Real World Literacy

"Teacher: Let's get ready to sound these words out.

Child: m-a-n

Teacher: Say it quick.

Child: man."

Sound familiar? This is an example of schooled literacy, literacy that has been indoctrinated into our schools and that is, most unfortunately, terribly dull. It is this form of literacy that is being used to prepare students for the high-stakes testing that has become rampant across the nation. This example, provided by Rebecca Powell and Nancy Davidson in "The Donut House: Real World Literacy in an Urban Kindergarten Classroom," shows a removal of literacy from context which is often taught through repetitive exercises and workbooks. This is the type of literacy that is being taught to children as they first enter classrooms, when their minds are fresh and excited to learn. 

How has this method been working for teachers? For students? According to Powell and Davidson, frustrated teachers and restless, rebellious students are emerging as a result. Students are being given out-of-context words to read and write without good reason as to why they are even learning the material. They are asked to analyze nearly every piece of literature they are presented rather than shown how literacy can be used as form of communication. In other words, many students' first interactions with literacy are boring. No wonder so many are struggling! 

What if their first interactions with literacy were real-world situations that empowered students to solve real-world problems? Or if they were shown a thrilling reason to want to learn: that reading can inform, inspire, inquire, intrigue? Situated literacy can be a starting point for just that. By incorporating culturally relevant subject matter, an urban school teacher was able to create a literacy project that engaged her students, exposed them to many forms of literacy, and developed relationships between her students and the community. The class was learning how donuts were made as well as how to start a small business because of the donut shop located nearby the elementary school. The comprehensive project, "The Donut Shop," introduced students to baking, business, and building vocabulary, made connections with local bankers, potential "stockholders," and building inspectors, as well as instilled a sense of accomplishment in students as they worked together to create their "business". This example of real-world literacy provided students with so much more than the ability to pass a test. 

To explore real-world literacy in more depth, several classmates and I took a look at some of the literacy in our town. We decided to go to a roller skating rink to see how literacy manifested itself to children in their everyday experiences. Glowing lights, children of all ages, and an extremely reasonable entrance fee all set the stage for a great time roller skating, and the elderly owners were quite friendly, too. The cashier welcomed and directed visitors to the skate counter and where they might want to purchase food. Once inside, everything was easily navigable with signs showing where to receive ones skates, where the restrooms were, and where to grab a bite to eat. The only thing you had to know to do was to skate in the same direction as everyone else. After a game was played, the phrase "skate in the normal direction" indicated that it was time for things to go back to normal. The skating literacy was fairly basic as long as one listened to the DJ, who directed when games or normal skating was occurring, and watched in which direction everyone else was moving. 

Arcade games, "junk food" (hot dogs, pretzels, nachos), and at-your-own-risk signs provided the primary sources of written literacy. It seemed that the point of literacy was to either induce a profit or prevent the business from injury liability. Students who frequent skating rinks might show their interactions with this literacy by writing stories about the skate rink with pictures of the warning signs and food labels or may list their favorite arcade games. Because of the appeal of skating rinks to youth, the font and design of the rink's name was a graffiti style with the appearance of splattered paint in the background. Such an interesting style might also be observed in students' work as they try their hands at different fonts. 

The literacy of a roller skating rink was very different than that found in the business realm of the donut shop lesson. There were no stockholders, bankers, or building inspectors, but there was a DJ, a cashier, and the person who gives you your skates. Knowing what tunes to play and when, counting change and making small talk, and knowing whether or not the skate sizes run large or small all present unique forms of literacy for those working in a roller skating environment. Frequent skaters will catch on to these more hidden forms of literacy. Skating rink literacy, donut shop literacy, grocery store literacy. You name it. These are the everyday literacies that students may be bringing to the classroom, and these are the types of unique literacy that teachers will need to build upon. If we know what students are bringing with them from their own cultural experiences, we can use their interests and knowledge to excite students about literacy and help expand upon what they know. Shall we get started?