So what is Literacy?

Written by Denise L. Peroune, Ph.D.

It used to be that being literate meant being able to read, not necessarily write, just read. And historically, it was the elite and otherwise privileged who were given that opportunity. Fast forward to today and being able to read and write seem so much the norm that that we assume that nearly everyone has that chance. But global statistics say otherwise: we see that hundreds of millions of people all over the world never learn to read or write. Further, the pool of adult illiterates is wide, deep and growing. Considering the state of worldwide illiteracy to be a human crisis, in 2003 the UN General Assembly launched the Literacy Decade which will soon come to a close at the end of 2012. The staggering numbers of illiterate however, are only part of our problem. As society becomes more complex, so does the definition of literacy. We now have the added challenge of the broadening of what it means to be literate. UNESCO defines literacy as

 the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve his or her goals, develop his or her knowledge and potential and participate fully in community and wider society. (UNESCO 2005: 21)

Not a one-and-done deal, being literate is a progressive, ever-evolving state of engagement in our everyday world. Let us be clear however, that at the heart of literacy is the ability to read and to hone that skill over time until one can read independently and think critically.

One of the slogans of the environmental movement—Think global. Act local.—seems appropriate here. Illiteracy is global human crisis and at the global level, the Decade listed as priority population groups:

·      Illiterate youth and adults, especially women;

·      Out-of-school children and youth, especially girls;

·      Children in school without access to quality learning, in order that they do not add to the pool of adult illiterates.

But even as we think globally, let us begin to think locally. What can we do at a national, community and family level to contribute to literacy within our own sphere of engagement?