mean? When I begin working with college students, I ask them what comes to mind when they hear the word ‘literacy.’ The most common responses are reading and writing – they have heard that literacy means reading and writing. While that is true, I want to expand on the definition of literacy.

There are many different views on what literacy is and what literacy means. One perspective is that literacy is a set of skills that are taught in schools and learned by students in order to read and write. The skills can include identifying the main idea and supporting details when reading a short passage, writing a short essay with details in each paragraph, or completing a generic vocabulary or spelling worksheet. If these skills are mastered, it is believed that the student will do well in school and be a successful reader and writer. I believe that this is a very common view of literacy that many people have heard.

I would like to offer another perspective on literacy though. Literacy is more than the reading and writing skills that I mentioned above. Rather, literacy is a way of taking meaning from a particular environment. This means that literacy can vary from one situation to another situation.

Let me explain what I mean – let’s take school – the one skill that may be necessary to be a successful reader in an elementary class is knowing how to read a passage and identify the main idea. Students are taught that skill so that they know how to locate the main idea when reading. They are also taught this skill for mandated tests. While this skill is necessary in school, it is not an essential literacy skill when driving on a highway. When driving, you need to read the road signs, know when you need to signal to change lanes, you read the road for what the other drivers are doing. You see that reading is required in both situations, but the skills needed for each environment are different. The COVID-19 pandemic caused many shifts in the literacy skills that suddenly became necessary in the classroom. A new literacy skill that prior to the pandemic was not prioritized in the classroom was understanding and utilizing the different functions of a virtual classroom. Prior to the pandemic, kids did not need to know how to navigate Google Classroom or Zoom – but that suddenly changed when schools were forced to transition online.

Literacy skills are highly dependent on the environment and context and are constantly shifting. When you look at literacy from this perspective, you see how it is social and so dependent on the context.

What have you heard or learned about literacy and what it means? Connect with me on Instagram and let me know your thoughts!