Tuesday, September 25, 2007
literacy
What is the most important aspect of literacy? I would say adaptability. A literate person should be able apply past knowledge to new situations. Identifying problems, forming hypotheses, testing theories and drawing conclusions are all critical thinking skills that apply to literacy. This can also be described as the goal of a good liberal arts education-to create well rounded individuals capable of applying their knowledge to new pursuits in an ever changing world. The ability to deeply comprehend a complicated poem, play or novel should also give the reader insight into the very processes they will need to use when analyzing a political speech, reflecting on a relationship, etc. This also works the other way: if someone is capable of understanding their own ability to have successful (or unsuccessful) relationships or capable of reading the true meaning of a politicians actions (these are just two very specific examples-there are, of course, innumerable others), then they should be able to transfer this knowledge into the analysis of literature or the analysis of any preconceived system of meaning.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I really like your idea of adaptability, Ayron, and it isn't something I would have thought of before. I think you're absolutely right, there's a lot of flexibility required in thinking and literacy practices today, and it isn't the most obvious thing either.
After reading the other posts, I was agreeing with the common theme of comprhension, but after reading what you had to say, I agree with you. Adapting to your environment is essential to survival, and through reading and literacy, new knowledge can be adapted and applied to what we need in order to accomplish the goal at hand.
I definitely agree with you. Without adaptability we would be taking everything we read at face value. If you can't adapt to new situations using previously learned information than there is no way you can advance yourself.
Post a Comment