Cultural Literacy
The term, cultural literacy, was popularized by E. D. Hirsch, Jr. in 1987 with the publication of his book, Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know. The concept that Hirsch, Jr. had of cultural literacy was based on industrial age, and consisted of conservative, prescriptive, indoctrination, that espoused national homogenous culture. The ensuing discourse on cultural literacy led to much criticism and even a denial of such a thing as cultural literacy (House, Emmer & Lawrence, 1991).
It seems that although Hirsch's (1987) limited vision made some impact on many aspects of U.S. government policies which are highly controversial, he seems to have brought the issue of culture and cultural literacy to the forefront. By engaging the academic scholars and the public in the discussion, we have a better awareness of "what type of society we should have ... [, and] enunciating ... visions of society, culture, and the schools" have gained prominence (House et al., 1991, p. 73). |
Reflecting on my vision for cultural literacy, it includes awareness and knowledge about culture/cultural, intercultural communication skills, and intercultural competence. I feel that these competencies would lead to transformative learning especially when combined with digital literacy and critical pedagogy (the above link embedded in the word culture is different from the link to the word cultural).
The root words such as culture and cultural are defined to provide a basis for understanding cultural literacy. The cultural literacy artifact 1, as shown below, links to the Principles of Learning course (EDUC 5001G) wiki website, where words such as culture, cultural, and the associated metaphors, learning, and teaching principles are explained in detail.
Cultural Literacy Artifact 2. The title of this video is "Culture and Transformation." It's a video created using Photo Story 3 and Movie Maker with background music for the Digital Literacies course (EDUC 5304G). The overall meaning embedded in the video may be understood in the words/text used with each picture and the accompanying music foreshadowing a change to occur. This video includes my hope and vision for cultural harmony in our global world for awareness and understanding.
Reflections
The pedagogy related to culture may be referred to in many ways such as culturally
appropriate, culturally congruent, culturally responsive, or culturally compatible
as cited in Ladson-Billings (1995). Geneva Gay (2002) stated, "Culture is deeply embedded in
any teaching; therefore, teaching ethnically diverse students has to be multiculturalized" (p. 112). Gay (2002) provides many practical suggestions for culturally responsive teaching strategies framed under four broad categories. As a practical guide, Gay suggests "matching instructional techniques to the learning styles of diverse students" (p. 112). This statement seems to indicate that teachers would need to make an effort to learn about the cultures and the learning styles of the students in order to be culturally responsive.
Similarly, Ladson-Billings (1995) advocates for a "culturally relevant pedagogy," which includes students' academic success, cultural competence, and critical consciousness (p. 160). Also, Ladson-Billings (1995) connects Freire's conscientization with the disenfranchised southern U.S. African Americans. As mentioned by Sonia Nieto in her video presentation (Critical Pedagogy Artifact 5), "teaching is advocacy."
From the above mentioned perspectives on pedagogy and culture, the interrelationship of the themes can be observed with cultural pedagogy, critical pedagogy, intercultural communication and technology. The video produced above, Cultural Literacy Artifact 2, from the Digital Literacy course (EDUC 5304G) was a product of all of these themes. In order to provide a more equitable and responsive strategy for diverse students (Sonia Nieto states that all students are diverse), individual and collective consideration, and learning of culturally appropriate practice is becoming increasingly more important and necessary in teaching practices.
Similarly, Ladson-Billings (1995) advocates for a "culturally relevant pedagogy," which includes students' academic success, cultural competence, and critical consciousness (p. 160). Also, Ladson-Billings (1995) connects Freire's conscientization with the disenfranchised southern U.S. African Americans. As mentioned by Sonia Nieto in her video presentation (Critical Pedagogy Artifact 5), "teaching is advocacy."
From the above mentioned perspectives on pedagogy and culture, the interrelationship of the themes can be observed with cultural pedagogy, critical pedagogy, intercultural communication and technology. The video produced above, Cultural Literacy Artifact 2, from the Digital Literacy course (EDUC 5304G) was a product of all of these themes. In order to provide a more equitable and responsive strategy for diverse students (Sonia Nieto states that all students are diverse), individual and collective consideration, and learning of culturally appropriate practice is becoming increasingly more important and necessary in teaching practices.