Multiliterate

“Anstey (2002b) defines a multiliterate person as flexible and strategic and able to understand and use literacy and literate practices

• with a range of texts and technologies;
• in socially responsible ways;
• in a socially, linguistically, and culturally diverse world; and
• to fully participate in life as an active and informed citizen.”

I feel that this quote from p. 24 of Teaching and Learning Multiliteracies encompasses much of what we have learned, discussed, and shared over the past three years together as a cohort.  I feel that this definition is at the center of much of our learning and practice as literacy educators.  However, these definitions and descriptions of literacy and literate people are seldom recognized, acknowledged, or promoted by “the official curriculum”.  This saddens and frustrates me a great deal.  There is so much involved in being a literate person; yet, students today are most often only officially measured and recognized by a single test or score. (I am reminded here of Christy’s blog post about her multiliterate student and his DRA score.)  How is this right or fair or justified???

My questions again turn to… What can we do?  How do we encourage and support others to “teach beyond the test”?  How do we help influence the development and implementation of policies that make sense for students and their lives?  How do we make this definition of literacy a reality for all students in all schools?  These are daunting questions, and the challenges that lie ahead for us as literacy leaders are not small.