Defining Literacy

Before I start to analyze my literacy memory through The Four Resources Model, I thought I would begin by defining literacy. Many definitions of literacy exist as “the way in which literacy is defined changes over time” (Bull and Anstey, 2005, p.33). However, as a pre service teacher the definition that means a lot to me is “we can think of literacy not merely as a set of skills, but as a way of operating with a variety of text within particular sets of social situations… Literacy practices are embedded in the practices of our everyday lives… There are school literacies, computer literacies, out of school literacies, social literacies and so on that are characterized by a wide range of written, spoken, aural, visual and multimodal texts” (Santoro, 2004, p.52).

Like The Los Angeles Times Winch, Johnston, March and Holiday (2004) understand that competence in literacy is essential if an individual is to participate fully in society. Nonetheless, “traditionally, departments or ministries of education describe literacy in syllabus and curriculum documents as listening, speaking, reading and writing” therefore “recently there has been a movement towards collapsing listening and speaking into a single category, talk, and adding critical thinking, viewing and non-verbal communication” (Bull and Anstey, 2004, p.33).

Critical like the word literacy can be complicated to define. Nevertheless, when you combine these two words together you have “a teaching philosophy which offers readers a way of reading texts which can empower and contribute to both an understanding of the self and the world” (Winch, 2007, p.49). However, this term “continues to be a concept which is widely, misused, mis-applied and misunderstood” (Winch, 2007, p.49). This is why teachers need to have broad understanding of literacy and the contemporary models of language development.

Nonetheless, there is a need to recognize that “teachers don’t merely deliver the curriculum. They develop it, define it and interpret it too. It is what teachers think, what teachers believe and what teachers do at the level of the classroom that ultimately shapes the kind of learning that young people get” ( Hargeaves, 1994, p.5). Thus, reinforcing how crucial it is for teachers to have broad understanding of literacy and the contemporary models of language development, as well as illustrating the importance of pedagogy.