What is literary learning?
The term literary learning was an unfamiliar concept before I started this unit. Reflecting on my blog post my journey with children’s literature, my own literary learning occurred as my knowledge developed through work, professional development and the learning through this course.
The perception I have now is that literary learning occurs by interacting through literature. To achieve literary learning, the student needs to be multi-literate by being fluent in textual, visual and digital literacies to understand the information and apply this across different mediums (Bales, 2019, July 3). The student must be able to immerse themselves in the world created by the book to learn the ideas and facts the resource is trying to impart.
Transliteracy is the literary learning that happens in the context of 21st century environment. It is such a fluid concept that developed outside the confines of library walls, yet it is pervasive to the fabric of our current teaching and learning (Ipri, 2010). It defines what it means to be literate in the 21st century, by studying the way people and technology come together to create social relationships on the internet. A transliterate individual must be able to read and understand the words, sentences and paragraphs presented on various platforms and the plethora of technological devices available to view them (Ipri et al., 2017). Ipri (2010) further states, the essence is concerned with not learning all literacies in isolation but about the interaction of all these literacies such as text, visual, multimedia and digital. Literary learning happens when a student is fluid enough in all these literacies to see the social connections.
How can I use this in my library?
Literary learning happens in the library as students and teachers interact with all types of literacy. An example is mentioned in my forum post about literary learning through a digital text (Tun, 2023, May 14). However, I need to be aware that literary learning has evolved with the emergence of transliteracy. To be current and valid, the teacher librarian must continually keep watch of all current trends and analyse the impact it will have on the delivery of library services (Ipri, 2010). The concept of literary learning through transliteracy itself is very fluid (Ipri, 2010) and I need to adapt in the 21st century environment by utilising all the web 2.0 tools available. The act of information sharing has now progressed to encompass the various platforms and technology available to users.
Many students are time disadvantaged when it comes to reading for pleasure as mentioned in my forum post (Tun, 2023, March 4). What I did not realise is that, though they are losing the literary learning through physical books, learning platforms and social interactions creating ‘fellow feeling’ (Vapp, 2023, March 1st) has moved online through transliteracy. The information literacy that I teach as part of the library lessons need to reflect this change (Ipri et al., 2017).
Literary learning has many facets in the age of transliteracy. I need to consider all perspectives to support the 21st century teaching and learning environment.
References
Bales, K. (2019, July 3). Mulitiple literacies: Definitions, types, and classroom strategies. thoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/multiple-literacies-types-classroom-strategies-4177323
Ipri, T. (2010). Introducing transliteracy: What does it mean to academic libraries? College & Research Libraries News, 71(10).
Ipri, T., Newman, B. (2017). Beginner’s guide to transliteracy: Where did the term transliteracy come from?Libraries and Transliteracy. https://librariesandtransliteracy.wordpress.com/beginners-guide-to-transliteracy/