While reading the Common Core ELA Standards I was struck by the ingenuity of the concept that teaching literacy is everyone’s responsibility and not just the ELA teacher’s responsibility. It reflects a contemporary understanding of the interconnectedness that has come to define the world in which we live. Just as it requires an entire village to raise a child, it requires all subject areas working together to educate a student. Logistically, I think that elementary school teachers are more proficient at this than secondary school teachers. At the higher levels, teachers tend to view themselves as individual subject teachers and not literacy teachers. This leads to an almost competitive view of the subject material instead of a collaborative analysis of what can I do, as any subject area teacher, to improve this students chances of success in not only my class but in all of her classes. Reading and writing are fundamental to any successful learning and need to be taught continuously across the board to ensure our students receive the best quality education possible.
One of the criticisms that the NCTE has voiced concerning the Common Core ELA standards is their relatively narrow view of basing the standards on college and career readiness. In their article, A Report of the NCTE Review Team on the July 2009 Draft of the Common Core English Language Arts State Standards, the NCTE is critical of the creators’ omission of any standards that address literacy as a conduit for the pure enjoyment and enrichment that it gives one on a level that is not associated with job preparedness. I tend to agree with NCTE and think that we need to view literacy not as a means to an end but just a means by which we can live full and rich lives.
Anne, I do agree with you. It would be an ideal situation if students viewed traditional literacy as an enjoyable activity however our society does not value it. With the fast paced nature of retrieving information from the internet, television or radio stations most people just do not take the time to practice their reading comprehension skills. I feel that our culture needs to change its ideals from passive learning to active learning. If children are trained, from a very early age, to take a holistic approach to learning I believe that they will in turn continuously educate themselves just for mere the enjoyment of it all. It will become second nature to them and both the CCS and NCTE beliefs will be satisfied.-Melissa Hidalgo : )
ReplyDeleteWell said. :-) "I tend to agree with NCTE and think that we need to view literacy not as a means to an end but just a means by which we can live full and rich lives." We would also mention about how the concept of "new literacies" has added to a broader set of skills to the traditional literacy skills.
ReplyDeleteAnne,
ReplyDeleteI like the analogy you make between "it takes a village" and "it takes all teachers" to educate a student and help him/her become fully literate. I teach ESL and sometimes burden myself with the idea that the students' success is up to me and what I do to assist him/her. Then, I take a step back and acknowledge the reality that it takes ALL of the students' teachers trying their best to make the content accessible to my English language leaners. Thanks for your insight.
-Michelle M.