Local Literacies

I have been intrigued by the ethnographic research by David Barton and Mary Hamilton in Local Literacies: Reading and Writing in One Community. Lancaster, or Lancashire, England, was the setting of this study in which various residents were interviewed in order to determine the local literacy practices that were present in the everyday lives of those who call Lancaster home. Four main individuals were followed throughout the study: Harry, Shirley, June, and Cliff. Each of them viewed literacy in a very different way.

HARRY...

"Harry appears to view the world as being divided between educated people and uneducated people. It seems to be his yardstick for talking about people, including himself" (Barton & Hamilton, 1998, p. 88).

This quote made me reflect on the difference between schooling and education. This is a topic that is of focus during my first few classes of my Introduction to Teaching and Education course at the undergraduate level. Many students initially believe that the terms are synonymous. However, they soon realize that, "In contrast to education, schooling is a specific, formalized process, usually focused on the young, and whose general pattern traditionally has varied little from one setting to the next" (Ryan & Cooper, 2007, p. 26 in Those Who Can, Teach). In contrast, education is formal and informal learning that occurs on a daily basis. It is apparent that Harry views formal schooling as a true measure of a person. Perhaps, this is based on the fact that he was unable to attend a particular grammar school that he had gained admittance to due to financial circumstances. Harry has failed to realize that life experiences help educate an individual, in addition to the traditional educational setting.

SHIRLEY...

"Shirley's mother also has some writing difficulties, and Shirley has researched the possibility that there is an inherited tendency to dyslexia through several generations of her family, talking to her own parents and grandmother about their experiences of reading and writing. This is probably one of the reasons she was interested in taking part in the research project with us-a strong interest in reading and writing difficulties prompted by her son's experiences at school" (Barton & Hamilton, 1998, p. 102).

The majority of us, prompted by doctors and medical research, make it a priority to learn our medical history. However, I wonder how many individuals investigate their literacy history? It would be quite interesting to discover the reading and writing habits of our families and the impact this has had on our literacy skills and preferences. Shirley is an advocate of her community and social change, thereby using her literacy skills in multiple ways. However, it is her son's struggles with literacy that seemed to compel her into further research and investigation. While reading about Shirley, I recalled a few of my teacher education candidates who entered the field of education based on their own child's struggles with literacy. One woman commented that after her son was identified with special needs, she knew she wanted to learn about various reading and writing strategies in order to help her own child succeed in the future.

JUNE...

"There is a sense in which literacy is not important to June. Nevertheless, literacy seems to be something she uses as it is needed in order to get things done. She does not go out of her way to do things with literacy and it does not particularly interest her. It arises in her daily life in an incidental way, when she draws on reading and writing in order to get things done; or she uses it to pass time, such as browsing in the bookshop by the bus stop" (Barton & Hamilton, 1998, p. 128).

June's background clearly indicated that literacy was part of her everyday life and enabled her to complete the tasks needed to work, organize a household, and communicate with family and friends. Many adults equate literacy with reading and writing in scholarly formats, forgetting the many avenues in which reading and writing skills enable them to lead productive lives.

This concept brought to mind an article I recently read on document literacy. The research involved a sample of 472 adults from North Carolina. Each participant was asked to indicate on a visual scale his/her familiarity with 74 document elements (i.e. bar graphs, pie charts, address lists), as well as how frequently he/she used the element in daily life. Cohen & Snowden (2008) state that, "Document literacy is a core component of an individual's ability to function in modern society" (p. 9). Therefore, document literacy needs to be further addressed in classrooms and the creation of more user friendly documents needs to be considered.

Read more about this study:
Cohen, D.J. & Snowden, J.L. (2008). The relation between familiarity, frequency, and prevalence and document literacy performance among adult readers. Reading Research Quarterly, 43, 9-26.

CLIFF...

"Although he did not spontaneously talk a great deal about literacy, when we asked Cliff in a later interview about his theories of literacy and how people learn, he responded with stories about the cruelty of teachers at his school when he was learning to read. His observation about literacy was that associating reading with punishment did not encourage him to learn, and he thinks that children probably learn better nowadays because schools are more enjoyable places" (Barton & Hamilton, 1998, p. 136).

Cliff's negative attitude towards reading was based on his past experiences as a student who was subjected to "cruel teachers". Therefore, he expressed a penchant for writing because it appealed to him and engaged him in an active way.

As educators, we must be cognizant of the influence that we have on our students each day. A misconstrued comment or action may affect a student more than we realize. This can result in lower levels of motivation and engagement in various subject areas, which he can note from Cliff's responses, can be easily carried into adulthood.

I am looking forward to the completion of Local Literacies and the themes and patterns that will emerge from the data.