This week was our first lecture for "21st Century Literacies Across the Primary Junior Curriculum”. We discussed the importance of
critical education. It was a very interesting lecture. We learned that it is no
longer sufficient to teach children, but instead we need to give students tools
so that they can make sense of the world around them. One skill to facilitate this is critical literacy. Norris, Lucas & Prudhoe state that "Critical literacy encourages readers to question explore, or challenge the power relationships that exist between the author and readers" (2012, 59). Drake, Reid and Koholon (2014)
state that integrating critical literacy into all subjects helps create an
approach to teaching that facilitates social justice. I think this is an
important lesson for students. This reminded me of something my grade 12
English teacher had written on a bulletin board. He wrote, “Too often we give
students answers to memorize instead of questions to ask”. This lesson really stuck with me. Teaching children how to be critical thinkers is an important skill
because children are not blank slates that we need to fill with information. Children
should be taught to think for themselves and not to focus on memorizing
information. Concepts should be interpreted and critically analyzed.
This week’s lecture also exposed me
to the notion that literacy encompasses much more than just print material. There
are so many ways we gather information, for example using the Internet. Critical literacy skills related to high-tech media, such as the Internet, film and television, are particularly important because these forms of media have such a pervasive influence on our lives and society (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2008). I think
the Internet is an excellent way to teach children how to conduct research and
be critical of resources online. However I believe that children should only
have access to the Internet if they have had lessons on Internet safety. There
are many ways students can make important connections and learn from others
online but all of these communications should be done with the assistance of a
teacher. Children should understand the dangers of talking to strangers online.
Therefore I believe technology in the classroom is valuable but has to be used
safely.
In class we watched a video called “Changing
Education Paradigms” that was presented by Sir Ken Robinson (RSA, 2010). Robinson
defines creativity as, “The process of having original ideas that have value”.
Divergent thinking is an essential capacity for creativity. It entails multiple
answers for a question and multiple ways of interpreting a question. He
referenced a study that found 98% of kindergarten students scored at the
“genius level” of divergent thinking. As children grew older their divergent
thinking score decreased. I interpreted this as hopeful because students are
born with this innate ability to think divergently and be creative. It is also
unsettling to think that the school system might play a role in suppressing
creativity; however, this video inspired me to foster divergent thinking and
help keep this creative outlook alive in my students.
I
found a second video by Sir Ken Robinson that discusses how young children are losing their
creativity in school (Ted Talk, 2007). He quoted Picasso’s statement that, "All
children are artists. The problem is how to remain
an artist once he grows up.” "This
reminded me of the kindergarten divergent thinking experiment I previously
discussed. Robinson argued that we are educating children not to take risks and
ask questions and this is killing creativity in schools. As a future teacher I
want to encourage students to not be afraid to ask questions, to fail, and to
try again. I see failure as a part of learning and I would never want my
students to be afraid of trying and miss out on creative experiences.
This
week’s lecture encouraged me think about issues such as critical literacy,
technology in the classroom, creativity, and divergent thinking. I am excited
to learn more about 21st century literacies and how I can
incorporate new ideas into my future classroom. Thanks for reading!
References
Drake, S. M., Reid, J. L., & Kolohon,
W. (2014). Interweaving curriculum and
classroom assessment: Engaging the 21st century learner. Don
Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press.
Norris, K., Lucas, L. & Catharine
Prudhoe. (2012) Examining critical literacy: Preparing preservice teachers to
use critical literacy in the early childhood classroom. Multicultural Education,
19(2), 59-62.
Ontario Ministry of Education
(2008). A guide to effective literacy instruction, (vol. seven): Media
literacy. Toronto, ON: Queen's Printer for Ontario.
Ted Talk (Producer), (2007, Jan 6). Sir Ken
Robson, Do Schools Kill Creativity? Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY
RSA (Producer), (2010, Oct 14) Sir Ken Robson, Changing
Education Paradigms. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U
