What Literacy is to Me ...

To me, the term literacy means to be able to read and write in a given language, but also to thoroughly understand the information. I strongly associate the term literacy with education, not only education from a school, but from all areas of life. I also think it has to do with being able to understand other individuals. When I think of the term literacy, I mostly remember what it means to be "illiterate". Since I was young, I have always known that being labeled or called illiterate was a very negative thing. I remember watching a movie where a little girl was learning to read and her mother kept getting upset at her when she could not understand the words. Her mom kept asking her if she wanted to be illiterate? She would say, "Do you want to be illiterate? Stupid? Dumb?" The little girl looked hurt and confused, and after watching it I was determined never to become illiterate. An issue that also comes to mind when thinking of the word "literacy" is the idea of declaring English the official language of the United States. A lot of minority groups are scared of such a notion because their literacy in English is not sufficient enough to deal with such a change. For some, reading government forms that are printed in only English would be a hard task and might place them lower on the hierarchy of social classes. Literacy in our country is the foundation of everyday life and strongly determines what kind of life an individual may live.

When I become a high school English teacher I intend to educate my students in the area of comprehension and critical writing. I want them to know how to really grasp what an author is relaying in his or her work and I also want to be able to promote writing in a way that indulges a wide audience. By the time my students are in high school they should already have basic literacy skills, meaning that they should be able to read and write sufficiently, so from there I would like to offer techniques to encourage critical reading and writing. I would also like to promote the cultural aspect of literacy because it seems to get lost in the high school years. When I was in high school I do not remember being educated about my culture, heritage or community, at all. I believe that the basic meaning of literacy is being able to read and write, but there are so many other forms of literacy, such as cultural literacy, that are commonly overlooked. My high school students will be given a chance to broaden their horizons and tackle areas of literacy that are hidden away. For example, I would like all of my students to write a short autobiography of their lives from a cultural standpoint. It should include a lot of ideas and information about their heritage and how it has shaped their lives. I had a similar assignment when I was a freshmen in college and it opened my eyes to a whole new world of literacy.

Literacy stretches far beyond the ability to read and write, but the foundation of literacy begins with the ability to do both. I hope along my educational path that I can develop smart and interesting ways to teach literacy to the youth of today. I am also still learning, so I look forward to the journey.