Merriam-Webster defines literacy in the following:
- : the quality or state of being literate
a : educated, cultured
b : able to read and write
a : versed in literature or creative writing : literary
b : lucid, polished <a literate essay>
c : having knowledge or competence <computer-literate> <politically literate>
The best way I could think of to define literacy was to look at a specific industry: agriculture. In ag communications we are constantly talking about the importance of ag literacy. Overall, I thought I had a pretty good grasp on the concept. We wanted people to be able to understand and communicate about agriculture. But then I got to thinking, agriculture is a REALLY big field and can differ tremendously depending on what region one is in.
I found a great definition from Wikipedia (and while I normally stay away from it, they did mention Texas Tech so I figured they were on to something good!):
Agricultural literacy is a phrase being used by several universities (e.g., Texas Tech, the University of Arizona, and California Polytechnic State University) to describe programs to promote the understanding and knowledge necessary to synthesize, analyze, and communicate basic information about agriculture to students, producers, consumers, and the public. These programs focus on assisting educators and others to effectively incorporate information about agriculture into subjects being taught or examined in public and private forums, and to better understand the impact of agriculture on society.So, ag literacy helps to inform educators. The goal is to see more agriculture in the classroom.
I believe that literacy is understanding and knowing about a subject enough to educate others on that topic.
Corey,
ReplyDeleteIn my ninth grade English class, I remember talking about the language of a particular region (maybe we were doing a pre-reading exercise for Huck Finn). My teacher asked if there were any words we use in Lubbock that are different from other parts of the country. I said module builder (my dad was a cotton farmer until I was in 4th grade--now he works for Bayer Cropscience). She had no idea what that meant! She was definitely not ag literate :)
I like your definition of literacy. We know that we really understand something when we can teach it well. I love having students lead class every once in a while for this reason.
Emily
That is the great part of experiencing new things or having students from others, it helps you to grow and become more literate!
DeleteI agree that an important concept of literacy is the ability to communicate or educate others. After all, knowledge of the subject may be meaningless if it isn't shared with others.
ReplyDeleteI like the way that you move from defining literacy in a specific sense and then take the essence and use that as a more general definition. There are so many types of literacy out there, and there are more created daily. It is hard to give a concrete definition for a concept that is changing. I like the way that Yancey pointed out connections between 19th century perceptions of literacy and present day perceptions of computer literacy.
ReplyDeleteI like how you center the definition to a specific area such as agriculture. The fact you are studying Ag Comm is very interesting to me...I look forward to hearing more about this.
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