Curriculum as Literacy: Becoming Curricular

Literate Teachers

Questions for Reflection

● What is literacy?● Who is a literate person? ● How does one become a literate person? ● What does it mean to become a teacher who

is curriculum literate?

Objectives:

Identify the knowledge, dispositions and skills teachers need to become curriculum literate teachers.

“Reading to learn” or “Learning to read”

Papá ama a mamá

Mamá ama a papá

Mi papá ama a mi mamáReading to Learn:

mechanics of reading

70s – 80s: “Learning to read:” Psychology

• Reading as meaning making• Schema theory • Metacognition: “thinking about thinking”

It is not just about being good at teaching the skills, but it is about being thoughtful about teaching.

“Reading the world

always precedes

reading the word, and

reading the word

implies continually

reading the world”.

Paulo Freire

70s – 80s: “Learning to read:” Anthropology

Mid-80s: New Literacy Studies

Street’s Models of Understanding Literacy

IDEOLOGICAL• Set of practices/social act • Contextual• Rooted in a particular

world-view • Knowledge• Meaning: constructed, re-

constructed and contested • Is about power

BROADER CONCEPTION

AUTONOMOUS• Skill • Learnig how one’s writing

system works. • Reading/writing (coding/

decoding)• Comprehension • Technical, neutral and

universal• Individual act NARROWER CONCEPTION

70s – 80s: “Learning to read:” Anthropology

https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en#t-166863

Brian Street: Two models of literacyAutonomous: “the acquisition of literacy will in itself lead to, for example, higher cognitive skills, improved economic performance, [and] greater equality...” (Street, 2006, p. 37).

Ideological: literacy “is about knowledge: the ways in which people address reading and writing are themselves rooted in conceptions of knowledge, identity and being” (Street, 2006, p. 37).

Is the divide “reading to learn” and “learning to read” over?

While the great debate... was settled decades ago with truce-like logic supporting ‘blended approaches’.... the divide continues in education policy and practice and in the design of curriculum programs that are pitched to one side of the previous divide or the other” (Eakle, 2012, p. 74).

Yes and no!

2000’s“Back to the basics”• Achievement gap

across groups• Revival of the “reading

to learn” approach• Emphasis on the 3Rs:

Reading, writing and arithmetic.

Expansive notions of the reading text

• Digital formats

• Cinema

• Spaces

• Bob Dylan

2000’s: From literacy to literacies

“Back to the basics”• Achievement gap

across groups• Revival of the “reading

to learn” approach• Emphasis on the 3Rs:

Reading, writing and arithmetic.

Expansive notions of the reading text

• Digital formats

• Cinema

• Spaces

• Bob Dylan

From literacy to literacies...

● What kinds of literacy do you know of? ● How good are you in each one of them? How

do you know?

“Financial literacy

means having the knowledge, skills and confidence to make responsible financial

decisions.”knowledge of personal and broader financial mattersskills to apply that financial knowledge in everyday lifeconfidence of having the self-assurance to make important decisions, andresponsible financial decisions refers to the ability to use the knowledge, skills and confidence they have gained to make choices appropriate to their own circumstances (Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, 2014).

Social LiteracyA person who is socially and culturally literate possess the skills to simply recognize and accept the differences without making value judgments (Howitt et al., 2002). Social literacy is the development of social skills in a social setting, which helps people to communicate in a respectful manner, as well as becoming involved in a community.

Emotional Literacy...

“is the ability to recognize, understand and appropriately express our emotions. Just as verbal literacy is the basic building-block for reading and writing, emotional literacy is the basis for perceiving and communicating emotions. Becoming emotionally literate is learning the alphabet, grammar and vocabulary of our emotional lives”.

Physical Literacy

Health LiteracyHealth literacy - is the ability toaccess, comprehend, evaluate, and communicate information as a way to promote, maintain and improve health in a variety of settings across the life-course.

Map

Environmental literacy

Visual Literacy...

It is !

“Media Literacy Week highlights the importance of teaching children and teens digital and media literacy skills to ensure their interactions with media are

positive and enriching.” November 3-7, 2014

What counts as text?● Twitteracy? “A new literacy practice?”● If you don’t tweet, is it

due to your ill-twitteracy?