A Literacy Lesson

At the recent Open House, all faculty spoke about literacy in their classrooms, perhaps referring to a notion of literacy as the ability to read and write in all content areas. They provided an overview of the curriculum but spoke more about strategies for learning and assessing each student. The faculty was essentially talking about moving away from the 20th century factory model of learning as the transfer of knowledge to the 21st century notion of literacy as inquiry, constructing knowledge (actively making sense rather than passively receiving knowledge), and even co-constructing knowledge (collaborating, discussing with peers to arrive at an understanding.

Literacy in this century is more than the ability to read words or write as the means of expression. Literacy is — listening to and reading, speaking, and writing about — the world.

• According to the National Council of Teachers of English, 21st readers and writers need to —
• Gain proficiency with tools of technology
• Develop relationships with others and confront and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally
• Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes
• Manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information
• Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia texts Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environment

If you juxtapose the Mid-Pacific Learner Profile and the NCTE view of literacy, you can see how our Learner Profile echoes similar expectations (the faculty also referred to the Learner Profile at the Open House). Today digital technology, access to multiple platforms and sources of information, including AI, are the tools and resources available. In developmentally appropriate ways and from as early as kindergarten, the classroom teacher must show students how to become proficient users and consumers of technology, help students manage, critique, and analyze the millions of bits of information streaming continuously on their devices, and use resources ethically and responsibly. These are some of the most important reasons 20th century teaching approaches are inadequate for preparing our students to be world-ready. We are discovering that itʻs not the answers that count because the Internet, Google, and AI readily retrieve the answers quickly. Instead, we are understanding that questions and learning processes that can be applied to new situations are the engine for learning. Itʻs the literacy for today and the future.

E Kūlia Kākou! Let’s strive and aspire together!

For our children,

Edna L. Hussey, Ed.D.
Principal