"...those working from a new literacy studies perspective have come to appreciate the radically plural and discursive character of literacy. Literacies are many, not singular"
This whole Masters program has focused on the various types of literacy and I am happy that I feel like I cover a variety of literacy with my students!
"... develop knowledge, skills, attitudes and values which will enable students to participate as active and informed citizens in our democratic Australian society within an international context."
Citizenship does need to move to the forefront. It is important for society and young people do not seem to understand the benefit (at least to them) of being a good citizen. Australia also believes it is important and has made it a priority in schools.
"The need in New Times to rethink citizenship radically- that is, from the roots- is nowhere more apparent that with regard to the themes of diversity, the new complexity of personal and group identities, and the need to constitute citizenry accepting of and comfortable with difference."
Last semester, I had two transgender students in my class! They were not really friends as one of them was a freshman and the other a senior but they did clearly share a common goal of requesting accommodations. They asked all their teachers to refer to them as opposite their physical gender and to use a gender neutral bathroom.
At times it was difficult for me. For example, should I expect classmates to call them the opposite gender when they grew up with the student as the other gender? I accidentally said the wrong gender a few times.
In the end, I really liked both the students. They were respectful, talented and the even their flaws made them lovable kids- it is hard (and always temporary) for me to dislike a student :)
"Since the mid 1980s "empowerment" has become an educational buzz word par excellence. Unfortunately, it runs the risk at present of becoming trivialized and losing it's semantic integrity and persuasive force as a result of unreflective overuse."
I just talked about this in my last post! Telling the students how their work 'empowers' them is old news so I've been working on rephrasing it (see previous blog post).
Macy, I like that you chose the quote identifying literacies as many things Not singular, especially in the new tech age. I find that the when experienced learners help or mentor new learners into the that multiple literacy understanding that the new learners are empowered and empowered learners become the new mentors. To me, the goal of education is modeling the intrinsic value of lifelong learning, because then those learners want to share and mentor new learners.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, there are many literacies, social as well. I think you have a great advantage in your job being able to deal with so many different aspects of technology and the social literacies that are a part of that. The story about your transgender students is interesting, too. They have a knowledge and understanding of the whole LGBTQ community that many, if not most, people don't have, and therefore a literacy that many of us don't understand. As teachers, we definitely have access to learning about many situations, communities and cultures that most people don't have, something I appreciate about this job.
ReplyDeletePointing out how other cultures handle similar situations I think is key to seeing how we could potentially handle situations ourselves. To see if there is a better way than what we are currently doing. The transgender issue has also become a big topic at FSU with the new addition of a gender neutral bathroom. Finding ways to accommodate students and empower them is part of the learning process because they have an easier time learning in an environment they are comfortable with.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you talk about finding better ways to communicate the possibilities of empowerment to your students. Providing specific, relevant feedback/examples is so much better than just glossing over it. I've found the more specific I am when dealing with students individually, the better the response from them.
ReplyDeleteI like the quote about literacies being many, not singular. It sort of reminds me of my blog post for the last section about all people being literate in different ways.
ReplyDelete