A Synthesis of Current Literacy Theories - Essay Example

A Synthesis of Current Literacy Theories The term literacy is arguably one of the most debatable concepts in the recent times. Indeed, there has never been a mutual or universal understanding of the literacy concept. More so, the recent technological and communications advancements, industrial growth, political and social evolutions, globalization, and economic growth only make the understanding of the literacy concept more complex (United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe, 2012). As a result, many scholars have different views on the concept of literacy, which leaves the common person more confused. Indeed, although the term ‘literacy’ is seemingly easier to understand by everybody, it has unfortunately proved to be complex and dynamic concept to interpret or even define. As such, we have many educational theorists, scholars, and newspaper editors defining the concept literacy. In the ancient times, literacy only referred to the ability of a person to read and write at an adequate level of proficiency that would enable them to communicate with others (TakingITGlobal, 2012). However, in the recent times, there is no mutually satisfactory measure of what adequate literacy means. As such, this paper will refer to various scholarly sources in addressing the various theories of literature, the issues that relate to literacy, and an analysis of literacy. Additionally, the paper will elaborate, synthesise, and analyse various perspectives on literacy. Furthermore, the paper will discuss the implications of the application of these perspectives to learning in vocational education and training centres. More so, the paper will analyse the various ways that teachers and trainers can apply the concept of literacy to learning in vocational education and training. Some scholars refer to literacy, as the quality or state of being literate or simply being able to read and write. On the other hand, others associate literacy with creative writing or just having knowledge or competence. Moreover, other educational theorists introduce the aspect of visual literacy in understanding the concept of literacy. As such, they relate visual literacy to the ability to recognize and understand ideas conveyed through visible actions or images. However, according to the National Institute for Literacy, The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 defines literacy as “an individual's ability to read, write, speak in English, compute, and solve problems at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job, in the family of the individual and in society” (Valenzuela,2002). Additionally, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization thinks there is more to literacy than just being a set of technical skills of reading, writing, and calculating (United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe, 2012). We may need to consider the factors that influence the multiple understandings of this concept. Notably, academic research, institutional agendas, national context, cultural values, and personal experiences influence individuals understanding on the concept of literacy. Indeed, there are four discrete understandings of literacy that include literacy as an autonomous set of skills, literacy as text, literacy as a learning process, and literacy as applied, practised and situated (Education for All Global Monitoring Report, 2006).The four understandings significantly incorporate almost all theoretical understandings of literacy. However, the most common understanding of literacy is as a set of cognitive skills that involve reading, writing, and oral skills. However, it is worth noting that despite the multiple definition of literacy, the literacy levels vary between the developed and developing nations. Indeed, the rate of literacy in the developed nations is much higher than in the developing nations. Nevertheless, there is a worldwide mission to eradicate illiteracy in the world. It is also clear that there are different forms of literacy that may include technological literacy, financial literacy, science literacy, numerical literacy, environmental literacy, information literacy among others. Most importantly is the fact that the variant forms of literacy apply uniquely in our workplaces, in the community, and in our institutions of learning. In addition, various literacy perspectives, issues, and theories help in understanding the concept of literacy and its applications. There are various theories that apply in this context for purposes of exploring literacy and its application to learning in vocational education and training. Sociocultural, constructivist, practice theory, interactive, and reader response are the most common theories that apply in literacy (Fang & Wei, 2010). In the application to learning in vocational education and training, the teacher’s own literacy skills, communication skills, their knowhow on literacy and ability to transmit literacy to students are points to consider. Vocational education and training refers to the type of education that aims at equipping adults with competence, knowledge, and skills in order to become professionals or skilled artisans (Education International, 2009). Teachers and trainers use the concept of literacy in vocational education and training as applied in the literacy theories. From a practice theory perspective, literacy is complex and is more than just being able to follow procedures or knowing something. Indeed, it also entails procedural knowledge and the knowledge on how to do something (Lloyd, 2010). Actually, when we talk of a practice, we refer to an organized mechanism of doing human activities that result to acquisition of understanding and intelligence. Consequently, in the context of vocational education and training, students follow a set programme and practice the events frequently and consistently to gain the skills. However, this involves more than just following the procedures but also knowing how the entire process goes. Indeed, after gaining this knowhow, we can ascertain that they have the competence and intelligence that define literacy. As such, the teachers and trainers must themselves have the literacy, plan, teach, and encourage the students to follow set procedures and acquire the relevant knowledge relating to such procedures (O'Neill & Geoghegan, 2011). That way, they claim to impart literacy in vocational education and training. Moreover, the practice theory observes that knowledge is constructed and emanate from consistent practices and engaging with the relevant tools (Lloyd, 2010). Indeed, in vocational education and training the students must be consistent in their practice and interact with the tools. Actually, an artisan or any professional can only claim to be competent upon having all the skills and knowledge of operating the tools in their field of work. In addition, the process theory notes that in understanding a practice, one must equally understand the experiential nature of embodied performance that requires the skills to operate equipment used in the experiment. Hence, it is through passing procedural knowledge and skills to operate all tools that teachers and trainers claim to transmit literacy to the students. More so, the practice theory states that competent people should have the ability to contest information on a given process. Actually, the goal of vocational education and training is to prepare all round students that have all the information regarding a certain profession or practice. This seeks to ensure competence, which defines literacy. Indeed, literacy equally involves critical thinking to defend acquired knowledge. Most assuredly, practices come over time, place, and context as practice notes (Lloyd, 2010). Indeed, this is true since there are time limits, locations, and topics of study that relate to a give practice. This relates to vocational education and training that takes place in institutions of learning, within given years of study, and following a course outline. This process guarantees the passage of literacy from the teachers and trainers to the students. The other perspective that applies in the understanding of literacy is the sociocultural perspectives on literacy, which include various theories and put much emphasis on power relations. The socio-cultural theories include literacy as social practice, multi-literacies, and critical literacy. The sociocultural perspectives on literacy conceptualize literacy as an act rather than a skill or a capability. This aspect helps us to understand the reality of engaging with texts that subsequently enables teachers and trainers to give effective formal literacy instruction to the students (Kerry, 2012). This is quite significant in vocational education and training where passage of literacy is through instructions. As such, we can apply the sociocultural perspectives on literacy to understand the reality of trainees using real texts and consequently use that understanding to give formal literacy instructions to the trainees. In doing this, educators are certain to give only the relevant information to the trainees. Additionally, the sociocultural perspective on literacy takes literacy as a social practice. In this context, literacy can naturally apply in any situation and is ideal. This theory, suggests that either one has or does not have literacy or those with no literacy are therefore deficient. This applies in vocational education and training where educators should know that the students either have or do not have the necessary skills. Moreover, the theory observes that literacy practices are easier to understand when they exist between people than when they reside in properties. Indeed, trainees can easily understand literacy processes if the literacy is within fellow trainees or with their educators than when it resides in properties like machines. However, the theory of literacy as a social practice can equally describe the types of literacy that are relevant in a given area (Kerry, 2012). This is significant in enabling the educators in vocational education and training to analyse the type of literacy they will transmit to the students. On the other hand, critical theories of literacy focus on power, identity, empowerment, and agency. This relates to the need for students to dominate the reading and writing techniques with a conscious mind. This ensures that students retain the literacy passed to them by the educators. Indeed, the critical theories of literacy encourage students and educators to use graphs to enhance substantial understanding of the reference subjects. Another theoretical approach to the understanding of literacy is the reader response theories that focus on how students create meaning as they read. Indeed, it puts emphasis on the reader’s reaction to a piece of information rather than the author or the text itself. Actually, according to reader response theories learners seek to create their own meaning from what they read based on the wording and their experiences (Cooper, Kiger, & Robinson, 2011). Indeed, they do not figure out the meaning as they read. This theory is quite important to educators in vocational education and training. The educators should beware of the learner’s understanding trends. As such, they should ensure that the wordings are relevant to the study and that their experiences do not distort the actual meaning of a text. The theory reckons that there are various reading techniques and hence educators should ensure that students use the effective reading techniques to ensure passage of relevant literacy. Moreover, the theory establishes that literature only exists when read and is a performance. Hence, educators should encourage their learners to read of literacy to flow. Although this theory is not expansive, it serves an important purpose of fostering reading literacy and enables educators in vocational education and training to pass information (Poetry Foundation, 2013). Another theory that relates to literacy and applies in vocational education and training is the interactive theory. The interactive theory focuses on focus on what a person does while reading. Indeed, reading is a process that involves language, concentration, and techniques. Actually, we balance the aspects of the print with reading experience, culture, and prior knowledge to process a language during reading and while learning to read. However, it is quite true that reading without comprehending and establishing critical thinking on the subject at hand is irrelevant. In fact, decoding, vocabulary, and comprehension are measures of effective reading. As such, educators in vocational education and training should encourage and ensure that learners read and comprehend the reference texts. This is indeed fundamental in the passage of literacy. Most importantly, during the reading process, students interact with others. This interaction may involve reading, learning, and drawing critical thoughts in a given study. As such, educators in vocational education and training should be wary of the fact that most children will identify words on a page, read them, and draw their personal meaning. Hence, there is a possibility of drawing different meanings from the same text. Therefore, educators should equally enhance discussions to make sure that learners in the same class get the same meaning and hence effective passage of literacy. Conclusion In conclusion, I find that the recent technological and communications advancements, industrial growth, political and social evolutions, globalization, and economic growth have made the definition and understanding of the literacy concept very complex. As such, there lacks a universally accepted definition of the term literacy although there are various studies and scholars that seek to bring an understanding to the concept of literacy. More so, academic research, institutional agendas, national context, cultural values, and personal experiences influence individuals understanding on the concept of literacy. Ideally, there are various theories, perspectives, and four discrete understandings of literacy. Moreover, the concept of literacy is very applicable in vocational education and training. Furthermore, there are variant forms of literacy that apply uniquely in our workplaces, in the community, and in our institutions of learning. Summary Although the term ‘literacy’ is seems easy to understand by everybody, it has on the contrary proved to be a complex and dynamic concept to interpret or even define. Indeed, there are multiple definitions of the term literacy. However, according to the National Institute for Literacy, The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 defines literacy as “an individual's ability to read, write, speak in English, compute, and solve problems at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job, in the family of the individual and in society.” Synonymous is the fact that academic research, institutional agendas, national context, cultural values, and personal experiences influence individuals understanding on the concept of literacy. Additionally, there are four discrete understandings of literacy that include literacy as an autonomous set of skills, literacy as text, literacy as a learning process, and literacy as applied, practised and situated. More so, there are different theories that help in understanding literacy which include sociocultural, constructivist, practice theory, interactive, and reader response are the most common theories that apply in literacy. Furthermore, there are various forms of literacy. These may include technological literacy, financial literacy, visual literacy, science literacy, numerical literacy, environmental literacy, information literacy among others. Notably, teachers and trainers can apply the concept of literacy to learning in vocational education and training. Possible limitations in the applications of these perspectives Notably, there are various limitations to the application of the discussed literacy perspectives. Some of the barriers that hinder information may include language barrier, cultural barriers, social structures, and the neutrality-advocacy dilemma (Lin, 2010). Indeed, where the educator and the learner hail from different cultures and talk different languages then it becomes challenging to pass literacy. Moreover, the many assumptions that relate to the literacy theories may not necessarily apply universally to all learners. At the same time, people have different capabilities and personalities. As such, the assumption that the learners have the same level of absorbing literacy and that the perspectives will apply in the same manner to all is not generally true. In addition, where the educators lack the necessary communication skills and the relevant literacy, then the learners cannot receive effective literacy in vocational education and training. References Cooper, D., Kiger, N., & Robinson, M. (2011). Literacy: Helping Students Construct Meaning. London: Cengage Learning. Education for All Global Monitoring Report (2006). Understandings of literacy. Retrieved from: http://www.unesco.org/education/GMR2006/full/chapt6_eng.pdf Education International (2009). Vocational Education and Training. Retrieved from: http://download.eiie.org/Docs/WebDepot/091213_VET_Literature_EDITED%20AA.pdf Fang, Z., & Wei, Y. (2010). Improving middle school students' science literacy through reading infusion. The Journal of Educational Research, 103(4), 262-273. Lin, P. (2010). Information literacy barriers: Language use and social structure. Library Hi Tech, 28(4), 548-568. Lloyd, A. (2010). Framing information literacy as information practice: Site ontology and practice theory. Journal of Documentation, 66(2), 245-258. O'Neill, S., & Geoghegan, D. (2011). First year pre-service teachers' views about literacy: Exploring the breadth and depth of their pedagogical needs. International Journal of Pedagogies & Learning, 6(3), 187-205. Perry, K (2012). What is Literacy? – A Critical Overview of Sociocultural Perspectives. Retrieved from: http://jolle.coe.uga.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/What-is-Literacy_KPerry.pdf Poetry Foundation (2013). Reader-response theory. Retrieved from: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/learning/glossary-term/Reader-response%20theory TakingITGlobal (2012). Literacy Education. Retrieved from: http://issues.tigweb.org/literacy?gclid=CJnGwbv8j7YCFUfMtAodyiIA9w United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe (2012). The Evolving Definition of Literacy. Retrieved from: http://www.unric.org/en/literacy/27791-the-evolving-definition-of-literacy Valenzuela, J (2002). Definitions of Literacy. Retrieved from: http://www.unm.edu/~devalenz/handouts/literacy.html Read More