Wednesday, June 11, 2008

...but what about Illiteracy?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/31/health/31cons.html
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/355/4/339
I know that we have been talking a great deal about "literacies" and what the definition might be. We have certainly expanded out the idea of what being literate and ways of literacies mean. But, perhaps we are overlooking some real meat and potato matters of what it means to be functionally literate. What does it mean in our culture (the Big, Broad American definition of culture) to not be able to read? This is real. Some students will arrive in our 10th grade bio class not being able to read. What do we do? How do we pick them up after all that? Fine, so they can't read the latest Nature article on GABA receptors. They might be fine without that knowledge. I could accept that but, what I find unacceptable is that according to the articles above, illiteracy can actually SHORTEN their lives. What about the social practices of literacy that help us be happy, HEALTHY adults?

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