Literacy

…the conception of literacy has moved beyond its simple notion as the set of technical skills of reading, writing and calculating – the so-called “three Rs” – to a plural notion encompassing the manifold meanings and dimensions of these undeniably vital competencies. Such a view, attending recent economic, political and social transformations, including globalization, and the advancement of information and communication technologies (ICTs), recognizes that there are many practices of literacy embedded in different cultural processes, personal circumstances and collective structures.

Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society.

Rather than seeing literacy as only a generic set of technical skills, it looks at the social dimensions of acquiring and applying literacy. It emphasizes that literacy is not uniform, but is instead culturally and linguistically and even temporally diverse. It is shaped by social as well as educational institutions: the family, community, workplace, religious establishments and the state.

People acquire and apply literacy for different purposes in different situations, all of which are shaped by culture, history, language, religion and socio-economic conditions.

…literacy is not uniform, but is instead culturally and linguistically and even temporally diverse. It is shaped by social as well as educational institutions: the family, community, workplace, religious establishments and the state.

..it takes both dominant and subordinate forms in every society. The dominant form is transmitted through official institutions such as schools, often to the neglect of other forms based on historical experiences and lived realities. Such institutional domination tends to legitimize existing social structures and therewith unequal power relations. In response, individuals and groups in subordinate positions may construct their own forms of literacy in their own language(s), articulating their own – officially unacknowledged – meanings, knowledge and identity.

The fact that there are various ways of acquiring and applying literacy in daily life – whether at home, in the classroom, in the workplace or elsewhere in the community – means that there is no single method or approach that is uniquely valid and that fits all circumstances. The many and diverse contexts of its acquisition and application demand programmes and materials that are separately and locally designed, not standardized and centrally planned.

…flexible approaches responsive to the individual circumstances and needs of the learner and the learning environment.

-The Plurality of Literacy and its Implications for Policies and Programs: Position Paper, UNESCO Education Sector