What Freedom Does Literacy Offer in Globalised Society
What freedom does literacy offer in globalised society
It is so easy for us to say that literacy is the most powerful tool at our disposal to give us freedom of speech, freedom of action and freedom of life. It is more complicated a question to ask what is literacy. In this age of technological advancement, the questions of literacy is continually expanding. From doing the most medial tasks, to trying to convince a nation that the words that are being expressed can be converted to action, the way we use literacy continually develops. We can no longer see literacy as being literate, or illiterate, but must look upon literacy as a way of expression through not only words and writing, but all other avenues of media that are at our disposal. I will look at how literacy gives us freedom in a globalised world through the understanding of different cultures, the use of technology and the literacy tools at our disposal.
As Nakamura (2002, p. 64) expressed, “Globalisation is neither the convergence of westernisation nor Americanisation.” What this means is that we must look broader than just Western Europe, or the United States to see what globalisation is, and if we want to have true freedom, we must then understand and work with the cultures that surround us. Victoria is an example with its “thriving multicultural society. Our population hails from over 230 nations, speaks 180 languages and dialects and follows more than 116 religions” (Department of Education and Early Childhood, 2009). With the ease of travel, and vastness of communication we can no longer live in a monolingual and monocultural society. The world is rapidly changing and multifaceted. With this rapid change, the
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opportunity arises to educate our students to be a part of this change. It is impossible to have a full understanding of all these different cultures, let alone the differences in culture within this. The task would be made even more impossible without the help of literacy, in its
It is so easy for us to say that literacy is the most powerful tool at our disposal to give us freedom of speech, freedom of action and freedom of life. It is more complicated a question to ask what is literacy. In this age of technological advancement, the questions of literacy is continually expanding. From doing the most medial tasks, to trying to convince a nation that the words that are being expressed can be converted to action, the way we use literacy continually develops. We can no longer see literacy as being literate, or illiterate, but must look upon literacy as a way of expression through not only words and writing, but all other avenues of media that are at our disposal. I will look at how literacy gives us freedom in a globalised world through the understanding of different cultures, the use of technology and the literacy tools at our disposal.
As Nakamura (2002, p. 64) expressed, “Globalisation is neither the convergence of westernisation nor Americanisation.” What this means is that we must look broader than just Western Europe, or the United States to see what globalisation is, and if we want to have true freedom, we must then understand and work with the cultures that surround us. Victoria is an example with its “thriving multicultural society. Our population hails from over 230 nations, speaks 180 languages and dialects and follows more than 116 religions” (Department of Education and Early Childhood, 2009). With the ease of travel, and vastness of communication we can no longer live in a monolingual and monocultural society. The world is rapidly changing and multifaceted. With this rapid change, the
1
opportunity arises to educate our students to be a part of this change. It is impossible to have a full understanding of all these different cultures, let alone the differences in culture within this. The task would be made even more impossible without the help of literacy, in its
Bibliography: Nakumura, 2002, ‘Cultivating Global Literacy Through English as an International Language (EIL) Education in Japan: A New Paradigm for Global Education’, International Education Journal, Vol 3, No 5, 2002 Department of Education and Early Childhood, 2009, Education for Global and Multicultural Citizenship A Strategy for Victorian Government Schools 2009 - 2013, DEEC, Melbourne Facebook, 2010, http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics, retrieved 25th March, 2010 Jarboe, 2009, We Watch More YouTube Videos than We Conduct Google Searches, retrieved 25th March, 2010 . Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, 2010, ICT infrastructure budgeting, retrieved 23th March, 2010, Serpo, 2009, Victoria schools begin netbook trial, retrieved 24th March, 2010, ABC, 2009, Green light for internet filter plans, ABC News, retrieved 24th March, 2010, McDonald, J., 2010, ‘China without Google: a 'lose-lose scenario '’, The Australian, 17 March, 2010, page unknown 6