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Reconsidering Literacy Purdue University Purdue e-Pubs Charleston Library Conference Reconsidering Literacy Audrey Powers University of South Florida, [email protected] Marc Powers University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/charleston Part of the Educational Methods Commons, Higher Education Commons, Information Literacy Commons, and the Theatre and Performance Studies Commons An indexed, print copy of the Proceedings is also available for purchase at: http://www.thepress.purdue.edu/series/charleston. You may also be interested in the new series, Charleston Insights in Library, Archival, and Information Sciences. Find out more at: http://www.thepress.purdue.edu/series/charleston-insights-library-archival- and-information-sciences. Audrey Powers and Marc Powers, "Reconsidering Literacy" (2019). Proceedings of the Charleston Library Conference. http://dx.doi.org/10.5703/1288284317184 This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact [email protected] for additional information. Reconsidering Literacy Audrey Powers, University of South Florida, [email protected] Marc Powers, University of South Florida, [email protected] Abstract Literacy, untl recently, was defned as the ability to read printed text and to understand the nuances of both the form and content of that printed text. More recently there has been a focus on subsets of literacy—data literacy, numeracy, visual literacy, media literacy, and so on—that recognizes the means of communicatng ideas and facts are not limited to the printed text and that there are multple means which may be more powerful ways of commu- nicatng in our world. In recent years, higher educaton has been redefning what it means to be educated—from a focus on specifc bodies of knowledge, or disciplines, to a focus on developing and mastering skills for varying modes of inquiry. Simultaneously, there has been a growing focus on expanding how students and faculty communicate knowledge— what was once strictly the term paper approach is being replaced by the oral presentaton, the poster session, or the artstc response. In a world where ideas are more readily communicated via social media such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Twiter, the ability to accurately assess additonal modes of communicaton is critcal. This paper will explore diferent subsets of literacy, describe a method for developing mastery of those literacies in higher educaton, and advocate for academic library professionals to become specialists focused on literacies as much as, if not more than, on content. Introducton While the percentages may not be accurate, the infuence of voice and movement are accepted as The traditonal defniton of literacy according to the playing a signifcant role in our understanding of Oxford English Dictonary is the quality, conditon, or meaning and emoton. The contnued use of the for- state of being literate; the ability to read and write mula, which has been discredited by researchers, is (htps://www.oed.com/view/Entry/109054 due to its popular use by public speaking trainers and ?redirectedFrom=literacy&). In 2003 UNESCO began actng coaches. Anecdotally, this is a constant point to promote literacy as a human right. Their defniton of contenton with graduate students in English liter- of literacy is the “ability to identfy, understand, ature who complain, partcularly in performances of interpret, create, communicate, and compute, using Shakespeare, that the actors are always interpretng printed and writen materials associated with varying instead of playing the role as writen. The actors typi- contexts. Literacy involves a contnuum of learning in cally respond that that is impossible; that they are enabling individuals to achieve their goal, to develop playing it as writen, but with their voices and their their knowledge and potental, and to partcipate bodies, which make-s it an interpretaton. fully in their community and wider society” (htps:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy). Today we communicate in many diferent ways. Ideas are communicated via YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Literacy according to both defnitons is based on the LinkedIn, SnapChat, Tumblr, Reddit, Quara, TikTok, post–printng press assumpton that the best means Vimeo, and Twiter. Social media includes social net- of disseminatng informaton and ideas was through working sites, social review sites, image sharing sites, writen text; however, a popular formula for oral video hostng sites, community blogs, and informa- communicaton atributed to Albert Mehrabian pro- ton exchange sites. As a result, the ability to assess poses that our understanding of meaning and emo- various modes of communicaton is important. ton is based only 7% on the text, 38% on the tone and music of the voice, and 55% on body language The defniton for literacy in the new millennium (htps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Mehrabian). should be about how humans process and evaluate 310 Library Services Copyright of this contributon remains in the name of the author(s) htps://doi.org/10.5703/1288284317184 informaton from multple contexts, not only print achievement of student learning outcomes. The materials, and the mastery of multple literacies is Associaton of American Colleges & Universites has crucial. The current focus is on the ability to under- developed extensive value rubrics (htps://www.aacu stand and accurately interpret graphs and charts, .org/value‐ rubrics) primarily for knowledge‐ based photographs, and other visual media. This has led to skills, and also includes a few literacies, although it is the development of subsets of literacy such as data interestng to note that the focus of the outcomes for literacy, digital literacy, numeracy, media literacy, the literacies is on the demonstraton of skills rather informaton literacy, computer literacy, and visual than the development of conceptual understanding literacy. However, there is an equally signifcant need (htps://www.aacu.org/value/rubrics/inquiry‐ analysis). to be able to interpret how sound, movement, and space are utlized in the communicaton of ideas. The teaching of literacies should emphasize the development of more profound informaton gather- Higher educaton is in the process of being rede- ing and understanding techniques. As with textual signed from focusing on specifc bodies of knowledge literacy, in all literacies, the ability “to read” and “to or disciplines to mastering skills associated with write” are intricately connected. Traditonally, across varying modes of inquiry. For example: all disciplines, textual literacy has been a common thread, and to a varying degree, each discipline • Expanding the ability to communicate includes additonal literacies. knowledge from traditonal term papers to oral presentatons, poster sessions, YouTube Beyond the literacies previously noted, there are videos, and artstc responses many others being promoted today, such as: • Developing job skills • Cultural literacy • Expanding practce‐ based learning and with • Geoliteracy that the growth of badging • Science literacy • Assessing the value of a degree program based on the average income of graduates • Statstcal literacy • Developing interdisciplinary or mult‐ • Emotonal literacy disciplinary degrees and certfcates to • Financial literacy address current trends in the job market • Gender literacy • Reconsidering the value of the humanites and arts in higher educaton (the STEM vs. • Civic literacy STEAM argument) The primary purpose of this paper is to promote The curricula in most disciplines have been rede- the four literacies that predate text as a means of signed to address these concerns. As a result, general communicatng ideas: visual literacy, aural literacy, educaton curricula and assessment are now focus- kinesthetc literacy, and spatal literacy. ing less on the traditonal liberal arts content‐ by‐ discipline approach and more on the development of Visual Literacy knowledge‐ based skills. Visual literacy is the ability to interpret, negotate, For academic librarians, the questons become: Do and make meaning from informaton presented in our collectons support the new paradigm? What the form of an image, extending the meaning of liter- should our focus be? Should we be focused on the acy, which commonly signifes interpretaton of writ- mastery of content, the mastery of knowledge‐ based ten or print text. Visual literacy is based on the idea skills, or the mastery of literacies? that pictures and their meaning can be “read” and understood. The basic objectve elements are line, In an age where interdisciplinary study is growing, shape, form, value, space, texture, color, composi- mastery of multple literacies in multple contexts ton, and perspectve. The subjectve elements have is crucial. Knowledge‐ based skills center on devel- to do with interpretatons of the subject mater, the oping the ability to employ a variety of methods, context in which the image is seen, and the viewer’s and demonstratng that through the successful emotonal state and depth of knowledge. Charleston Conference Proceedings 2019 311 The introducton to ACRL’s (Associaton of College and Research Libraries) Visual Literacy Standards for Higher Educaton states, the importance of images and visual media in contemporary culture is changing what it means to be literate in the 21st century. Today’s society is highly visual, and visual imagery is no longer supplemental to other forms of informaton. New digital technologies have made
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