Literacy is about more than reading and writing --it is about how we communicate in society. It is about social practices and relationships, about knowledge, languageand culture. Literacy finds its place in our lives alongside other ways of communicating. Indeed, Literacy itself takes many forms: on paper, on the computer screen, on TV, on posters and signs. Those who use literacy take it for granted - but those who cannot use it are excluded from much communication in today's world. Indeed, it is the excluded who can best appreciate the notion of "literacy as freedom."
UNESCO, Statement for the United Nations Literacy Decade, 2003-2012
*Quoted in Think Literacy Success: Report of the Expert Panel on Students at Risk in Ontario, 2003, 7
Today, being literate requires a complex and sophisticated set of attitudes, habits of mind, cognitive and meta-cognitive skills, as well as critical literacy skills that address issues of identity, equity, power and social justice. Additionally:
- Literacy development requires opportunities for making meaning and engaging in productive and social interaction and talk.
- Print previously defined literacy; however new technologies are broadening our notions of text and creating new literacies for the 21st century.
Adapted from Literacies for Learning: EDUGains 2008
Using the gospel values and the Catholic Graduate expectations as the anchor for literacy learning, we are committed to assisting students to become confident and reflective readers and writers who apply Catholic values to life's opportunities, challenges, and choices.
The TCDSB Literacy Team is dedicated to this important work.