Week 1. Learning Activity 1: Philosophy of Literacy

I asked, Irene, the head of the reading department at my school, about her philosophy of literacy. She began with a very broad statement. The first thing that came to her mind was that literacy must be made available to all and that everyone, without exception, can achieve. From this point, she then moved on to how we as teachers help make sure all our students achieve. She talked about a "path" we, as educators, must construct for our students. First, we must meet our students where they are at. Then, we must empower them to become responsible for thier own learning.

The two tools that Irene thinks are crucial to helping our students become independent learners are scaffolding and differentiation. The importance of scaffolding is also mentioned by Pauline Gibbons (2002), when she states that the only real learning occurs when the teacher guides a student to do something he would not be able to accomplish on his own. This statement does seem to hold-up to the scrutiny of simply logic. Irene's statement regarding the importance of differentition harmonizes well with her belief in meeting each student where is he is. Irene also thought relationships were an important ingredient in teaching.

Irene also thought it was important to expose students to whole array of literature, covering a multitude of genres. She thinks it is important to make sure much of the literature we, as teachers, give our students is relevant to their interests and backgrounds. They should be able to connect in some way to the literature they read. Although, when some literature may not seem to have an obvious and immediate connection to their lives we, as educators, must help them see the connections. She also thought that we must take advantage of mediums such as video and music to enhance student's connection to the material under examination.

I thought Irene's most profound point was is regards to the purpose of teaching literacy. Irene stated that literature is a way to allow students to be exposed to--to understand and appreciate--their past, their present, and even their future. Literacy enables students to better understand the world in which they live and their place in this world. Indeed, it even empowers students to dream of creating a new place in the world for themselves and, perhaps, even a new place for others. Literacy empowers students to gain knowledge, understanding, and even wisdom. Now, what will they do with that power?