Literacy Changes Lives

Julia Taylor

Definition

“literacy is 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”

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Literacy levels are usually, but not always, related to levels of education and are important predictors of employment, active participation in the community and health status. They are also important predictors of the success of a nation (Health Canada 1999)

The impact of literacy

Cognitive Development

Brain development

The raw material of the brain is the nerve cell called the neuron.The process of fetal brain development is influenced by both genetics and the environment

Nature v Nurture

The impact of neglect

The CT scan shows an image from a healthy 3-year-old with an average head size compared to the image from a 3-year-old suffering from severe sensory-deprivation neglect. This child’s brain is significantly smaller than average and has abnormal development of cortex.

These images are from studies conducted by a team of researchers from the Child Trauma Academy (www.ChildTrauma.org) led by Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D.

The impact of neglect

Implications for policy and practice

Key life stage interventions

• Education at school –sex education, parent craft and life skills

• Pre and post natal education and support

• Family first approach to formal education

• Adult literacy and community initiatives

Literacy and Inequalities

The 3 dividesO Education

O Digital

OHealth

Digital - 88% of all internet users live in industrialized countries i.e. 15% of the world’s population (UNDP, 1999)4 out of 5 websites are in English –only 1 in 10 people on the planet speak English.

This divide is similar to the global health divide where 90% of global resources go to health in developed countries (WHO 1998)

The education divide is as daunting as those regarding the digital divide, and perhaps more so. There are an estimated 876 million illiterate adults in the world (~25% of the world's adult population), and the majority of them are women and girls.

The Digital, Health & Education Divide

Education Divide Government policy and fashionable teaching methods have resulted in unacceptable levels of functional literacy in the UK“So Why Can’t They Read” study commissioned by Boris Johnson 2010.

Current government policy has placed more emphasis on teaching and learning – schools rebelling against Standard Assessment Tests (SATs)

The development of self esteem is key to successful learning and personal, social and health skills are vital to the development of functional literacySEAL – Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning

• 1 in 4 adults have never used the internet

• 1/3rd of households don’t have access to the internet

• 49% without access in the lowest socio-economic groups

• 39% of people without access are over 65

• 70% of people who live in social housing aren’t on line

Source: Martha Lane Fox (Digital Inclusion Champion)

UK Digital Statistics

Mobile Phone Use75,750,000 mobile phones in the UK

61,612,300 Population in the UK

45% of internet users use a mobile phone

Source: The World Factbook

Opportunities for literacy development through intergenerational activities with children teaching mobile phone use whilst for example working on a local history or cultural project

Literacy challengesLiteracy Trust Research

• Mobile text messaging making children more

impulsive

• Children failing to read books

• Children as young as 7 are more likely to own a mobile phone than a book

• Letter writing ‘dying out’ among children

• Books in the home ‘boost children’s education’

Implications for practice

• Successful interventions ‘start where people are at’

• are set where people live their everyday lives

• acknowledge a wide variety of learning styles and

• use multiple approaches