Course Code: PrEd131
Course Title: Building and Enhancing New Literacies Across the Curriculum
Chapter 1: Introduction to 21st Century Literacies
Objectives
1. define conventional literacy; and
2. explain views of literacy in the 21st century.
Literacy
Literacy is defined by dictionaries as the state of being able to read and write
(Literacy, Literate, n.d.). Although it is ultimate thesis of this chapter that such a traditional
definition no longer suffices in the information age, a thorough understanding of literacy and
its past nuances will give us a solid foundation in exploring and discussing “new” literacies of
the 21st century and why possessing them is now mandatory for both teachers and students
in the levels of education.
Traditional or Conventional Literacy
The word “literacy” stems from the word “literate,” which first appeared in the 15 th
century and is in turn derived from the Latin word litteratus, meaning “(a person) marked with
letters”- that is, “distinguished or identified by letters”- and is carried with it the idea that such
a person was cultured and educated.
Three Categories of Conventional Literacy (Miller, 1973)
1. Basic literacy- It is the ability to correspond visual shapes to spoken sounds in order
to decode written materials and translate them into oral language.
2. Comprehension literacy- It is the ability to understand the meaning of what is being
read.
3. Functional or Practical literacy- It is the ability to read written materials needed to
perform everyday vocational tasks.
Based on this conventional view of literacy, we notice two things for reading to exist:
1) a text, consisting of symbols and grammar to be read; and 2) a meaning or message
being communicated by the text for the reader to extract.
It should be therefore being noted that even in Miller’s definition of literacy the act of
reading implies a level of understanding. Simply knowing how to say a word (or a series of
words) is not the same as being able to understand what it means. Without understanding of
the meaning of the words, reading has not taken place. Based on this, Schlechty (2001)
defines the concept of functional literacy as the state of being able to read, but not well
enough to manage daily living and employment tasks that require reading skills beyond a
basic level.
Expanded Views of Literacy
Roberts (1995) notes that “in the past fifty years, hundreds of definitions of literacy
have been advanced by scholars, adult literacy workers, and programmed planners,” with
even the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 2006)
acknowledging that literacy as a concept has proven to be complex and dynamic, it being
continually defined and interpreted in multiple ways.
In 2004, UNESCO formally defined literacy as “the ability to identify, understand,
interpret, create, communicate, and compute, using printed and written materials associated
with varying contexts. It 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.”
Note that “reading” does not appear in UNESCO’s definition of literacy. Instead
literacy has taken on a definition more akin to “knowing about something and what to do with
it.”
Mkandawire (2018) literacy “is a form of knowledge, competence and skills in a
particular field or area,” being supported by UNESCO (2006), Barton (2007), and
Mkandawire, Simooya- Mudenda, & Cheelo (2017), which acknowledge that- as we have just
pointed out- modern views appear to equate with knowledge.
Literacy in the 21st Century
Information Age. The new literacies begin to make sense as they are the “skills and
bodies of knowledge” that are necessary for survival and productivity in the information age.
It is not “new” as in the sense that they never existed before. Rather we consider them to be
new because the contexts in which the old skills and knowledge are being employed are
new, both nature and scope.
Victorian Era. There was such thing as the “Language of Flowers,” where the kind,
color, and arrangement of a bouquet of flowers were used to communicate messages that
could not otherwise be spoken aloud in the society (Greenaway, 1884). Visual languages
required a kind of visual literacy to understand the message being presented and to manage
the information encoded.
Richardson, 2014 the “new” literacies arose from the increasing availability of
communication technologies that were once unavailable to the average individual.
Technologies like blogging and vlogging, social networking, and even text- messaging
change and expand both the extent and the form of our communication- blending text, sound
and images in ways unforeseen and unprecedented.
Three Critical Things in the Rise of New Literacies
1. Increased reached- We are communicating with more people, from more diverse
cultures, across vaster distances than ever before.
2. Increased means of communication- We are communicating in more ways and at
faster speeds than ever before.
3. Increased the breadth of content- We are communicating about more things than
ever before.
PrEd131
Chapter 2: Globalization and Cultural and Multicultural Literacies
What is Globalization?
It is a process of interaction and integration between people, business entities, governments,
and cultures from other nations, driven by international trade and investment and supported by
information technology (Levin Institute, 2017).
The Effects of Globalization
The effects of globalization are multi- dimensional ranges from economic to cultural, on both
national and individual levels. Meyer (2000) summarizes the effects of globalization as follows:
1. Economic, political, and military dependence and interdependence between nations.
2. Expanded flow of individual people among societies.
3. Interdependence of expressive culture among nations.
4. Expanded flow of instrumental culture around the world.
Economic dependence/ interdependence
Globalization entered the Philippine public mindset in the early 90's, it was popularly understood
to be a mainly economic phenomenon, at a negative one at that. It brings has brought economic
development to our society as a whole. The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), new technologies,
employment opportunities, and money have come into the country.
Kentor (2001) notes that foreign capital dependence increases income inequality in four ways:
1. It creates a small, highly paid class of elites to manage these investments, who create many
but usually low- pay jobs.
2. Profits from these investments are repatriated, rather than invested in the country, therefore
inhibiting domestic capital information.
3. Foreign capital penetration tends to concentrate land ownership among the very rich.
4. Host countries tend to create political and economic climates favorable to foreign capital that
in turn limit domestic labor's ability to obtain better wages.
Hout (1980) observes that international dependence tends to suppress adult wages, which in
turn perpetuates the role of a children as economic necessities, leading to explosive population
growth.
Political and Military Dependence/ Interdependence
A survey is conducted in late 2018 found that three in five Filipinos believe that United States
would intervene on behalf of the country in case of war (Viray, 2018). Despite the current very
conservative stance of the US on the foreign policies, this can be taken as evidence of the Philippines’
dependent on both political and military power of the US in order to maintain sovereignty as a nation-
state in the Southeast Asia region.
Expanded flow of Expressive and Instrumental Culture
Expressive culture deals with how a particular culture expresses itself in its language, music,
arts, and the like. Globalization encourages the monetization of these cultural artifacts and their
export/ import among participating cultures; increased consumption of which changes the
consuming culture.
Instrumental culture, refers to “common models of social order” (Meyer, 2000)- that is models
or ways of thinking about and enacting national identity, nation- state policies both domestic and
foreign, socio- economic development, human rights, education and social progress.
Expanded Flow of People among Societies
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) estimates there were 2. 3 million Overseas Filipino
Workers (OFWs) during the period of April to September 2017, who were responsible for up to 205. 2
billion pesos in remittances (Philippine Statistics Authority, 2018)
Meyer (2000) observes three reasons for this: socio- economic migration, political expulsion,
and travel/ tourism.
Socio- economic migration explains the Philippines OFW phenomenon. Filipinos travel abroad
to find better economic opportunities for themselves and their families for lack of said opportunities.
Political expulsion has more to do with trying to escape the political climate of a particular
country, thereby forcing an individual to seek asylum and ultimately resettlement in another more
favorable country.
Travel for the sake of leisure is a strong indicator of economic development as more and
more Filipinos are able to finance short- term travels abroad, fueled by curiosity that is fed by social
media and enabled by globalization.
Cultural Literacy
It is a term coined by Hirsch (1983), referring to the ability to understand the signs and
symbols of a given culture and being able to participate in its activities and customs as opposed to
simply being a passive observer. The signs and symbols of a culture include both its formal and
informal languages, its idioms and forms of expression, entertainment, values, customs, roles,
traditions, and the like.
It is a culture- specific, bit is not limited to national cultures, contrary to what many people
assume. The culture of a workplace can be very different from another, just as the culture of a
particular school can differ widely from another school nearby.
Cultural Literacy in the Philippines
The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCAA) is the government body tasked
with the documentation, preservation, and dissemination of Philippine culture, both locally and
abroad.
NCCA is addressing this and related matters is through the establishment of the Philippine
Culture Education Program (PCEP), which "envisions a nation of culturally literate and empowered
Filipinos" (NCCA, 2015).
Cultural education accessible to all sectors of Philippine society, the PCEP held national
consultative meetings, conferences, workshops, art camps, and festivals on culture- based teaching
and good governance from 2003 to 2007.
Republic Act 10066 (2010), PCEP has been designated as the body, together with the
Department of Education (DepEd), tasked to "formulate the cultural heritage education programs both
for local and overseas Filipinos" that are to be an integral part of Philippine education in all aspects.
Cultural education- and thus- cultural literacy in the Philippines is quite a challenge, given that
Philippine culture is a complex blend of many indigenous and colonial cultures and varies widely
across regions, and the average citizen is almost ignorant of other Philippine cultures as foreigners
are.
De Leon (2011), argues that this is in part due to a colonial mindset among Filipino artists that
inhibits the full development and realization of Filipino artistic creativity- a kind of artistic and cultural
creativity that is fully Filipino.
Challenges for Cultural Literacy in the Philippines
As Applebee (1987) observes, interesting discussions on cultural literacy give rise to some very
difficult questions which are particularly important to a multicultural and multilingual nation like
Philippines
1. What kinds of knowledge constitute cultural literacy? Is it knowing facts, names, and debates, or is
it something more experiential like being familiar with a story or a particular song?
2. If culture is more "caught than taught," should cultural literacy be one of the goals of education? If
yes, how does one teach it?
3. Whose cultures must we be literate in to be considered "culturally literate"? Who decides which
cultures are included and which one are excluded and on what bases?
4. Is cultural literacy education simply a means for the dominant culture to express its dominance
over minority cultures?
5. How is cultural literacy to be assessed and evaluated? How can you know someone is "culturally
literate"?
Multicultural Literacy
Multicultural literacy as a set of skills and knowledge is difficult to define because of how it
changes depending on the context in which it is discussed.
In America, it has very strong leanings toward knowing or identifying the poly- ethnic origins of
knowledge with the express goals of fostering equality, diversity, and social justice.
In Europe, multicultural literacy comes more in the form of intercultural communication (ICC),
which is defined by Dusi, Messeti, and Steinbach (2014) as a composite of skills, abilities, attitudes,
personality patterns, etc. necessary for clear and productive communication with cultures other than
our own.
Fantini (2006) defines it as "complex of abilities needed to perform effectively and
appropriately when interacting with others who are linguistically and culturally different from oneself."
We define multicultural literacy here as the knowledge and skills necessary to ensure that any
communication with a culture different from our own is clear, productive, and respectful such that
their differences are celebrated and neither culture is demeaned or treated as inferior.
It is important to realize that under this definition, a "different culture" is not just limited to
"someone from another country" but could also include someone whose gender, economic
background, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or even sense of fashion is different from our own.
True multicultural literacy consists of perspectives, attitudes, and beliefs about other cultures
that affect the manner in which we communicate and the motives behind our communication. Here
are some:
1. Be selfless- An attitude of selflessness- one that is less concerned with how I feel and more
concerned with how I am making others feel- is crucial to multicultural literacy, as so much of the
offense and conflict associated with the meeting of different cultures is the result of a "me first"
attitude.
2. Know that good and useful things can (and do) come from those different from us- Hand- in- hand
with a dismissive attitude toward another culture is the idea that nothing good can come from them.
3. Be willing to compromise- Any significant interaction with someone from a different culture is
governed by the principle of "He/she want something, and I want something."
4. Accept that there are limits- At some point however, one or both cultures will be unwillingly/ unable
to adjust their wants for the sake of the other any further.
Issues in Teaching and Learning Multicultural Literacy in the Philippines
A number of important issues stand in the way of Philippine educators attempting to learn
multicultural literacy for themselves and teach in turn to others, which are different from what can be
found in Western literature, particularly in United States.
1. Conflicting requirements for peace. The heart of multicultural literacy is peace among different
cultures- that is, productive and non- violent interaction. It is easy to assume that all cultures value
peace to the same degrees and ate therefore willing to make some compromises in order to attain it,
but this is not necessarily true
2. Nationalistic and regionalistic pushback. The increasing demand for multicultural sensitivity,
inclusion, and diversion in the recent years has also given rise to resistance from groups who believe
that their identity is being "watered- down" by the needed compromise.
3. The persistence of the problem. Multicultural literacy might seem to just be a matter of "good
common sense," and understandably so, no one actively desires to experience discrimination
regarding what they know and what they can and cannot do simply on the basis of race, ethnicity, or
in the case of the Philippines, region or origin.
4. The question of value.
A majority of research on multicultural literacy stems from West, specifically the United
States, and focuses on teaching teachers to be more multicultural in their pedagogies.
1. Learn about other cultures.
2. Familiarize yourself with how discrimination and prejudice appear in your own culture.
3. As you are, so will you behave.
4. Model more, tell more.
