In highschool (well, my high school, at least) literacy was not seen as a “focal skill” and most certainly not considered valuable enough to deserve time dedicated to studying its history when students could be using this time to memorize equations. That is why every new piece of information, whether it be from a classmate’s prior knowledge or an assigned reading, is so striking to me as I unlock how literacy has evolved and where it plans to go next.
The most beautiful thing about literature and literacy is that there is always somewhere to go, creating new ideas, embracing old, or paving your own path. The history of literacy was built by those with their own doubts ( the critics of the pencil) and accidents (early literacy being derived from the need to manage trade transactions). Pictures of ideas transformed to symbols of sounds. Imprints on clay turned into images on a screen. Shakespearean language eludes those more accustomed to the “texting” language more common in modern times. These things we know about literacy and yet we cannot predict where it will go next with certainty.
Perhaps I am so intrigued with literacy because it was an academic treasure that I felt was kept hidden from me for so long. Now that I have been exposed the history of this gem I can only ponder its curious features and analyze what I know because there is no way to control literature like a science experiment or math problem. Literacy has always been changing and manipulated with time and technology, it will continue to change and grow in thousands of directions and I am eager to join for the journey.
How do you think literacy will develop in the future, or how it’s changing now with the introduction of technology? (Has it changed?)
You have some great stepping stones here. Maybe start asking yourself how you think literacy is developing you and your work now and how you hope that it develops others because you make a valid point about it being dismissed in other schools/teaching lessons.