Multicultural literacy is adapted from the work of
Hirsch (1988), transforming it into an inclusive—as
opposed to exclusive—concept, measuring
Eurocentric accounts of cultural and historical
knowledge (Taylor & Hoechsmann, 2011). It
depends less on recalling facts and more on
developing the means of measuring cross-cultural
awareness. It is through this that multicultural
literacy is intended to address the complex issues
within today’s society.
Source
According to the Ministry of Education (2013),
“culture goes much deeper than typical
understandings of ethnicity, race and/or faith. It
encompasses broad notions of similarity and
difference” (p. 1). Hence, one of the key practices
in the classroom for multicultural literacy is for
teachers to not be colourblind, label students, or
use negative connotations in relation to diverse
backgrounds (Hawkins, 2014).
The question then becomes how can multicultural
literacy be used in the classroom?
Multicultural Literature
To be able to integrate, use, and make meaning of
multicultural texts in the classroom is a good starting
point (Iwai, 2015). Because most books are primarily
Eurocentric and tend to portray animals or
characters with characteristics and values of
mainstream lifestyles, having books that contain
diverse perspectives allows students to not only be
aware of views different from their own, but also
see themselves in relation to those. By having
students reflect on their own lives, they see how
‘rich’ they are in comparison to characters
featured in multicultural literature, which enables
them to express their emotions similar to those
characters (Huang & Kowalick, 2014).
Multicultural literacy incorporates the idea of
diversity within learning through content integration,
knowledge construction, and an equity pedagogy
that ensures students become literate in cross-
cultural awareness and appreciation. However,
when schools take this to mean including a
‘multicultural day’ or ‘international food day’ during
the school year, oftentimes without follow-ups or
teaching the full background and meaning of such
representations of various cultures, this becomes
problematic. Students will associate specific
cultures with symbols such as food, clothing, or
music rather than fully appreciate and make
meaning from it. Similarly, just asking people to
‘perform’ or teach about their differences becomes
an active form of racism (St. Denis, 2011).
Financial literacy is the education and
understanding of various financial areas including
topics related to managing personal finance,
money and investing. This topic focuses on the
ability to manage personal finance matters in an
efficient manner, and it includes the knowledge of
making appropriate decisions about personal
finance such as investing, insurance, real estate,
paying for college, budgeting, retirement and tax
planning.
Financial literacy also involves the proficiency of
financial principles and concepts such as financial
planning, compound interest, managing debt,
profitable savings techniques and the time value of
money. The lack of financial literacy may lead to
making poor financial choices that can have
negative consequences on the financial well-being
of an individual. Consequently, the federal
government created the Financial Literacy and
Education Commission, which provides resources
for people who want to learn more about financial
literacy.
The main steps to achieving financial literacy
include learning the skills to create a budget, the
ability to track spending, learning the techniques to
pay off debt and effectively planning for
retirement. These steps can also include counseling
from a financial expert. Education about the topic
involves understanding how money works, creating
and achieving financial goals and managing
internal and external financial challenges. (Will
Kenton)
Financial literacy encompasses the knowledge and
skills for personal financial planning, the selection of
financial services, budgeting and investing,
developing an insurance program, credit
management, consumer purchases, consumer
rights and responsibilities, and decision-making skills
for all aspects of life as consumers, workers, and
citizens. Financial literacy affects all aspects of an
individual's planning and spending: income, money
management, the use of credit, saving and
investing, and decision making for the wise use of
resources. A lifelong process, financial literacy is a
critical area of knowledge and skills for all
consumers who must make choices about their
financial resources. From a child's earliest spending
to a senior citizen's retirement decisions, individuals
apply their knowledge and skills to financial
choices. Managing finances has become
increasingly complex.
Social literacy, from the perspective of the social-
cultural theory, is more than the ability
to read and write, and more than mastering
literacy skills. Children can learn literacy through
social interaction between themselves and children
and/or adults in or outside school. Adults can
use books, games, toys, conversations, field trips,
and stories to develop the literacy practices
through fun. (Larson Marsh)
Information and media literacy (IML) enables
people to interpret and make informed judgments
as users of information and media, as well as to
become skillful creators and producers of
information and media messages in their own
right.[1]
Prior to the 1990s, the primary focus of information
literacy was research skills.[2] Media literacy, a study
that emerged around the 1970s, traditionally
focuses on the analysis and the delivery of
information through various forms of
media.[3] Nowadays, the study of information
literacy has been extended to include the study of
media literacy in many countries like the
UK,[4] Australia and New Zealand.[5] The term
"information and media literacy" is used
by UNESCO[1] to differentiate the combined study
from the existing study of information literacy. It is
also referred to as information and communication
technologies (ICT) in the United
States.[6][7] Educators such as Gregory Ulmer have
also defined the field as electracy.
IML is a combination of information literacy and
media literacy. The purpose of being information
and media literate is to engage in a digital society;
one needs to be able to understand, inquire,
create, communicate and think critically. It is
important to effectively access, organize, analyze,
evaluate, and create messages in a variety of
forms.[8] The transformative nature of IML includes
creative works and creating new knowledge; to
publish and collaborate responsibly requires ethical,
cultural and social understanding.
According to Jeff Wilhelm (2000), "technology has
everything to do with literacy. And being able to
use the latest electronic technologies has
everything to do with being literate."[9] He supports
his argument with J. David Bolter's statement that "if
our students are not reading and composing with
various electronic technologies, then they are
illiterate. They are not just unprepared for the future;
they are illiterate right now, in our current time and
context".
Digital literacy refers to an individual's ability to find,
evaluate, and compose clear information through
writing and other mediums on various digital
platforms. Digital literacy is evaluated by an
individual's grammar, composition, typing skills and
ability to produce writings, images, audio
and designs using technology. While digital literacy
initially focused on digital skills and stand-alone
computers, the advent of the Internet and use of
social media, has caused some of its focus to shift
to mobile devices. Digital literacy does not replace
traditional forms of literacy, instead building upon
the skills that form the foundation of traditional
forms of literacy.[1]
Digital literacy built on the expanding role of
anthropological research in the field of literacy[2] as
well on concepts of visual literacy [3], computer
literacy [4], and information literacy, [5]
Overall digital literacy shares many defining
principles with other fields that use modifiers in front
of literacy to define ways of being and domain
specific knowledge. The term has grown in
popularity in education and higher education
settings and can be found used in International and
national standards [6]. Similar to other expanding
definitions of literacy that recognize cultural and
historical ways of making meaning [7] digital literacy
does not replace traditional forms of literacy,
instead building upon the skills that form the
foundation of traditional forms of literacy.
Digital literacy requires certain skill sets that are
interdisciplinary in nature. Warschauer and
Matuchniak (2010) list three skill sets, or 21st century
skills,[26] that individuals need to master in order to
be digitally literate: information, media, and
technology; learning and innovation skills; and life
and career skills.[vague]. Aviram et al. assert that
order to be competent in Life and Career Skills, it is
also necessary to be able to exercise flexibility and
adaptability, initiative and self-direction, social and
cross-cultural skills, productivity and accountability,
leadership and responsibility.[27]
Aviram & Eshet-Alkalai contend that there are five
types of literacies that are encompassed in the
umbrella term that is digital literacy.
1. Photo-visual literacy: the ability to read and
deduce information from visuals.
2. Reproduction literacy: the ability to use
digital technology to create a new piece of
work or combine existing pieces of work
together to make it your own.
3. Branching literacy: the ability to successfully
navigate in the non-linear medium of digital
space.
 4. Information literacy: the ability to search, effect any time during individual development.
locate, assess and critically evaluate Compositional universals have been shown to
information found on the web and on-shelf govern the design of visual artworks across ages
in libraries. and cultures (Arnheim, 1988; Tyler, 1998, 2007;
5. Socio-emotional literacy: the social and Ramachandran and Hirstein, 1999).
emotional aspects of being present online,
The ability to tolerate ambiguity and uncertainty
whether it may be through socializing, and
during the creative process is an important mental
collaborating, or simply consuming content.
trait. The tolerance for ambiguity is also an
important attribute in the learning of science in
The quest for students to acquire literacy, or
order to deal with the complexities and ambiguities
educational knowledge and competency, is a
of scientific knowledge. Unlike its popular
ubiquitous goal across all curricular disciplines. The
stereotype, science is replete with ambiguities and
fundamental skills and knowledge needed for basic
contradictions that have to be resolved in order for
literacy provide the foundation for more complex
learning to proceed. Allusive thinking by
learning to occur. Acquisition of literacy in the arts is
appearance alone lends intuitive judgment to
similarly developed when students can
overly rational thought and can lead to the
demonstrate and communicate their
discovery of meaningful metaphors (Tucker et
understanding of the basic concepts and principles
al., 1982; Smolucha and Smolucha, 1985;
of the art form. Artistic literacy is defined in the
Peterson, 1993). This type of thinking could be
National Coalition for Core Arts Standards: A
developed with focused visual education methods
Conceptual Framework for Arts Learning (2014) as
and its applicability shown in a variety of academic
follows: …artistic literacy is the knowledge and
disciplines.
understanding required to participate authentically
in the arts. While individuals can learn about dance, In terms of accessible art practice, prior research on
media, music, theatre, and visual arts through neurological patients has shown a conceptual link
reading print texts, artistic literacy requires that they between drawing and language (Gainotti et
engage in artistic creation processes directly al., 1983; Swindell et al., 1988; Kirk and
through the use of materials (such as charcoal or Kertesz, 1989), and these researchers hypothesized
paint or clay, musical instruments or scores...) and in that drawing may access the semantic system in a
specific spaces (concert halls, stages, dance manner that improves cognitive access. Studies
rehearsal spaces, arts studios and computer labs). exploring the issue of mechanisms shared between
different cognitive modalities revealed mechanisms
Despite the divergence between arts and sciences,
that are used to process spatial representations in
a growing body of quantitative research suggests
the visual modality, are shared with other
that the learning of science may be enhanced by
modalities, such as the processing of pitch in music
relationships with the arts. Contemporary research is
(Douglas and Bilkey, 2007). These findings have
beginning to explore explicit neuroscientific
implications not only for scientific learning, but also
hypotheses concerning the effects of activities such
for learning, pedagogical principles, and general
as, drawing, visual esthetics, and dance
social and educational policies.
observation.
“The plain fact is that the planet does not need
Visual art learning is reliant on a complex system of
more successful people. But it does desperately
perceptual, higher cognitive, and motor functions,
need more peacemakers, healers, restorers,
thus suggesting a shared neural substrate and
storytellers, and lovers of every kind. It needs people
strong potential for cross-cognitive transfer in
who live well in their places. It needs people of
learning and creativity. Within just a few weeks, for
moral courage willing to join the fight to make the
example, human infants can imitate and action
world habitable and humane. And these qualities
such as sticking out the tongue in response to
have little to do with success as we have defined
someone sticking out his tongue at them – how
it.”
does the infant know just what motor action plans
― David W. Orr, Ecological Literacy: Educating Our
to implement based only on a visual input? Mirror
Children for a Sustainable World
neurons may account for this ability, translating
visual input to motor output, underlying a  Thomas M. Lewinsohn
connection between visual arts and movement,
 José Luiz Attayde
and the auditory arts and music. From pre-historical
 Carlos Roberto Fonseca
times, visual art has been a form of communication
 Gislene Ganade
deeply imprinted in human nature; the act of
 Leonardo Ré Jorge
experiencing art and esthetic appreciation in the
 Johannes Kollmann
“receiver” also has the power of cross-cognitive
 Gerhard E. Overbeck
(2001) argued that the meaning of environmental
 Paulo Inácio Prado
 Valério D. Pillar literacy has been greatly muddled as a result of its
 Daniela Popp indiscriminate application. Recently, Payne
 Pedro L. B. da Rocha
 Wesley Rodrigues Silva (2005, 2006) also dismissed the notions of
 Annette Spiekermann environmental or ecological literacy as vague and
 Wolfgang W. Weisser
messy, arguing instead for a “critical ecological
Ecological science contributes to solving a broad ontology,” a curriculum theory focusing on the
range of environmental problems. However, lack
of ecological literacy in practice often limits learner's experience of being in the world. Given
application of this knowledge. In this paper, we the multitude of literacies now being promoted,
highlight a critical but often overlooked demand
and the widespread and seemingly arbitrary use of
on ecological literacy: to enable professionals of
various careers to apply scientific knowledge the terms environmental‐, ecological‐, and eco‐
when faced with environmental problems. Current
literacy in particular, it is easy to see how these
university courses on ecology often fail to
persuade students that ecological science authors made these assessments.
provides important tools for environmental
problem solving. We propose problem-based Despite the widespread, and at times,
learning to improve the understanding of
ecological science and its usefulness for real-world indiscriminate, use of these terms, efforts have been
environmental issues that professionals in careers made to establish a definition and identify key
as diverse as engineering, public health,
architecture, social sciences, or management will components of environmental literacy, ecological
address. Courses should set clear learning literacy, and ecoliteracy, and to firmly anchor their
objectives for cognitive skills they expect students
to acquire. Thus, professionals in different fields will characterizations in broad theoretical and
be enabled to improve environmental decision- philosophical frameworks. A driving purpose behind
making processes and to participate effectively in
multidisciplinary work groups charged with tackling this work has been to advance complete,
environmental issues. pedagogy‐guiding, and broadly applicable
frameworks allowing for standards and assessments
Numerous scholars have argued that the terms
of educational achievement to be set. Widely
environmental literacy or ecological literacy have
varying discourses on the nature and essential
been used in so many different ways and/or are so
components of environmental literacy, ecological
all‐encompassing that they have very little useful
literacy, and ecoliteracy have arisen primarily within
meaning (e.g., Disinger and Roth 1992, Roth
the fields of environmental education, ecology,
1992, Stables and Bishop 2001, Payne 2005, 2006).
and the broader humanities, respectively.
The introduction of the term ecoliteracy has further
complicated the conversation. Disinger and Roth
The term environmental literacy was first used 45
(1992) contended that the almost arbitrary
years ago in an issue of the Massachusetts
application of the term environmental literacy has
Audubon by Roth (1968) who inquired “How shall
resulted in nearly as many different perceptions of
we know the environmentally literate citizen?” Since
the term as there are people who use it, and that
then, the meaning of the term has evolved and
while various groups often use the term to solidify or
been extensively reviewed (e.g., Roth
demonstrate correctness of either themselves or
1992, Simmons 1995, Morrone et al. 2001, Weiser
their clients, they give little or no indication of what
2001, North American Association for Environmental
they actually mean. Similarly, Stables and Bishop
Education (NAAEE) 2004, O'Brien 2007). The notion
of environmental literacy has been and continues
to be promoted through creative and intensive
discourse from a diversity of perspectives. The most
widely accepted meaning of environmental
literacy is that it comprises an awareness of and
concern about the environment and its associated
problems, as well as the knowledge, skills, and
motivations to work toward solutions of current
problems and the prevention of new ones (NAAEE
2004).
More recently, the term ecological literacy was first
publicly used 27 years ago by Risser (1986) in
his Address of the Past President to the Ecological
Society of America. Risser (1986) urged ecologists to
ponder, debate, and arrive at consensus as to
what comprises basic ecological literacy, adopt a
vigorous stance, and embrace their responsibilities
as promoters of ecological literacy in their students
and the general public. Since then,
characterization of ecological literacy within the
field of ecology has evolved considerably (Cherrett
1989, Klemow 1991, Odum 1992, Berkowitz
1997, Berkowitz et al. 2005, Jordan et al.
2009, Powers 2010), focusing on the key ecological
knowledge necessary for informed decision‐
making, acquired through scientific inquiry and
systems thinking.
The term ecoliteracy was first published 16 years
ago by Capra (1997), who founded the Center for
Ecoliteracy, a nonprofit organization dedicated to
education for sustainable living (Center for
Ecoliteracy 2013a). Drawing heavily on the work
of Orr (1992), Capra and others in the broader
humanities have advanced ecoliteracy, with a
focus on the creation of sustainable human
communities and society (e.g., Capra
1997, 2002, Cutter‐Mackenzie and Smith
2003, Wooltorton 2006, Center for Ecoliteracy
2013b).
Despite a shared concern for the environment and
recognition of the central role of education in
enhancing human‐environment relationships,
researchers have adopted widely differing
discourses on what it mean for a person to be
environmentally literate, ecologically literate, or
ecoliterate. We approached the multiplicity of
theoretical and practical perspectives by
developing a classification of the literacy
conversation. This involved considering similar
propositions within groups (i.e., within the fields of
environmental education, ecology, and the
humanities), describing each of these groupings
and distinguishing it from the others, and
highlighting areas of similarity and divergence.
We focused on comparing definitional treatments
of environmental, ecological, and ecoliteracy. That
is, we focused on contributions that explicitly used
one of these terms and attempted to provide or
refine a precise definition or framework to describe
it. A definition attests to and presents as a
description “… a statement of the exact meaning
of a word …” or “… the nature, scope, or meaning
of something … ,” attributing to a term a commonly
understood precise meaning (Oxford
Dictionaries 2013). Such an approach characterizes
a phenomenon as embodying a compendium of
key attributes, defined a priori (see Davis and
Ruddle 2010). We focused on contributions that
took this approach to (re)defining environmental,
ecological, or ecoliteracy. As it was impossible to
consider all relevant contributions to our collective
understanding of human‐environment relationships,
our focus on definitions and frameworks served to
set practical limits on the scope of our study.
In contrast to a definitional approach, a developing and/or enriching programs aimed at
conceptual approach regards phenomena as cultivating these types of literacies.
abstract ideas, whose attributes arise from a
Teoryang Yum-yum Sinasabi ng teoryang ito na
particular and identifiable theoretical framework
naunang sumenyas ang tao kaysa magsalita.
concerning the factors that organize human
Ngunit sa pagdating ng tamang panahon,
relationships and affect the human condition (Davis
kailangan niyang palitan ng mga salita ang
and Ruddle 2010). Stable and Bishop's (2001)
kanyang nais sabihin. Patunay nito, lagi nating
and Payne's (2005, 2006) aforementioned critiques
naipagsasabay ang pagtango sa pagsasabi ng
of efforts to characterize these types of literacies
afirmativ na salitang tulad ng oo, opo o kaya sige.
are based on the argument that these approaches
Pag-iling naman ang kasabay ng mga negativ na
are definitional rather than conceptual/theoretical.
tulad ng hindi o ayaw. Subukin kaya nating
Indeed, these are entirely different ways of
baligtarin?Magsalita ka ng hindi sabay sa
understanding and explaining phenomena, but
pagtango, at oo naman sabay sa pag-iling.
they are both valid (Davis and Ruddle 2010). We
Kapansin-pansin ang kawalan ng koordinasyon.
recognize that innumerable other contributions, on
a global scale and throughout history, have directly
Katulad ng teoryang ta-ta, sinasabi rito na ang
or indirectly led to broader theoretical
tao ay tutugon sa pamamagitan ng pagkumpas
conceptualizations related to these types of
sa alinmang bagay na nangangailangan ng
literacies, often without even naming them as such.
aksiyon. Ang pagtugong ito ay isinasagawa sa
However, it was beyond the scope of our study to
pamamagitan ng bibig ayon sa posisyon ng
consider all of these contributions.
dila. Katulad halos ng teoryang ta-ta ang
paliwanag ng mga proponent ng teoryang ito
In this manuscript, we trace the evolution of the
sa pinagmulan ng wika
term environmental literacy within the field of
environmental education. We also examine the
Language shift, also known as language
development of the more recent terms ecological
transfer or language replacement or language
literacy and ecoliteracy, and explore how and why
assimilation, is the process whereby a community of
they evolved from environmental literacy. We
speakers of a language shifts to speaking a
present a classification of the numerous proposed
completely different language, usually over an
frameworks for environmental literacy, ecological
extended period of time. Often, languages that are
literacy, and ecoliteracy, and compare and
perceived to be higher status stabilise or spread at
contrast these frameworks across multiple
the expense of other languages that are perceived by
dimensions of affect, knowledge, skills, and
their own speakers to be lower-status. An example is
behavior. This analysis facilitates close examination
the shift from Gaulish to Latin that occurred in what is
of where we have been, where we are, and where
now France during the time of the Roman Empire.
we might be headed with respect to these vital
conversations. This work also offers points of
reference for continuing critical discourse and
illuminates a diversity of inspiration sources for