Redefining literacy skills and methods of teaching literacy

All teaching and learning happens within an evolving context. As teachers we must adapt to changes within the social context in order to ensure that the teaching and learning that occurs within our classrooms is relevant. Literacy needs and skills are ever changing and I found it interesting that in the youtube clip one of the practitioners mentioned outdoor literacy and that there were multiple literacies. It is clear that we have moved beyond the reading and writing skills of literacy and well into the critical and creative thinking, and problem solving. I think that it was interesting that the comment was also made about the way in which media now invades our private lives. We have to also be aware of the need to encourage students to be discerning in their use of their own literacy.

Reference:

What Does it Mean to be Literate in the 21st Century?

Reading about GID

When reading (Maniotes and Kuhlthau, 2014)  Making the shift there was one line that really stood out to me and resonated with me and my teaching practise “Typical assignments limit students’ ability to learn from a variety of sources and often result in a simple copying exercise”. I have grappled with this problem as a classroom teacher for a long time, designing tasks to try to solve this problem. However, I can now see how utilising the GID information literacy model can address this.

Reference

Maniotes, L.K, Kuhlthau, C. (2014) Making the shift. Knowledge Quest. 43(2) 8-17