Changing Standards of Literacy

The article by Myers, Changing our minds: Negotiating English and Literacy was an interesting read and really framed for me the ever-evolving role literacy has in our lives. I enjoy learning about historical events from "then" that have shaped our "now."

For example, "Thus, from 1870 onward, most males were employed away from the home, away from their children, and largely away from the all-day responsibility for the assimilation of their children into culture" (p. 64). So as fathers found employment away from their families, more of the responsibility of learning fell to teachers. (No mention of mothers' roles here, but I digress!) (We'll leave that discussion for another day) This explains why there was an emphasis on schoolmasters to be rule-enforcers and use a curriculum that involved highly disciplined routines. I think it's important to mention here that the one room schoolhouses held children of various ages and ability levels. Not to mention children who might not attend school on a regular basis. Perhaps we can forgive our forefathers for being too authoritarian if we consider the context in which they "taught" (!) On page 80, Myers says, "A toe-the-line culture was possible because the teacher and his or her texts or works were the source of knowledge and moral authority." Teachers held all the power as they dispensed knowledge to their pupils. Not that I agree with these practices, but perhaps it worked for the time in which they occurred.

Several ideas separated the decoding literacy from the recitation literacy. An emphasis on parts rather than whole (that did not reappear until the whole language movement during the 1980s), silent reading, the link between literacy and language, and the belief in literacy as a way to prepare students for the "real" world (that might or might not involve college) were prevalent during this time. Standardization gained prominence as well as an influx of immigrants to the United States that created a need to educate diverse populations.

Considering how far we have come as a literate nation, I am still discouraged by the public's perception of lack within our public schools. Myers quotes many statistics regarding the increase in reading achievement. He states on page 100, that the "general population" has shown an overall increase in test scores measuring comprehension of "unfamiliar materials" and that 3/4 of our entire population reaches a reading level only realized by a few that benefit from learning opportunities in other countries.

Although literacy practices have changed and evolved over time in the U.S., I believe that we have achieved great success in the world of education. Changing from an agrarian to an industrialized economy, the arrival of diverse cultures with various educational needs, as well as the changing political influences have created many demands on the teachers and administrators responsible for providing an opportunity for everyone to learn. I believe that we as future leaders in the field of education must provide not only leadership but optimism for what is to come. We must remember that although the system we have may be imperfect, it will continue to improve and evolve as it has for the last several hundred years. Public schools will continue to provide an opportunity for those who choose to learn.