Before I start with the quote that spoke to me in the reading assignment I must first acknowledge two influential and insightful professors that challenged me to reflect on my philosophies by encouraging me to read authors like Paulo Freire, Carol Dweck, Herb Kohl, Neil Postman, and many more... some of which I had already read. As with any reflection more questions arise than answers and the need to dig deeper fueled my curiosity, so I researched more about Karl Marx, Kant (Critique of Pure Reason... warning very deep subject), and countless articles from ED Week that explored the ideas and precepts of that seek to answer this question... Who or What is the driving force behind defining the criteria of Education? The many different resources I have read and explored all seem to center around intrinsic value as it relates to quality of life, but that only presents another question... What is the definition of quality of life? I only bring this up because in previous posts I have talked about the societal definition of success... and even that definition changes as society changes and varies greatly from cultural group to cultural group. I was also reminded a great deal of words Frederick Douglass spoke about the connections he made between literacy and slavery in his Learning to Read and Write..."I
would
at
times
feel
that
learning
to
read
had
been
a
curse
rather
than
a
blessing
It
had
given
me
a view
of
my
wretched
condition,
without
the
remedy." These thoughts and others led me back to those ideals and the criteria for the definition of functional literacy, which seems to be ever changing... and so even in these modern times of the "information age" (which always seems ironic when you say that aloud because think about how the printing press revolutionized information... right?) where so much information can be accessed from many different sources... a thought that fueled Neil Postman's book The End of Education (a pdf link I highly recommend reading this short book and if Nothing else at read the preface).
I, like Douglass, do not know if some of my prior readings are a blessing or a curse when it comes to reflecting on this week's assignment. It seems very well to me to hit the high spots cast a small light into some of the darkness, but that in and of itself also seems undo-able. I seemed plagued on where to start for fear of not being able to answer questions that arise in the reader, so I can clarify my views... but I also find that the great educational theorists in my head (Piaget, Vygotsky, Erickson, Montessori, Gardner,...) want their say as well and while they reconcile on some points they differ on others leading to even greater disparity for me Not being there to answer questions. After reading the Pedagogy of the Oppressed (goodreads link) and the above mentioned books and articles I have settled in on this definition for functional vs authentic, but reserve the right to change or alter my understanding without prior notification... Functional Literacy is defined by a set of standards that a cultural group collectively agree upon as the minimum necessary to be a productive member of the cultural group. In this definition the term cultural group term is used synonymous with local, county, state, or federal government or a social / cultural group. For me that is to say... the group imposes their standards on the individual. Authentic Literacy is internalized by the individual for its intrinsic value, which leads to unlimited potential and possibilities regardless of the power structure of the cultural group. The definition for cultural group remains the same as aforementioned. There are several examples throughout recorded history that truly illustrate authentic literacy and the best one that comes to mind is William Shakespeare because he went far beyond the conventions or standards of the time and created over 1700 new words, which I'll bet was quite a problem for some of his English teachers.... I can hear them now... red ink smeared across the page (its likely they didn't use red ink, but I'm telling the story) words circled for usage... "you can't use verbs like nouns"... "that's Not a word" ..."stop writing like that, you are ruining the purity of our language" .... which sounds like nothing you would hear today... am I right??? Another great example would be Joseph Stalin... that's right the cruel communist leader of the USSR from the mid 1920's to 1952, Not that I agree with with his leadership, but... my point is... that in his "five-year" plans he mandated functional literacy necessary for industrialization, which in my opinion ultimately led to authentic literacy and the end of the concept "Socialism in one Country," he started. Even Frederick Douglass, pointed this out from the words his master Hugh had warned... "only discontentment will come from that boy learning to read." (I agree that there is much more to be debated about this). I'm just trying to circle back and say... the difference likely lies in the understanding of learning how to learn versus learning how to think... both have value, but only one is invaluable. and still so much more to say about the whole topic...
Now for the quote..."Something is good to the extent that it performs its function well. The Greeks extended this view to the ideal of living the Good Life."(Chapter 1, pg 17) This quote to me epitomizes the the underlying ideology society places in its constructs and definitions of success, which leads me back to what I have said previously about unimportant jobs and happiness.... the goal I have for every student that crosses my path is for them to fully understand that they are only limited by themselves and their choices... understanding that when they walk out my classroom door and choose a job or career path that is Not the only choice they have, but one of many choices they will make over their lifetime. The second quote follows that same ideology... "By literacy "plus" I mean, then, that the process of making people literate is also, and inevitably, a process of communicating values, assumptions, habits, traditions, practices, etc..., whether this is recognized or not."(Chapter 2, pg 23), which further illustrates the point Freire and others are trying to make when it comes to centralized educational standards... they oppress more than they liberate or at least have that potential in that what values that are communicated to the social group are the values the power group wants communicated. I know this may sound a little radical from the points I'm offering, which was a concern I presented because there is so much more to be nuanced and debated that cannot happen in a single blog post. Consider this proposition... in this election year we will be electing a new president... the candidates are soliciting votes by campaigning to be the respective party nominee... and all are espousing what makes them the best candidate... and we all have our values and ideas about who would be the best person for that position... Reflect then on these questions... How did you get your ideals or beliefs that you use to make this type of judgment? Why do you find yourself aligning with the view of that candidate? Rogerian theory then asks us to strip away everything we know to be true about our views and truly consider the tenets of the other view... something that is nearly impossible and requires great courage because you will be forever changed.. are your values and beliefs wholly your own? Now define Functional vs Authentic Literacy...
Lankshear, Colin, and Michele Knobel. Literacies: Social, cultural and historical perspectives. Peter Lang, 2011.
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