`

Building and Enhancin g

New Literacies Across
the Curriculum

LEARNER’S MODULE
MARIAN COLLEGE
2ND SEMESTER
SY 2021-2022

Letter to the Student

To our dear students:

Peace and all good!

Our world is experiencing an unprecedented health and economic crisis brought by COVID 19 Pandemic. This current
disruption distressed the workface across socioeconomic strata, metamorphosing the nature of the work and the way we
communicate with one another. Schools have to make adjustment in the teaching and learning process. Flexible Learning
Modality is a proposed mechanism to continue the delivery of educational services during this period.

The Commission on Higher Education suggested three Flexible Learning Modalities; namely, online, offline. Taking into
account the availability of devices, internet connectivity, and level of digital literacy of our students, we decided to use
blended learning as our flexible mode of delivering instruction and other services. This module is designed to cater the
needs of our students who do not have access to digital technology. Since it is blended, other student have no option to
avail the online component of blended learning.

You are expected to read the contents of this module, study the examples, practice answering the “Check your progress”
portion and answer the exercises at the end of every module. I expect that you will complete one module per week. Submit
your output every FRIDAY on the designated pigeonhole boxes located at the Entrance of High School gate.

For any queries with regards to the use of this module or you encounter difficulty understanding the topic, please don’t
hesitate to contact the undersigned on mobile phone number 09305171981. You can also reach me in my messenger
account Guada Edulan or send email in guadalupeedulan@mariancollege.edu.ph

I will ask for your contact details during our course orientation so that I can personally monitor your progress in this course.
In case the CHED, LGU, and IATF will allow us to conduct in-campus/face-to-face teaching and learning, we will inform you
immediately through a text message or other medium of communication. May Almighty God and Mother Mary our
patroness will bless us always.

Guadalupe G. Edulan

Chapter 1
Introduction to 21st
Century literacies
 At the end of this chapter, you should be able to develop a clear and practical understanding of the following:

 definitions of conventional literacy; and

 expanded views of literacy in the 21st century.

Literacy is defined by dictionaries as the state of being able to read and write (Literacy, literate, n.d.). although it is the ultimate
thesis of this chapter that such a traditional definition no longer suffices in the information age, a thorough understanding of literacy
and its past nuances will give us a solid foundation in exploring ad discussing the “new” literacies of the 21 st century and why
possessing them is now mandatory for both teachers and students in all levels of education.

This chapter explores several definitions of literacy and what being literate means in the multiplicity of contexts in the 21 st
century, with the goal of raising awareness in readers who might be presently unaware of the evolving perspectives on literary and
giving teachers the opportunity to pause and reflect on their own literacies even as they attempt to teach the new literacies to their
students.

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Traditional or Conventional Literacy

The word “Literacy” stems from the word “literate,” which first appeared in the 15 th century and is in turn derived from the
Latin word literatus, meaning “(a person) marked with letters” – that is, “distinguished or identified by educated. Since the subjects
of the time (e.g., grammar, logic, arithmetic, geometry, etc.) all had written texts (which were composed of letters) that had to be
studied, the ability to read and write was therefore of prime importance, leading to the strong association of being “literate” with
the ability to read and write.

Miller (1973) divides this conventional concept of literacy into three subcategories:
 1. Basic Literacy – it is the ability to correspond visual shapes to spoken sounds in order to decode written materials and
translate them into oral language. Simply put, it is the ability to recognize letters and words. This would be akin to
recognizing that the sequence of letters “b-a-s-a” forms the word basa in Filipino, even without understanding what it
means.
2. Comprehension Literacy – It is the ability to understand the meaning of what is being read. To capitalize on the example
above, this would be like knowing that basa can mean either “to read” or “to be wet.”
3. Functional or Practical Literacy – it is the ability to read (i.e., decode and comprehend) written materials needed to perform
everyday vocational task. This is the equivalent of reading the text “Ang bata ay nagbabasa.” and being able to understand
that basa here refers to reading and not to being wet.

Based on this conventional view of literacy, we notice two things for reading (and therefore literacy) to exist: (1) a text
(consisting of symbols and grammar) to be read; and (2) a meaning or message being communicated by the text for the reader to
extract. Without a text, there would be nothing to read; without meaning, the text is reduced to series of incomprehensible doodles.

It should therefore be noted that even in Miller’s definition of literacy, the act of reading implies a level of understanding. Simply
knowing how to say a word (or a series of words) is not the same as being able to understand what it means. Without understanding
of the meaning of the words, reading has not taken place. Based on this, Schlechty (2001) defines the concept of functional illiteracy
as the state of being able to read, but not well enough to manage daily living and employment tasks that require reading skills
beyond a basic level.

As the rest of this chapter will argue, this synchronicity between decoding textual symbols and being able to extract and
understanding their meaning is a necessary part of being literate, even as the new contexts of the 21 st century change the nature of
what the “text” is, and what it means to “read” and “write.”

Expanded Views of Literacy

Despite the popularity of American films in the Philippines, many Filipinos cannot follow the actors’ dialogue, and thus resort to
guessing the overall story based on the actions onscreen.

Despite the ubiquity of the traditional view of literacy, Roberts (1995) notes that “in the past fifty years, hundreds of definitions of
‘literacy’ have been advanced by scholars, adult literacy workers, and programmed planners,” with even the United Nations
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 2006) acknowledging that literacy as a concept has proven to be complex
and dynamic, it being continually defined and interpreted in multiple ways.

In 2004, UNESCO formally defined 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 their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider
society.”

Note that “reading” does not appear in UNESCO’s definition of literacy. Instead, literacy has taken on a definition more akin to
knowing about something and what to do with it.”

In this vein, Mkandawire (2018) more succinctly posits that literacy is “ a form of knowledge, competence, and skills in a
particular field or area,” being supported by UNESCO (2006), Barton (2007), and Mkandawire, Simooya Mundenda, & Cheelo (2017),
which acknowledge that – as we have just pointed out – modern views appear to equate literacy with knowledge.

This shift in the definition of literacy from “reading and writing” to “knowledge” is especially important as we explore the “new”
literacies of the 21st century that seem far – removed from the contexts upon which conventional literacy is based.

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Literacy in the 21st Century

When viewed from the perspective of conventional/traditional literacy, the concept of “new” literacies is a bit of a misnomer, as
even these new literacies of the 21st century make generous use of being able to read and write, rather than supplant them as skills
necessary for survival. However, when viewed from the perspective of literary as knowledge, the new literacies begin to make sense
as they are the “skills and bodies of knowledge” that are necessary for survival and productivity in the information age.
 In the same vein of reasoning, the new literacies are not “new” per se – as in the sense that they never existed before. Rather,
we consider them to be new because the contexts in which old skills and knowledge are being employed are new, both in nature
and in scope. The ability to translate textual information into images is not a new skill, but it is the ability to do so in a way that is
concise, complete, and clear that is certainly new, given that it will be how ninety percent of the population will be informed on the
issue. Similarly, being able to verify the truth-value and veracity of a document is not a new skill-but being able to do so when there
are a hundred similar document available to you online is.

Case in point: throughout history, humans have communicated on levels apart from the spoken and written word, for example,
visually, using the long distance communication system of smoke signals used by the ancient Chines, the ancient Greeks, and the
indigenous peoples of North America.

In the Victorian era, there was such thing as the “Language of Flowers,” where the kind, color, and arrangement of a bouquet of
flowers were used to communicate messages that could not otherwise be spoken aloud in Victorian society (Greenaway, 1884). For
example, a bouquet of oak leaves (representing strength), purple roses (sorrow), white lilies (resurrection), and pale yellow tulips
and rosemary (memory or remembrance) would altogether communicate a message of sympathy, usually over the death of a loved
one.

Successfully interpreting these “visual languages” required a kind of “visual literacy” to understand the message being
presented and to manage the information encoded therein-skills which, as following chapters will further reveal, are coming into use
again in the 21st century literacies. The difference is that now we are not analyzing smoke signals or bouquets, but rather sounds,
text, and images from a hundred different sources at a nearly non-stop rate to the point where accuracy, validity, and reliability of
the messages we interpret form the basis for some very important personal and collective decision-making.

Another difference involves the question of necessity: One did not need to be literate in the language of flowers to live a fruitful
and fulfilled life in Victorian era England, but to be not media or digitally literate in the 21 st century makes easily cost an individual
time, money, property, and even life.

These so- called “new” literacies arose from the increasing availability of communication technologies like that were once
unavailable to the average individual. Technologies like blogging and vlogging, social networking, and even text-messaging change
and expand both the extent and the form of our communication – blending text, sound, and images in ways unforeseen and
unprecedented (Richardson, 2014). Never before have the opinions of a twelve year-old child in an unheard-of town in an unheard-
of country been available for everyone on earth to read and hear, and while adults might scoff at a child’s opinions, that child might
have more than a thousand online subscribers who certainly think his or her opinions are important, maybe even more so that the
opinions of adults.

Simply put, three things have been critical in the rise of the new literacies:

1. Increased Rearch – we are communicating with more people, from more diverse cultures, across vaster distances than ever
before.
2. Increased Means of Communication – we are communicating in more ways and at faster speeds than ever before.
3. Increased Breadth of Content – we are communicating about more things than ever before.

How do we work together with people of different cultures who might have vastly different perspectives on communication,
work ethics, values, religious beliefs, and worldviews? What do we do when some of these might be mutually exclusive to our own?
In an age where information is power – where knowing more and knowing first can spell the difference between success and failure
– how do we leverage both productive and profitable? Moreover, how do we navigate and manage the veritable minefield of
information that was once considered taboo and private and is now online, for all the world to see and judge, whether we like it or
not?

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Answering such complex questions requires new sets of skills and knowledge – ones that our school system have never
had to teach before, with these changes in with whom, how, and why we communicate, new literacies are required not only to make
sense of the changes, but also to use these new technologies and paradigms in meaningful and productive ways – something
required not only of students, but of teachers as well.

To better address the need for teachers to be literate in these new literacies, this book discusses and explores them in the
ensuing chapters, namely:

Globalization and Multicultural Literacy discusses how our increasing ability to communicate with almost anyone, anywhere, in
real time requires new skills and attitudes in interacting with people with cultures, perspectives, worldviews, and priorities different
from our own, particularly with the end – view of not only peace and understanding, but also mutual benefit and productivity.

The chapter on Social and Financial Literacies meanwhile explores the need for the ability to navigate our own social networks
– of both the online and off-line variety – to not only communicate clearly, but also to leverage resources which we ourselves might
not possess. At the same time, the chapter addresses the notorious problem of short - sightedness in Filipino culture regarding
personal finances and how this must be addressed at an increasingly earlier age to help mitigate the ever-widening gap between the
rich and the poor.

Media and Cyber/Digital Literacies explore the emerging need to locate, verify, and ultimately manage online information,
especially in an age where information is power and where having the right (and wrong) information and the ability to communicate
it with others and use it to address real-world problems easily spell the difference between both personal and career success and
failure.

Ecoliteracy and Artistic and Creative Literacy explore the emerging demands for knowing how to effectively and sustainably
manage the natural resources that our increased industrialization and demands for productivity are so rapidly eating up. The chapter
also explores how this increase in productivity also brings with in an increased demand for arts and aesthetics and the need to
develop ways of effectively communicating through the creative arts in industries dominated by objective data.

Finally , Critical Literacy addresses the increasing need to discern the underlying (and often tacit) messages behind the new
“texts” of the 21st century, particularly in an ever-increasingly multicultural society where ideas, cultures, and ideologies vie with one
another for power and dominance in the minds of the masses.

Enhance
One of the ways students can be trained to the new literacies is to engage them in digital storytelling, wherein the students
take part in the traditional process of storytelling, but with some digital enhancements. They choose a topic, conduct research, write
a script, develop a story, and through the use of multimedia, create something that can be played online or on a computer.

Digital Storytelling can be broken down into following six steps:

1. Writing – write about a particular story form your life. The story must have a central theme.
2. Developing a Script – develop a script that identifies the important points of your story.
3. Creating a Storyboard – create a storyboard that visually organizes the flow of the story. Assign a particular image to
portions of the script.
4. Locating Multimedia – use search engines to locate photos and videos. Photos and videos from one’s personal collection
may also be used.
5. Creating the Digital Story – record the voice over for your movie. Create the movie using the software that is available to
you.
6. Sharing and Uploading – share your story in class and upload your work online.

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Reflect
 Wrap Up

 Traditional Literacy is the ability to read and write.

 The traditional or conventional concept of literacy can be divided into sub-categories:
1. Basic Literacy, which is the ability to recognize letters and words:
2. Comprehension Literacy, which is the ability to understand the meaning of what is being read; and
3. Functional/Practical Literacy, which is the ability to read written materials needed to perform everyday
vocational task.
 Modern views of literacy equate it with knowledge.
 New literacies have risen due to increased reach, increased means of communication, and increased breadth of
content. These new literacies are globalization and multicultural literacy, social and financial literacy, media and
cyber/digital literacy, ecoliteracy, artistic and creative literacy, and critical literacy.

References

Barton, D. (2007). Literacy: An introduction to the ecology of written language. Oxford, UK: Blackwell
Greenway, K. (1884). The language of flowers. New York: Gramercy Publishing Company.
Jakes, D. S., & Brennan, J. (2005). Capturing stories, capturing lives: An introduction to digital storytelling. Retrieved
from http://www.jakesonline.org/dstory_ice.pdf
Literacy, Literate (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/literacy

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 1

GENERAL Instructions:
1. Use white short bond paper and paper clip;
2. On the cover page. Print the following:
a. Your name
b. Subject/Time
c. Instructor’s name
3. Use extra bond paper for your answers if necessary.

Questions to Ponder

Read the questions and instructions carefully, write your answers in the space provided.

1. Given the traditional/conventional concept of literacy, how literate are you?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
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_____________________________________________________________________________________
2. How deep is your level of comprehension?
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3. As a pre-service teacher, what kind of written materials should you be able to read and understand? Are you reading these
materials? How well can you understand them?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
4. Which of the new literacies are you knowledgeable in? Which of the new literacies do you lack knowledge in?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
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_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
5. Although reading education in the Philippines aims to develop Functional/Practical literacy in learners, what level of
literacies is being developed when classroom practices focus more on memorization rather than on understanding and
application?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

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 CHAPTER 2
Globalization and
Multicultural literacies

OBJECTIVES
At the end of this chapter, you should be able to develop a clear and practical understanding of the following:

 globalization and its implications on both the national and individual level;
 cultural and multicultural literacy in the Philippines; and
 one’s personal level of cultural and multicultural literacy.

Globalization is the process of interaction and integration between people, business entities, governments, and cultures from other
nations, driven by international trade and investment and supported by information technology (Levin Institute, 2017).

To better illustrate this, consider two people from different countries, for example, the Philippines and South Korea. Let us say
they meet in college and become good friends, so that the Korean comes to be treated like a member of the Filipino’s family. After
some time, the Korean returns to her own country, but something has changed – she notices an aspect of her culture that she finds
herself wishing to be more Filipino. She knows very well that she cannot change Korean culture as a whole, so she decides to just
change herself. She does not change everything, of course – just a little thing here and there; she is still obviously Korean, but she
just does a few things differently from those who have never been to the Philippines.

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 GLOBALIZATION

Now suppose a little more time passes and the Korean is very happy with the changes she has made to her life that makes it
just a little more Filipino. Let us say some of her colleagues notice how she does some things differently and they become curious, so
she tells them about her experiences in the Philippines and how that in some ways, she wishes to do things the way the Filipinos do.
Her colleagues decide to give it a try, and they find that they like this different way of doing things, too.

Now let us say that when we look at the person from the Philippines, something similar has taken place: the Filipino, while still
being Filipino through and through, has made a few changes in her life as a result of her experience of Korean culture through her
friend during their years in college. Some of her friends have also noticed it and have made similar little changes in their own lives.

Because our exposure to the concept of globalization has largely been through an economic lens, it is tempting to limit
globalization as something that concerns economists and businessmen. But globalization and its effects go beyond import or export
and Foreign direct Investment (FDI). Notice that in our illustration, the friends of the two people in question were affected by their
interaction, even if they themselves had never been to Korea or had not met a Filipino. Now scale this up to the point where it is not
just two people from two different nations interacting, but millions of people, from nearly two hundred different countries, where
we are no longer integrating just languages or mannerisms or food recipes, but everything from styles of ways of doing business,
ideas, and whole worldviews. This is globalization as we know it today.

Globalization ass a phenomenon is not new. Nations and cultures have been interacting and integrating with one another for
millennia. Consider how ancient Greek culture was so widespread across the Mediterranean that even the Egyptians could speak
their language, and how Rome was so inspired by Greek culture that they adopted it wholesale. Consider how so much of the
Chinese, Arab, and Indian cultures have become part of our own; these interactions subsequent integrations did not happen
recently, but even during centuries before there was eve a political entity known as the Philippines.

What is different now, however, is the speed at which globalization is happening, its overall scope, and its effect on the lives of
ordinary people. Not only are we interacting with, learning from, and integrating knowledge gleaned from other cultures and nations
at an unprecedented rate, there is now also a sense that no matter where one lives or how limited is one’s face-to-face interaction
with memories of another nation or culture and how limited one’s time is spent online, globalization and its effects are inescapable.
Even remote villages will be exposed to the latest KPOP hit, if they have access to a radio. If they produce rice, they will also feel the
effects of more affordable rice imports from Thailand and Vietnam. If they have access to a kerosene stove, they will feel the effects
of the fluctuations in oil prices originating from Arab nations. All these things take place without having to know anyone from or
anything about Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, or the Middle East.

The Effects of Globalization

The effects of Globalization are multi-dimensional. As shown earlier, they range from economic to cultural, on both national and
individual levels.

Meyer (2000) summarizes the effects of globalization as follows:

 economic, political, and military dependence and interdependence between nations;

 expanded flow of individual people among nations; and
 expanded flow of instrumental culture around the world.

When the term globalization entered the Philippines public mindset in the early 90s, it was popularly understood to be a mainly
economic phenomenon, and a negative one at that. the idea that foreign-owned businesses could come into the country and freely
“set-up shop,” thereby choking-out local industries was not a welcome thought, even though it was erroneous.

While Philippine society has come to realize that this early perspective represented a shallow understanding of globalization,
the fact of the matter is that globalization has bought economic development to our society as a whole. By attracting Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI), new technologies, employment opportunities, and money have come into the country. The phenomenon of a taxi
driver owning multiple smartphones to browse social media while stuck in traffic because of the rise of the number of vehicles on
our roads is testament to this fact.

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 This does not mean, however, that there have been no negative effects of globalization. Kentor (2001) notes that Foreign
capital dependence increases income inequality in four ways: (1) It creates a small, highly paid class of elites to manage these
investment, who create many but usually low-pay jobs; (2) Profits from these investment are repatriated, rather than invested in the
host country, therefore inhibiting domestic capital formation; (3) Foreign capital penetration tends to concentrate land ownership
among the very rich; and (4) Host countries tend to create political and economic climates favorable to foreign capital that in turn
limit domestic labor’s ability to obtain better wages. In simple words, “the rich become richer, and the poor become poorer.”

Hout (1980) observes that international dependence (another word for globalization) tends to suppress adult wages, which in
turn perpetuates the roles of children as economic necessities (the familiar saying “Kapag maraming anak, maraming katulong sa
hanapbuhay”), leading to explosive population growth.

In a chain reaction of negative effects, this explosive population growth creates a large sub-sector of society that is insulated
from economic development yet competes for resources with the rest of the populations. Coupled with the economic inequalities in
which this society is couched, this encourages political instability, resulting in policies that favor the redistribution of income, which
in turn discourages investment, which then slows economic growth.

Political and Military Dependence/Interdependence

A survey conducted in late 2018 found that three in five Filipinos believe that the United States would intervene on behalf of
the US on its foreign policies, this can be taken as evidence of the Philippines’ dependence on both the political and military power
of the US in order to maintain its sovereignty as a nation-state in the Southeast Asia region. Similar things can be said of Russia and
the many communist nations throughout the world.

The point is that where there are some forms of economic dependence/interdependence, political
dependence/interdependence is not for behind, as the participating nations strive to protect their investments and interests I one
another.

Expanded Flow of Expressive and Instrumental Culture

Expressive culture, as the term suggests, deals with how a particular culture expresses itself in its language, music, arts, and the
like. Globalization encourages the monetization of these cultural artifacts and their imports/export among participating cultures; the
increased consumption of which changes the consuming the culture. Case in point, KPOP music and culture was a relatively niche
occupation ten years ago, with very few people aware of its existence, let alone actual fans. Today it is practically ubiquitous in
Philippines society, alongside the consumption of all things Korean, from skin-care products to instant noodles.

Instrumental culture, on the other hand, refers to “common models of social order” (Meyer, 2000) – that is, models or ways of
thinking about and enacting national identity, nation-state policies both domestic and foreign, socio-economic development, human
rights, education and social progress. A simple example of this is the Philippine educational system: Closely patterned after the
American educational system, education leaders in the country closely follow the educational trends in America and select European
countries, perceiving them to be the global leaders in the field. While this has served us to an arguably satisfactory degree thus far, it
is interesting to observe that the problems and difficulties in American Education eventually show-up in Philippines education, albeit
five to ten years removed.

Expanded Flow of People among Societies

The fact that globalization encourages the movement of people between nations-states should come as no surprise to us. The
Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) estimates that there were 2.3 million Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) during the period of
April to September 2017, who were responsible for up to 205.2 billion pesos in remittances (Philippine Statistics Authority, 2018).

Meyer (2000) observes three reasons for this: socio-economic migration, political expulsion, and travel/tourism.

Socio-economic migration explains the Philippines’ OFW phenomenon. Filipinos travel abroad to find better economic
opportunities for themselves and their families for lack of said opportunities here.

Political expulsion, on the other hand, has more to do with trying to escape the political climate of a particular country,
thereby forcing an individual to seek asylum (and ultimately, resettlement) in another more favorable country.
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Travel for the sake of leisure (i.e., tourism) is a strong indicator of economic development as more and more Filipinos are able to
finance short-term travels abroad, fueled by curiosity that is fed by social media and enabled by globalization.

Cultural Literacy
Cultural Literacy is a term coined by Hirsch (1983), referring to the ability to understand the signs and symbols of a given
culture and being able to participate in its activities and customs as opposed to simply being a passive (and outside) observer. The
signs and symbols of a culture include both its formal and informal languages, its idioms and forms of expression, entertainment,
values, customs, roles, traditions, and the like – most of which are assumed and unstated. Thus, they are learned by being part of
the culture, rather than by any formal means.

To illustrate this, consider the following statement: “The classroom was in absolute bedlam.” Without any sort of
background, the reader is forced to guess the meaning of the world “bedlam” from its context within the sentence. As it turns out,
“bedlam” refers to a scene of uproar, confusion, and chaos. The term is British in origin, referring to a psychiatric hospital in London
by the name of St. Mary Bethlehem that was once representative of the worst excesses of insane asylums during the 14 th century
and “bedlam” is a corruption of the word “Bethlehem” in the name. While it is one thing to know that meaning of the word, note
that it is knowledge of its cultural origins that better enables a person to both appreciate and participate in conversations and
activities.

Of course, by its very definition, cultural literacy is culture-specific, but it is not limited to national cultures, contrary to what
many people assume. The culture of one workplace can be very different from another, just as the culture of a particular school can
differ widely from another school nearby.

There are far too many cultures for any one person to be literate in all of them. As more and more Filipinos travel – both
domestically and abroad – as the result of globalization and the increased opportunities it brings, the need to develop new cultural
literacies comes to the fore.

Cultural Literacy in the Philippines

The national Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) is the government body tasked with the documentation,
preservation, and dissemination of Philippine culture, both locally and abroad. Part of how the NCCA is addressing this and related
matters is through the establishment of the Philippine Cultural Education Program (PCEP), which “envisions a nation of culturally
literate and empowered Filipinos” (NCCA, 2015). Designed to make cultural education accessible to all sectors of Philippines society,
the PCEP held national consultative meetings, conferences, workshop, art camps, and festivals on culture-based teaching and good
governance from 2003 to 2007. As a result of Republic Act 10066 (2010), PCEP has been designated as the body, together with the
Department of Education (DepEd), tasked to “formulate the cultural heritage education programs both for local and overseas
Filipinos” that are to be an integral part of Philippine education in all its aspects.

Cultural education – and thus cultural literacy – in the Philippines is quite a challenge, given that Philippine culture is a
complex blend of many indigenous and colonial cultures and varies widely across regions, and the average citizen is almost as
ignorant of other Philippine cultures as foreigners are. To point out, consider the question, “What makes something or someone
‘Filipino’?”

The average reader will be hard-pressed to pin down a definite answer. De Leon (2011) argues that this is in part due to a
colonial mindset among Filipino artists that inhibits the full development and realization of Filipino artistic creativity – a kind of
artistic and cultural creativity that is fully Filipino.

De Leon (2011) coins this propensity for Filipinos to look at their culture and themselves through Western lenses as the Doña
Victorina Syndrome, a kind of inferiority complex wherein anything and everything natively Filipino is considered by the Filipinos
themselves as being inferior, backward, and worthless in comparison to their Western counterparts, and therefore a source of
embarrassment and unease. As De Leon puts it, our low self-esteem borders on self-contempt, the results of which are doubt in the
Filipino capacity for achievement, perverse delight in belittling ourselves, lack of respect and even outright contempt for one
another, and blind dependence on foreign goods, concepts, techniques, approaches, and expertise (2011). The biggest challenge
then, according to him, is the deconstruction of the negative self-images and nations of ourselves that we have imbibed over
generations through “a workable, effective program of education that can make Filipinos more responsive and sensitive to Filipino
dignity, needs, values, and cultural potentials and assets.”
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For De Leon, it is excellence in the arts – via an expression that is truly Filipino – that can form the core of national unity. Of
course, this remains to be seen.

Challenges for Cultural Literacy in the Philippines

As Applebee (1987) observes, interesting discussions on cultural literacy give rise to some very difficult questions which are
particularly important to a multicultural and multilingual nation like the Philippines.

 What kinds of knowledge constitute cultural literacy? Is it knowing facts, names, and dates, or is it something more
experiential like being familiar with a story or a particular song?
 If cultures is more “caught than taught,” should cultural literacy be one of the goals of education? If yes, how does one
teach it?
 Whose cultures must we be literate in to be considered “culturally literate”? who decides which cultures are included and
which ones are excluded, and on what bases?
 Is cultural literacy education simply a means for the dominant culture to express its dominance over minority culture?
 How is cultural literacy to be assessed and evaluated? How can we know someone is “culturally literate”?

As of writing of this book, no definitive answers to these answers to these questions exist in the literature.

Multicultural Literacy
As cultures begin to mix and change as a result of globalization, conflicts inevitably arise over identity, values, and worldviews.
This situation consequently needs for a literacy that enables us to quickly and easily identify and resolve such conflicts, preferably
before they even begin. This has come to be understood as multicultural literacy.

Multicultural Literacy as a set of skills and knowledge is difficult to define because of how it changes depending on the contexts
in which it is discussed. For example, multicultural literacy as defined in American Literature is different from how it is deployed in a
more European context.

In America, multicultural literacy has very strong leanings toward knowing or identifying the poly-ethnic origins of knowledge
with the express goal of fostering equality, diversity and social justice. This is in direct response to the “Euro-centric” and “white-
dominant” traditions of education that in the eyes of American cultural minorities (particularly the blacks) is a form of racial
injustice. This is very foreign to the Philippine context, which, despite having our own deeply ingrained traditions of discrimination,
does not have the same issues of discrimination as in the United States, nor the same amount of hostility. Nevertheless, the fact that
the perceived need for multicultural literacy stems from slighted sense of justice for “the other” (that is, any individual, group, or
culture considers “not of us,” for any reason) cannot be ignored in our attempts to pin down a functional definition of multicultural
literacy for ourselves.

Meanwhile, in Europe, multicultural literacy comes more in the form of intercultural communication competence (ICC), which is
defined by Dusi, Messetti, and Steinbach (2014) as a composite of skills, abilities, attitudes, personality patterns, etc. necessary for
clear and productive communication with cultures other than our own. Similarly, Fantini (2006) defines it as “a complex of abilities
needed to perform effectively and appropriately when interacting with others who are linguistically and culturally different from
oneself.

Clearly, the broader and more magnanimous European definition of multicultural literacy is more fitting for the Philippine
context, even if the exact definition of what ICC consists of is still being hotly debated. For the purposes of this book, it would also be
wise to include how justice contributes to the literacy; that is, there would be no discussion on multicultural literacy if not for the
lack of justice in a multicultural discussion or discourse.

We define multicultural literacy here as the knowledge and skills necessary to ensure that any communication with a culture
different form our own is clear, productive, and respectful such that their differences are celebrated and neither culture is
demeaned or treated as inferior.
P11

It is important to realize that under this definition, a “different culture” is not just limited to “someone form another
country,” but could also include someone whose gender, economic background, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or even sense
of fashion is different from our own.

The skills and knowledge required for one to be multi-culturally literate are not mere language skills, since it is assumed that
some medium of communication already exists between two cultures. Rather, true multicultural literacy consists of perspectives,
attitudes, and beliefs about other cultures that affect the manner in which we communicate and the motives behind our
communication. Here are some examples:

1. Be selfless – an attitude of selflessness – one that is less concerned with how I feel and more concerned with how I am
making others feel – is crucial to multicultural literacy, as so much of the offense and conflict associated with the meeting
of different cultures is the result of a “me first” attitude: I should be accommodated, you should be the one to adjust to
me, I should feel comfortable with you before I make efforts to make you feel comfortable, etc. Such selflessness is not
instinctive to people, and is especially difficult when one feels insecure oneself and identity.

2. Know that good and useful things can (and do) come from those different from us – Hand-in-hand with a dismissive
attitude toward another culture is the idea that nothing good can come from them. Furthermore, there is a tendency to
ignore or outright dismiss evidence to the contrary. Simply acknowledging that good ideas and products have come from
cultures we might not like goes a long way in preparing our minds to perceive them as being equally valuable.

3. Be willing to compromise – any significant interaction with someone from a different culture is governed by the principle
of “He/She wants something, and I want something.” In other words, cultures do not interact out of pure magnanimity. If
both of you are willing to give the other what they want, well and good. But what happens when one or both are
unwilling to give what the other wants? There must be a compromise: a reciprocal adjustment of demands and
expectations to accommodate what the other party is willing to give.

4. Accept that there are limits – at some point however, one or both cultures will be unwilling/unable to adjust their wants
for the sake of the other any further. Beyond this point, the productivity of the interaction or walk away, accepting that
what you want cannot be had from that particular source. Attempting to force the other party to adjust (when you refuse
to do the same) only results in misunderstanding, hurt, and conflict. The sooner we accept this, the sooner we can set
realistic expectations of one another.

Issues in Teaching and Learning Multicultural Literacy in the Philippines

A number of important issues stand in the way of Philippine educators attempting to learn multicultural literacy for
themselves and teach it in turn to others, which are different from what can be found in Western literature, particularly those of the
United States.

Conflicting Requirements for Peace

When all is said and done, the heart of multicultural literacy is peace among different cultures – that is, productive and non-
violent interaction. it is easy to assume that all cultures value peace to the same degree and are therefore willing to make the same
compromises in order to attain it, but this is not necessarily true.

Take for example the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, which is really a conflict over territory: Both sides desire peace, but they do
not desire it enough to be willing to compromise. In a very real sense, both sides would rather live in perpetual conflict with one
another rather than give-up their claim to the land which each side believes is rightfully theirs.

On a more personal, immediate front, I am reminded of an activity a fellow teacher conducted in her class where she asked
her students to write down how they defined “peace.” One student revealingly wrote: “Peace is when I get what I want.”

Nationalistic and Regionalistic Pushback

The increasing demand for multicultural sensitivity, inclusion, and diversity in the recent years has also given rise to
resistance form groups who believe that their identity is being “watered-down” by the needed compromises.
P12

Case in point is the very recent proposal of “Ortograpiya ti Pagsasao nga Ilokano” by officials of the Komisyon ng Wikang
Filipino (KWF) in October of 2018. The proposal was met with intense backlash from group of Ilokano writers and language
advocates over the “incompetence in preparing the Ilokano orthography that didn’t conform with the existing orthography being
used by the Ilokano writers and experts,” claiming that the proposed orthography was based on Tagalog and not Ilokano and that
the commission’s attempts to compel the regional language to conform to the standards of the ortograpiyang Pambansa (National
Orthography) would “destroy the identity of the Ilokano language” (Dumlao, 2018).

In the ensuing online firestorm, one particular individual commented on how such regional pride is out of step with
modernity, particularly with our need to be united as a country. Now this sentiment is consistent with the multicultural literacy of
being able to put aside differences for the sake of a common goal, but notice how for the Ilokanos, national unity (as far as language
is concerned) is not worth the cost of giving-up their ability to determine the orthography of their language for themselves.

Such issues become even more complex and clouded when they come to a head with economics, social justice, and religion.
What is to be done when accommodating the idiosyncrasies of another culture means decreased economic opportunities for other
members of my culture? What about when we must decide between gender equality and retaining a venerable, historical institution
like the Boy Scouts of the Philippines? What about if, for the sake of peace, one culture must compromise on its religious values? We
might think that peace is worth it, but what if the other culture believes otherwise?

We see here that while multicultural inclusiveness is by and large a good thing, it comes at a cost. Part of the identity of the
host culture becomes diluted and lost-the inevitable result of the compromises necessary for it to have some form of multicultural
understanding. In effect, pushing for multicultural inclusion might very well be asking some cultures to decide which has more value:
inclusion or identity?

We must be aware that these questions are easier to answer for the culture that wants to be accommodated (because it will
cost them nothing), rather than the one that must do the accommodating.

The Persistence of the Problem

On the surface, multicultural literacy might seem to just be a matter of “good common sense,” and understandably so, no
one actively desires to experience discrimination regarding what they know and what they can and cannot do simply on the basis of
race, ethnicity, or in the case of the Philippines, region of origin. It therefore makes perfect sense to collectively refrain from such
behavior under the assumption that “If you don’t do it to me, I won’t do it to you.” And yet, to our horror and shame, the practice
persists. Worse, we sometimes find ourselves participating in and justifying such discriminatory behavior-if only online and not in
real life (as if anything written or posted online is not, in fact, in real life).

Therefore, the primary issue that educators face in teaching multicultural literacy to their students and learning it for
themselves is, “Why does this problem persist?” Or to put it in another way, “Despite all out advances in science, technology, and
culture, why is this still a problem today?”

Boutte (2008) suggest that issues of discrimination in all its forms (racial, religious, tribal, cultural, etc.) are really issues of
hatred, which she defines in an educational setting as “the lack of comparison and lack of respect for the rights of others,” and that
such hatred must be fought and its roots must be attacked, because for as long as hatred exists in the human mind, real peace will
be impossible (Vreeland, 2001).

If this is true, then it leads to some interesting questions: For one, what is the root of this hatred? Boutte (2008) suggests
that, at least in an educational context, such hate is often unintentional is to blame, then a lack of education in what, exactly? Is it
awareness of the existence of those different form us? Is it awareness that those different from us are worthy of respect?

The former is unlikely: Thanks to the internet; we are very much aware of the existence of people and cultures that are
fundamentally different from us, yet this has done nothing to mitigate the hatred that Boutte speaks of. The latter question is more
promising, but presumes that something exists in all individuals-regardless of color, language, religion, education, social status, etc.
That is worthy of respect. If this is true, what is this something? How do you teach it?

To date, no literature exists with academia that gives a definitive, authoritative, and final answer to these questions.

The Question of Value

P13

Another issue in teaching and learning multicultural literacy is better posited as a question: “Why should I treat people of
another culture with respect?”

It might seem that the answer to the question is a simple one: for peace. But as we have seen earlier, not everyone values
peace to the same degree. What if, for a certain culture, it is easier to just destroy anyone who opposes them rather than expend
the effort needed to come to a mutual understanding?

Such statements might sound crass, but only if we believe that we, as a society, are above such things. How many times have
we broken “small” laws and rules of etiquette-running red traffic lights “because no one is there to catch me,” or asking a vendor at
a flea market or tiangge to list a different price on the receipt than what an item is worth-because it is more convenient than to do
otherwise? How many times have we been selfish in our decision-making, not thinking about, not caring about its implications for
others? And how many times have we justified such behavior “because of the circumstances” or “because everyone else is doing it”?

In other words, “Why should I value another culture, another society, another person more than myself and my own?” If we
subscribe to Dawskin’ (2016) concept of a “selfish gene”- where on a genetic level, the more two individuals are genetically similar to
one another and selfishly towards others who are different – then we can easily frame the issue of discrimination of cultural
discrimination and injustice as one of both genetics and survival. This means that the injustice you experience in necessary for my
survival, and therefore it is in my best interests (genetic and otherwise) that I maintain the status quo-or reverse it, as the case may
be. Educators like Freire (2000) have recognized and written against such a monstrous perspective – and rightly so – but have also
admitted that when the oppressed are freed from their oppression, they inevitably become the new oppressors.

If such perspectives seem horrible to us (and they should), it is because the question of the value of humanity, both
individually and collectively as a culture, makes no sense without subscribing to some absolute moral standard-one that is true and
right for all people, regardless of race, color, or creed. But in today’s society where such absolutes are reduced to matters of
perspectives, there remains no final and sensible answer to the question.

Enhance
A majority of research on multicultural literacy stems from the West, specifically the United States, and focuses on teaching
teachers to be more multicultural in their pedagogies.

 Learn about other cultures. Banks (1991a) posits that the first step to teaching multiculturalism is knowing about cultures
that are not your own. It follows that if you, the teacher, know only your own culture, then you will be unable to teach your
students to appreciate a culture that is different from your own.
 Familiarize yourself with how discrimination and prejudice appear in your own culture. Boutte (2008) and Banks (1991b)
agree that teachers must be able to identify and confront patterns of discrimination and prejudice in their own lives before
they can teach their students to do the same, For example, when someone you just met says he or she is from Mindanao,
what words immediately come out of your mouth in response? Do they express genuine acceptance, or do they betray
some long-held preconceptions about people from the region?
 As you are, so will you behave. Key to genuine multicultural literacy is core values-that is, what you, the teacher, really
believe about people who are different from you; not the kind of belief that you can just say you posses when taking to
your class, but the kind that determines your behavior when you think no one is watching.

Simply put, if you do not truly believe that those who are different have value equal to your own, it will show, and your
students will detect it. It will be seen in the words you use, in the expression on your face, in the change of your behavior when you
think no one can see, etc. the converse is also true: if you educational background, skin color, or regional accent, it will show; and
what is shown is what students will learn.

 Model more, tell more. Young students, by nature, will have difficulty in exercising empathy toward those who are different
from them. The ability is there, but it will naturally lack practice. It is therefore not enough that teacher, must model for
them what empathy and compassion for others look like on a day-to-day basis.
P14

Reflect
 Globalization is the process of interaction and integration between people, business entities, governments, and supported
by information technology.
 Cultural Literacy is the knowledge and understanding of the life of a culture to the point where one can fluently participate
in the activities of the said culture. This includes, but is not limited to, its languages, traditions, values, beliefs, forms of
entertainment, and worldviews.
 Multicultural Literacy is the knowledge and skills necessary to ensure that any communication with a culture different from
our own is clear, productive, and respectful such that their differences are celebrated and neither culture is demeaned or
treated as inferior.
 The skills and knowledge required to be multi-culturally literate are:
1. selflessness;
2. knowledge that good and useful things can (and do) come from those different from us;
3. willingness to compromise;
4. acceptance that there are limits; and
5. idea that we cannot be friends with everyone.
 The issues in teaching and learning multicultural literacy in the Philippines are the nationalistic/regionalistic pushback, the
persistence of the problem, and the question of value.

References
Applebee, A. N. (1987). “Musings…: Cultural literacy. “Research in the Teaching of English, 21(3), 229-231.
Banks, J. (1991a). Teaching multicultural literacy to teachers. Teaching Education, 4(1), 133-142.
Banks, J. (1991b). Multicultural education: Its effects on student’ racial and gender role attitudes. In J. P. Shaver (Ed.),
Handbook of Research on Social Studies Teaching and Learning (pp. 459-469). New York: Macmillan.
Boutte, G. S. (2008). Beyond the illusion of diversity: How early childhood teachers can promote social justice. The Social Studies,
99(4), 165-173.
Dawkins, R. (2016). The selfish gene (4th ed.). Oxford University Press
P15

GENERAL Instructions:
1. Use white short bond paper and paper clip;
2. On the cover page. Print the following:
a. Your name
b. Subject/Time
c. Instructor’s name
3. Use extra bond paper for your answers if necessary.
Questions to Ponder

Read the questions and instructions carefully. Write your answer on the space provided.

1. What makes a person Filipino? It a person has Filipino parents but is born in another country, is he/she Filipino? What
about if a person with foreign parents is born and raised in the Philippines, is he/she Filipino? Explain your reasoning.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
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2. Have you interacted with people who have a different culture from yours? How was your interaction with them? Was it
clear? Was it productive? Was it respectful? What you have done for a better interaction?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
3. What is your attitude toward people who have a different culture from yours? Do you celebrate how they are different from
you? Do you look down on them?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
4. Consider regional discrimination in the Philippines; if a woman speaks Cebuano or bisaya in Manila, she is often assumed to
be maid or yaya; if a man speaks Tagalog with a heavy, provincial accent, he is often assumed to be a laborer, driver, or
involved in some form of manual or servile labor. What are your own discriminatory practice?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
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5. What skills and knowledge do you need to improve in to become multiculturally literature?
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.
P16

CHAPTER 3
Social literacy

At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

 develop understanding of the working definition of social literacy;

 explain the roles of parents and teachers in teaching social skills to children; and
 discuss and examine issues in social literacy.

Social literacy concerns itself with the development of social skills, knowledge and positive human values that enable
human beings to act positively and responsibly in range of complex social settings. It is the knowledge of how to behave and treat
other people in a way that is morally upright, just, and equitable, with a view of promoting positive and productive relations that are
free from unfair prejudices, hate, and discrimination. These three descriptions will be explained below.

By morally upright, we refer to thoughts, speech, actions, and motivations that adhere to a standard of right and wrong. On the
other hand, just refers to speech, actions, and behaviors that are in-line with a fixed standard of justice – a system that promotes
and rewards good and at the same time punishes wrongdoing. Any system of justice, whether national, regional, or local, requires a
body of rules or laws by which to measure and administer rewards and punishment. Equitable are the speech, actions, behaviors,
and decisions that treat others fairly, regardless of background or circumstances. Not to be confused with equality, which connotes a
fixed standard of treatment for all people, equity seeks the good of others, and labors to find means by which everyone gets “what
they need” rather than simply “everyone gets the same thing in the same amount.”
P17

Peers and school play a formative role on the social skills development of children. These social skills are often expressed
as consisting of three inter-related components: social perception, social cognition and social performance (Arthur, Davison, & Stow,
2000). Increasing emphasis has been placed on the last component, particularly in terms of outcomes. Social skill is defined in
literature as ‘the ability to interact with others in a given social context in specific ways that are socially acceptable or valued and at
the same time personally beneficial mutually beneficial, or primarily beneficial to others.’

These are several types of social skills that must be mastered for a child to be socially adept. These range from the ability to
initiate, maintain, and end a conversation to reading social signals to more complex skills such as represent some of the fundamental
principles of relating well to others. Children with social skills deficits can be taught these skills directly by parents, teachers, and/or
professionals using the strategies of modelling, role-playing, rehearsal, and practice.

 Greetings – children develop relationships with peers by interacting with them. The first step in a social interaction is
greeting someone. Greeting others is done not only with words like “Hi!” or “How are you?” but with facial expressions,
tone of voice, and gestures such as a nod or a wave. The nonverbal part of greeting someone is just as important as the
words. It is not so much what one says but how he/she says it that lets people know he/she is glad to see them.
 Initiating Conversation – in order to carry on a conversation, a child must be able to initiate, maintain and close
conversation appropriately. This requires good listening and attention skills, as well as the ability to make turns and probe
for missing information. Being a good conversationalist requires turn-taking and reciprocity. Children have to listen as well
as talk. If they do not show an interest in what the other person has to say, they probably will not be interested in talking.
Impulsive children often have trouble knowing when to talk and when to listen.
 Understanding the listener – once a conversation is initiated, it has to be maintained. In order to do that, it is important to
understand the audience one is taking to. A socially adept child quickly and unconsciously identifies and categorizes his
listener, measures what he/she has planned to say against the anticipated response of the listener, and then proceeds,
alters, or avoids what she has planned to say. He/she knows that talking to peers. A misread of the listener often leads to a
misunderstood message and potential social rejection. To converse in a socially appropriate manner, children must be able
to take the perspective or point of view of the other person, i.e., think the way they think. To do this a child must pretend
that he/she is the listener and think about what he/she needs to hear to understand what is being said.
 Empathizing – empathy is more than perspective taking; it means that one is able to feel what the other person feels.
Empathy allows one to really connect with other people. Other children often think of children who lack empathy as mean,
unkind, or self-centered.
 Reading Social Cues – it is very important to read social cues in a conversation. Cues are the hints and signals that guide us
to the next thing to say or do. Social cues can be verbal or nonverbal. Verbal cues are the words that the other person is
saying. Tone of voice is an important part of verbal cues. Good detectives pay very close attention to nonverbal cues.
 Previewing or Planning – conversations also requires that one previews or thinks about what effect the words or actions
may have on the listener before she says or does them. If the impact will be negative, one can adjust what she might say or
do.
 Problem-Solving – problems and conflict are often a part of social interactions. Someone may not agree, get angry, insult,
or become aggressive at something that one says. How one reacts to these conflicts depends on how good her problem
solving skills are. Conflicts cannot be avoided and are often necessary to “clear the air.” Turning a conflict from a “win-lose”
situation to a “win-win” situation is the best way to resolve conflict. This requires negotiation and compromise, give and
take that results in a situation where all parties can live with and help maintain friendship.
 Apologizing – everyone makes social mistakes at one time or another. A person with good social skills is confident enough
to make a sincere apology for her error. This is a courageous act and is the quickest and easiest way to correct a social
blunder. In reality, other people usually have a higher opinion of someone who apologizes for making a mistake.
Apologizing is a sign of humble and mature character when one commits mistakes.

The Role of Parents and Teachers in Teaching Social Skills to Children

Parent typically play the major role in teaching children social skills. Parents can directly teach socials skills by modelling, role-
playing, and providing opportunities for their child to rehearse and practice new skills. They should encourage and praise the child
for successfully using a new skill. Professionals typically intervene only when children are having substantial social difficulty with
peers. These individuals can implement structured , guided, and effective programs that often involve group work with peers.
Children must then generalize the skills they learn in the group to school and other personal social situations.

P18

School is the place where children spend the majority of their time with peers. It is, therefore, a natural and perfect setting
for children to learn and practice social skills. While teachers do not have to teach a class in social skills, they can take advantage of
every opportunity to help children improve their social skills. They should be alert to teasing and bullying and aware of children that
are rejected or ignored by their peers. They should work cooperatively with the children’s parents to prevent the humiliation,
embarrassment, and distress that befall these children. Pairing a socially inept child with a socially adept one, involving children in
cooperative instead of competitive learning exercises, identifying and acknowledging the strengths of all children, understanding
social weaknesses, and creating an environment in which diversity is accepted and celebrated can greatly enhance all children’s
social abilities, sense of belonginess, and self-esteem, not just in the classroom but in life as well.

Issues in Teaching Social Literacy

How children develop their social literacy is intrinsically a contextual matter and is not something that can be easily traced in a
linear or developmental fashion. The acquisition of social literacy is a complex process that is historically and culturally conditioned
and context-specific. Children learn through social practices, both explicit and implicit, and become human through social
interaction. Nevertheless, it is also the case that children engage in social activity before they are taught it; in other words, children
are disposed to be social before they learn what sociability is all about.

There are two distinct ways of answering the question on how children learn to live socially with each other and with adults.
The first view is normative and communal. From their culture, children learn customs that provide them with a guide to act in ways
that minimize conflict. The second view is pragmatic and individualistic. The social order of children is created by explicit and implicit
agreements entered into by self-seeking individuals to avert the worst consequences of their selfish instincts (Arthur, Davidson, &
Stow, 2000). In this last view, social order is dependent on sanctions and formal agreements. Rules are obeyed because they confer
personal advantage on a child. In the normative view, children are persuaded of the moral force of acting socially through their
voluntary associations with others, both in their immediate circle, such as the family, and in the wider community, for example,
through membership of a church or club. The child in this normative view will not only know the correct behavior but will perform
the role without any need for regular, conscious reference to the rules governing it.

Teaching social literacy in schools is not as easy as it appears to be due to subjective standards of morality and inherent
human capacity to judge and make excuses.

Subjective Standards of Morality

The natural outcome of postmodern philosophies is that truth and morality are considered subjective and open to individual
interpretation. This can be seen in the current culture, where actions and behavioral patterns that were once considered bad have
now become acceptable-so much so that many now consider them to be even good. When the standard of measure between good
and bad changes, this gives us license to change as well and opens the gates to all kinds of abuse. This, in effect, pulls the rug out
from any and all attempts at true justice and equitability, since they themselves rely on a fixed moral standard.

Interestingly, many of those who insist on a subjective moral standard will be the first to demand for a fixed moral standard
when they themselves fall victim to a subjective morality’s inevitable outcome.

Human Nature

While we would all like to believe that people are inherently good, experience has taught us that the inherent goodness of
humanity is, at best unrealiable: Sometimes it is there, often it is not. We are quick to champion the cause of moral uprightness,
justice, and equity, but balk when our words and actions come under their scrutiny. In other words, we insist that others be judged
according to a fixed moral standard, but invoke a subjective one when our own behavior is questioned. We demand justice when we
perceives ourselves to be victims of wrongdoing, but we surround ourselves with excuse when we do wrong. We insist that others
treat us equitably, but are reluctant when treating others with equity costs more than we expected.

Enhance
 Today’s students have grown up with the internet that they have become inseparable from their gadgets. Blake (2017) offers
helpful reminders to young professionals in terms of social skills in the modern age. This situation underscores the importance of
educating students in what could be called social literacy to ensure their academic and career success.

P19

Situation Awareness in the workplace

While casual office attire has become the norm in many offices, job interviews typically require more formal dress and behavior
to demonstrate a level of respect. Stories prevail of young adults showing up to interviews in casual clothing, texting, or using
phones during job interviews or even bringing their parents with them. Such behavior demonstrates a lack of situational awareness
about what is appropriate to do in different social circumstances. While college classrooms or the actual office atmosphere many
allow for a more casual dress code, students need to be taught what is socially acceptable in terms of dress or behavior for them to
stand out above their colleagues. An ability to read social situations illustrates strength to employers – quickly picking up on a
client’s mood or expectations in various business or cross-cultural situations can be the difference between success and failure.

Social Intelligence in Technological Communication

Text – speak and technology use have affected many young people’s ability to communicate. While email has deformalized
much of the communication process, students still need to ensure their writing denotes respect and provides enough context for
professors (or future employers) to readily respond. In addition, text-speak has reduced students’ ability to communicate using
correct grammar. Through studying particular communication genres and what they demand, students can learn more about what
individual situations demand in terms of the formality of communication. For example, if a professor signs an email with “Dr. Smith,”
this is a fairly good indication that he expects to be addressed as such and not informally by his first name.

Social Intelligence in Traditional Communication

While email has taken over as the primary method of communication, traditional modes of discourse still exist. For example,
many employers still expect cover letters in addition to resumes, and the lack of a thank-you note for a gift is often perceived as
more than a simple social oversight. An ability to craft these types of documents illustrates an understanding of social expectations
and denotes a level of respect or appreciation. While not related to the traditional educational canon, learning to properly write a
cover letter or business letter or a thank-you card not only teaches students that these documents exist and are often necessary but
also shows them how to craft such documents, saving them time and energy in the future.

Reflect
Wrap Up

 Social literacy concerns itself with the development of social skills, knowledge, and positive human values that enable
human beings to act positively and responsibly in range of complex social settings.
 Social skills range from the ability to initiate, maintain, and end a conversation to reading social signals to more complex
skills such as solving problems and resolving conflict.
 The modern age calls for young professionals to develop situational awareness and social intelligence in both technological
and traditional communication to succeed in their academic and career endeavors.
 Peers and schools play a formative role on the social skill development of children.

References
Andreotti, V. (2006). Soft versus critical global; citizenship education. Policy and Practice: A Development Education Review,
3(Autumn), 40-51. Accessed on May 30, 2016 at http://www.developmenteducationreview.com/issue3-focus4?page=show.

Arthur, J., Davison, J., & Stow, W. (2000). Social literacy, citizenship education, and the national curriculum. London: Routledge
Taylor & Fracis Group.

Blake, C. (2017, March 7). In the age of the smartphone, students need help with social literacy. Retrieved from
https://education.cuportland.edu/blog/classroom-resources/social-literacy/
Cohen, C. (2000). Raise your child’s social IQ: Stepping stones to people skills for kids. Silver Springs, MD: Advantage Books.

Lawson, C. (2003, January 1). Social skills and school. Retrieved from https://www.cdl.org/articles/social-skills-and-school/.

P20

GENERAL Instructions:
1. Use white short bond paper and paper clip;
2. On the cover page. Print the following:
a. Your name
b. Subject/Time
c. Instructor’s name
3. Use extra bond paper for your answers if necessary.

Questions to Ponder

Read the questions and instructions carefully. Write your answers in the space provided.

1. Are you more of a listener or a talker? Which social skill/s do you think you need to develop? In what ways can you develop
it/them?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
2. If you were a parent at this time, what would you teach your children on social literacy? How would you teach them?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
3. If you were an employer, what would you look for aspirants or applicants to your company?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
4. How do teachers educate children of social literacy nowadays? What specific content and learning experiences are there in
the curriculum that develop social literacy?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
P21

CHAPTER 4
FINANCIAL LITERACY

At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

 define financial literacy:

 assess level of personal financial literacy using set of standards and questions;
 characterize financial literacy in the Philippines; and
 start practical steps to develop personal financial literacy.

The National Endowment for Financial Education defines financial literacy as “the ability to read, analyze, manage, and
communicate about the personal financial conditions that affect material well-being. It includes the ability to discern financial
choices, discuss money and financial issues without (or despite) discomfort, plan for the future, and respond competently to life
events that affect every day financial decisions, including events in the general economy” (Incharge Education Foundation, 2017). To
put it simply, it is “the ability to use knowledge and skills to manage one’s financial resources effectively for lifetime financial
security” (Mandell, 2009). Meanwhile, Hastings, et al. (2013) refers to financial literacy as:

1. knowledge of financial products (e.g., a stock vs. a bond, fixed vs. adjustable rate mortgage);
2. knowledge of financial concepts (e.g., inflation, compounding, diversification, credit scores);
3. having the mathematical skills or numeracy necessary for effective financial decision making; and
4. being engaged in certain activities such as financial planning.

Planning and private institutions alike have recognized the need for financial literacy to be incorporated in the school curriculum.
Financial education and advocacy programs of the public and private sectors have been identified as key areas in building an
improved financial system in the Philippines (Go, 2017). Republic Act 10922, otherwise known as the “Economic and Financial
Literacy Act,” mandates DepEd to “ensure that economic and financial education becomes an integral part of formal learning.”
P22

The Council for Economic Education, the leading organization in the United States that focuses on the economic and
financial education of students from Kindergarten through high school developed six standards gearing toward deepening students’
understanding of personal finance through an economic perspective. The standards and key concepts are summarized in the table
below.

Standards Key Concepts

Earning  income earned or received by people
Income  different types of jobs as well as different forms of income earned or received
 benefits and costs of increasing income through the acquisition of education and skills
 government programs that affect income
 types of income and taxes
 labor market
Buying goods  scarcity, choice, and opportunity cost
and services  factors that influence spending choices, such as advertising, peer pressure, and spending
choices of others
 comparing the costs and benefits of spending decisions
 basics of budgeting and planning
 making a spending decision
 payment methods, cost, and benefits of each
 budgeting and classification of expenses
 satisfaction, determinants of demand, costs of information search, choice of product
durability
 the role of government and other institutions in providing information for consumers
Saving  concept of saving and interest
 how people save money, where people can save money, and why people save money
 the role that financial institutions play as intermediaries between savers and borrowers
 the role government agencies such as the Federal Deposits Insurance Corporation (FDIC) play
in protecting savings deposits
 role of markets in determining interest rates
 the mathematics of saving
 the power of compound interest
 real versus nominal interest rates
 present versus future value
 financial regulators
 the factors determining the value of a person’s savings over time
 automatic savings plans, “rainy-day” funds
 saving for retirement
Using Credit  concept of credit and the cost of using credit
 why people use credit and the sources of credit
 why interest rates vary across borrowers
 basic calculations related to borrowing (principal, interest, compound interest)
 credit reports and credit scores
 behaviors that contribute to strong credit reports and scores
 impact of credit reports and scores on consumers
 consumer protection laws
Financial  concept of financial investment
Investing  variety of possible financial investment
 calculate rates of return
 relevance and calculation of real and after-tax rates of return
 how markets cause rates of return to changes in response to variation in risk and maturity
  how diversification can reduce risk
 how financial markets react to changes in market conditions and information
Protecting and  concepts of financial risk and loss
Insuring  insurance (transfer of risk through risk pooling)
 managing risk
 identity theft
 life insurance products
 how to protect oneself against identity theft
P23

The Benefits of Financial Literacy

One’s level of financial literacy affects one’s quality of life significantly. It determines one’s ability to provide basic needs,
attitude toward money and investment, as well as one’s contribution to the community. Financial literacy enables people to
understand and apply knowledge and skills to achieve a lifestyle that is financially balanced, sustainable, ethical, and responsible.

Increased personal financial literacy affects one’s financial behavior. These changes in behavior pay dividends to society as
well. People who work, spend, save, borrow, invest, and manage risk wisely are less likely to require a government rescue. Financial
literacy does not totally eliminate the need for a social safety net because even the most prudent individual can encounter financial
difficulties. But taking responsibility for one’s financial life cultivates proper decision-making skills and discipline. Most of the
responsibility for managing financial matters rests with the individual. That responsibility is easier for adults to bear when they have
learned the basics of personal finance in their youth.

Financial Literacy in the Philippines

In his article “State of Financial Education in the Philippines,” Go (2017) indicated several findings of researches with regards to
the state of financial literacy in the country including the following:

 World Bank study in 2014 estimated 20 million Filipinos saved money but only half had bank accounts.
 Asian Development Bank (ADB) study in 2015 revealed that PH does not have a national strategy for financial education and
literacy.
 In 2016, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) released the national strategy for financial inclusion, stating that while institutions
strive to broaden financial services, financial literacy should also complement such initiatives.
 As per Standrad & Poor’s (S&P) Ratings services survey last year, only 25% of Filipinos are financially literate. This means
that about 75 million Filipinos have no idea about inflation, risk diversification, insurance, compound interest, and bank
savings.
 Ten years after discovery of the stock market, still less than one percent of PH population is invested in it.
 More than 80 percent of the working middle class have no formal financial plan.

Because of these findings, public and private sectors alike have recognized the need to strengthen financial education in the
country. Last November 27-28, 2018, more than 1,000 leaders, decision-makers, influencers, and representatives from public and
private institutions, civic society, and the academe gathered for the first ever Financial Education Stakeholders Expo organized by
BSP. The Expo is designed to build an organized network of players that share the vision of a financially literate citizenry and
cohesively implement a variety of initiatives to achieve this vision. This is in line with the BSP advocacy for financial education and
supports the BSP mandates of maintaining price stability, financial stability, and efficient payments system. It is the BSP’s conviction
that a financially educated Filipino is an empowered Filipino who is able to make wise financial decisions that positively impact
personal financial circumstances, and, consequently, contribute to inclusive and sustained economic development.
The Expo supports Republic Act No. 10922 which designates second week of November as Economic and Financial Literacy
Week. It is also aligned with the objectives of the Philippine National Strategy for Financial Inclusion, particularly the pillar on
Financial education and Consumer Protection.

Developing Personal Financial Literacy

One’s attitude about money is heavily influenced by the parents’ attitude and behavior about money. The attitudes you formed
early in life probably affect how you save, spend, and invest today. Do you behave similarity or differently from your parents about
handling money?
There are six major characteristic types in how people view money (Incharge, 2017).
P24
Frugal: Frugal people seek financial security by living below their means and saving money. They rarely buy luxurious items;
they save money instead. They save money because they believe that money will offer protection from unprecedented events and
expenses.
Pleasure: Pleasure seekers use money to bring pleasure to themselves and to others. They are more likely to spend than to
save. They often live beyond their means and spend more than they earn. If they are not careful and do not change, they may fall
into deep debt.
Status: Some people use money to express their social status. They like to purchase and “show off” their branded items.
Indifference: Some people very little importance on having money and would rather grow their own food and craft their own
clothes. It is as if having too much money makes them nervous and uncomfortable.
Powerful: Powerful people use money to express power or control over others.
Self-worth: People who spend money for self-worth value how much they accumulate and tend to judge others based on the
amount of money they have.
Which characteristic closely resembles your attitude about money? Explain your answer.

Spending Patterns
Are you prudent or have you been accused of spending money lavishly? Or are you somewhere in between? Individuals have
different spending patterns. Before one can come up with a financial improvement plan, one needs to analyze his/her spending
habits. There are two common spending patterns: habitual spending and impulsive spending. Habitual spending occurs when one
spends out of a habit, when one buys the same item daily, weekly, or monthly. Daily items may include water, rice, and cup of
coffee. Week items may be grocery items. Monthly items are the electricity and internal bills. Impulsive spending occurs when one
mindlessly purchases items that he or she does not need. Many people are often enticed by monthly sales at the malls with the
attitude that they may lose the items the following day.

Fixed vs. Variable Expenses

Fixed expenses remain the same year-round. Car payment is an example. Variable expenses occur regularly but the amount
you pay varies. Electric and gas bills are examples of these.
Which expenses are fixed and which are variable? Indicate the monthly total. Put a check on the corresponding type.

Monthly total Fixed Variable

Food
Clothing
Gas
Medicine
Internet

Needs vs. Wants

Financial discipline starts with an ability to recognize whether expenses are needs or wants, and followed by ability to
prioritize needs over wants. Needs are essential to our survival. Wants are things that you would like to have but you can live
without, such as new clothes or a new cell phone model. You want them but do not necessarily need them. Too many wants can ruin
a budget.

Use the table below to list down all the expenses that belongs to the needs and those that belong to the wants.

Needs Wants
P25
Enhance
Here are practical steps you can undertake to enhance your financial literacy.

Setting Financial Goals

Setting financial goals is the first step to managing one’s financial life. Goals may be short, medium, and long-term goals can be
measured in weeks and can provide instant gratification and feedback. “I will ride on the LRT instead of taxi” and “I will bring lunch
every day” are examples of short-term goals. Medium-term goals should be accomplished within one to six months. These goals
should be accomplished within one to six months. These goals provide opportunity for reflection and feedback and require discipline
and consistency. Long-term financial goals can take years to achieve. These include saving money for a down payment on a home, a
child’s college education, and retirement. They may also include paying off a car, student loans, or credit card debt.

Developing a Spending Plan

Time and effort are necessary to build a sustainable spending plan. Three easy steps are proposed below when developing
your personal spending plan:
1. Record – keep a record of what you spend.
2. Review – analyze the information and decide what you do.
3. Take action – do something about what you have written down.

Importance of Saving

Because no one can predict the future with certainty, we need to save money for anything that might happen. Here are some
reasons why saving is important:

 Emergency Bolster – You should save money to avoid going to debt just to pay emergency situations, like unexpected
medical expenses and damages caused by calamities or accidents.
 Retirement – You will need saving/investments to take the place of income you will no longer receive when you retire.
 Future Events – You need to save for future events like weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, and travels so as not to sacrifice
your fixed expenses.
 Instability of Social Security – Pensions from social security should only serve as supplementary and not the primary source
of income after retirement.
 A Little Goes a Long Way – Small consistent savings go a long way.

There are two ways to save:

 save before you spend; and

 save after you spend wisely.

In order to stick to the savings habit, you should:

1. commit to a month;
2. find an accountability partner;
3. find a savings role model who is successful with his/her money, through tried and true savings;
4. write your goal down and track it; and
5. avoid tempting situations (don’t go to the mall to “hang out”).

Wrap Up

1. Financial literacy is the ability to use knowledge and skills to manage one’s financial resources effectively for lifetime
financial security.
2. Financial literacy enables people to understand and apply knowledge and skills to achieve a lifestyle that is financially
balanced, sustainable, ethical, and responsible.
3. One’s attitude about money is heavily influenced by the parents’ attitude and behavior about money.
4. Standards for developing understanding of financial literacy include earnings income, buying goods and services, saving,
using credit, financial investing, protecting, and insuring.

P26

GENERAL Instructions:
1. Use white short bond paper and paper clip;
2. On the cover page. Print the following:
a. Your name
b. Subject/Time
c. Instructor’s name
3. Use extra bond paper for your answers if necessary.

Question to Ponder
Read the questions and instructions carefully. Follow what is asked and write your answer in the space provided.

1. How well do you understand personal finance concept? Rate your knowledge below.
4: Above Average Knowledge
3: Average Knowledge
2: Limited Knowledge
1: No Knowledge
2. Financial literacy requires skills to aid you in making responsible and ethical financial decisions. These skills include being
able to set goals, create and keep current a budget, formulate a spending plan, and keep organized records. Think about
your overall skills in those mentioned and mark where you feel your overall skills level is.
4: Above Average Skill
3: Average Skill
2: Limited skill
1: No Skill
3. Behavior is applying what you learn to bring positive impact. Positive financial behavior brings numerous benefits. Paying
bills and debts on time and making regular deposits in savings account are positive financial behaviors. Rate your ability to
practice positive financial behavior.
4: Above Average Ability
3: Average Ability
2: Limited Ability
1: No Ability
4. How does your current budget pie chart look like? Using the following categories, map your ideal budget plan using a pie
chart. You may use more categories as needed.
a. Housing
b. Electric bills
c. Internet
d. Food
e. Debt
f. Education
g. Transportation
P27

Current
Ideal budget budget

How does your current budget pie chart compare with your ideal budget pie chart?

References
Council for Economic Education. (2003). National standard for financial literacy. Retrieved from
https://www.councilforeconed.org
Go, V. (2017, August 21). State of financial education in the Philippines Retrieved from https://www.philstar.com/the-
freeman/cebu-business2017/08/21/1731331/state-finacial-eduaction-philippines
Hastings, J.S., Madrian, B.C., & Skimmyhorn, W.L. (2013). Financial literacy, financial education, and economic outcomes.
Annual Review of Economics, %,347-373.
P28 CHAPTER 5
Media and cyber or
Digital literacies

 develop a working understanding of Media and Cyber/digital Literacy and how they relate to one another;
 appreciate the importance of developing Media and Cyber/Digital Literacy both in ourselves and one another in the
information age; and
 realize that practical steps must be taken to develop these literacies early in children and cannot wait “until they are older”

Of all the 21st century literacies presented in this book, none of them embodies the “newness” of these literacies quite like
those needed to make sense of the absolute deluge of information brought to us by the Internet. With the vast number of websites,
web forums, and social media applications now available for us, never before has there been so much information – in nearly every
form imaginable, from nearly every source imaginable – available to us twenty-four hours a day, no matter our location. Where once
we had librarians – “Information custodians,” as you will – to curate the information we regularly ingest, now there is nothing
standing between the individual and the wellspring of information represented by the internet.

However, as we will soon discover, it is the so-called old literacies that will serve us just faithfully in the new contexts we find
ourselves today as they have done in the past. To begin our investigation, we must first understand the relationship between Media
Literacy and Cyber/Digital Literacy.
P29

Media Literacy

Like all the literacies discussed in this book, media literacy can be defined in several ways. Aufderheide (1993) defines it as “the
ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate messages in a wide variety of forms, “while Christ and Potter (1993) define it
as “the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create messages across a variety of contexts.” Hobbs (1998) posits that it is a term
used by modern scholars to refer to the process of critically analyzing and learning to create one’s own messages in print, audio,
video, and multimedia.

Perhaps in its simplest sense, media literacy can thus be defined as the ability to identify different types of media and
understand the messages they are communicating” (Common Sense Media, n.d.). The exact type of media varies – television, radio,
newspapers, magazines, books, handouts, flyers, etc. – but what they all have in common is that they were all created by someone,
and that someone had a reason for creating them.

According to Boyd (2014), media literacy education began in the United States and United Kingdom as a direct result of war
propaganda in the 1930s and the rise of advertising in the 1960s. In both cases, media was being used to manipulate the perspective
the perspective (and subsequent actions) of those exposed to it, thereby giving rise to the need to educate people on how to detect
the biases, falsehoods, and half-truths depicted in print, radio, and television.

Because media communication lends itself so easily and so well to the purpose of manipulating consumers’ perceptions on
issues both political and commercial, being able to understand the “why” behind media communication is the absolute heart of
media literacy today.

Despite the relatively simple and clear definition of media literacy, it should come as no surprise that scholars and educators
have been debating for quite some time on how media literacy should be both defined and taught. Aufderheide (1993) and Hobbs
(1998) reported, “At the 1993 Media Literacy National Leadership Conference, U.S. educators could not agree on the range of
appropriate goals for media education or the scope of appropriate instructional techniques. “The conference did, however, identify
five essential concepts necessary for any analysis of media messages.

1. Media messages are constructed.

2. Media messages are produced within economic, social, political, historical, and aesthetic contexts.
3. The interpretative meaning-making processes involved in message reception consist of an interaction between the reader,
the text, and the culture.
4. Media has unique “languages,” characteristics which typify various forms, genres, and symbol systems of communication.
5. Media representations play a role in people’s understanding of social reality.

What these five concepts boil down to is that while the producer of a particular media has an intended meaning behind the
communication, what actually gets communicated to the consumers depends not only on the media itself but also on the consumers
themselves and on their respective cultures. The consumers’ perceived meaning is what then develops into how people understood
social reality.

An immediate example of this is the media portrayal of Mindanao. Because so little good news coming from the island is
communicated by the news networks, the average Filipino – who might never have been to Mindanao – comes to believe that the
entire island is involved in armed conflict, that anyone from Mindanao is somehow involved in the conflict, and therefore
(understandably) refuses to go there, nor allow any of his or her relatives to do so. It is unlikely that this was the news media’s
intention, but it is the viewer’s interpretation that ultimately determined his or her beliefs and behavior.
P30

What Media Literacy is Not

Given the broad and somewhat nebulous nature of media literacy, its implied definition can be gleaned by understanding what
media literacy is not. The following is a list of actions that are often mistaken for being representative of media literacy (Center for
Media Literacy, n.d.):

 Criticizing the media is not, in and of itself, media literacy. However, being media literate sometimes requires that one
indeed criticize what one sees and hears.
 Merely producing media is not media literacy although part of being media literate is the ability to produce media.
 Teaching with media (videos, presentations, etc.) does not equal media literacy. An education in media literacy must also
include teaching about media.
 Viewing media and analyzing it from a single perspective is not media literacy. True media literacy requires both the ability
and willingness to view and analyze media from multiple positions and perspectives.
 Media literacy does not simply mean knowing what and what not to watch; it does mean “watch carefully, think critically.”

Challenges to Media Literacy Education

One glaring challenge to teaching Media Literacy is, “how do we teach it?” Teaching it as a subject in itself might not be feasible
given how overburdened the curriculum is at the moment, while integrating it into the subjects that are currently being taught might
not be enough to teach what are essentially media consumption habits – skills and attitudes that are learned by doing and repetition
rather than by mere classroom discussion (Koltay, 2011).

Livingstone and Van Der Graaf (2010) identified “how to measure media literacy and evaluate the success of media lietarcy
initiatives” as being one of the more pernicious challenges facing educators in the 21 st century, for the simple reason that if we
cannot somehow measure the presence of media literacy in our students, how do we know we have actually taught them?

Finally, a more fundamental challenge to Media Literacy Education is one of purpose. As Chris & Potter (1998) put it, “Is media
literacy best understood as a means of inoculating children against the potential harms of the media or as a means of enhancing
their appreciation of the literary merits of the media?”

Digital Literacy

In the first chapter of this books, we read how Gee, Hull, and Lankshear (1996) noted how literacy always has something to do
with reading a text with understanding, and that there are many kinds of texts, and each one requires a specific set of skills to
understand and make meaning out of them. Digital Literacy (also called e-literacy, cyber literacy, and even information literacy by
some authors) is no different although now the “text” can actually be images, sound, video, music, or a combination thereof.

Digital Literacy can be defined as the ability to locate, evaluate, create, and communicate information on various digital
platforms. Put more broadly, it is the technical, cognitive, and sociological skills needed to perform tasks and solve problems in
digital environments (Ekshet-Alkalai, 2004). It finds its origins in information computer literacy (Bawden, 2008, 2001; Snavely &
Cooper, 1997; Behrens, 1994; Andretta, 2007; Webber & Johnson, 2000), so much so that the skills and competencies listed by
Shapiro and Hughes (1996) in a curriculum they envisioned to promote computer literacy should sound very familiar to readers
today:

 Tool literacy – competence in using hardware and software tools;

 Resource literacy – understanding forms of and access to information resources;
 Social-structural literacy – understanding the production and social significance of information;
 Research literacy – using IT tools for research and scholarship;
 Publishing literacy - ability to communicate and publish information;
 Emerging technologies literacy – understanding of new developments in IT; and
  Critical literacy - ability to evaluate the benefits of new technologies (Note that this literacy is not the same as “critical
thinking,” which is often regarded as a component of information literacy).

It should also come as no surprise that digital literacy shares a great deal of overlap with media literacy; so much so that digital
literacy can be seen as a subset of media literacy, dealing particularly with media in digital form.

P31

The connection should be fairly obvious – if media literacy is “the ability to identify different types pf media and
understand the messages they are communicating,” then digital literacy can be seen as “media literacy applied to the digital media,”
albeit with a few adjustments.

The term “digital literacy” is not new; Lanham (1995), in one of the earliest examples of a functional definition of the term
described the “digitally literate person” as being skilled at deciphering and understanding the meanings of images, sounds, and the
subtle uses of words so that he/she could match the medium of communication to the kind of information being presented and to
whom the intended audience is. Two years later, Paul Gilster (1997) formally defined digital literacy as “the ability to understand and
use information in multiple formats from a wide range of sources when it is presented via computers,” explaining that not only must
a person acquire the skill of finding things, he/she must also acquire the ability to use these things in life.

Bawden (2008) collated the skills and competencies comprising digital literacy from contemporary scholars on the matter into
four groups:

1. Underpinnings – This refers to those skills and competencies that “support” or “enable” everything else within digital
literacy, namely: traditional literacy and computer/ITC literacy (i.e., the ability to use computers in everyday life).
2. Background Knowledge – this largely refers to knowing where information o a particular subject or topic can be found, how
information is kept, and how it is disseminated – a skill taken for granted back in the day when information almost
exclusively resided in the form of printed text.
3. Central Competencies – these are the skills and competencies that a majority of scholars agree on as being core to digital
literacy today, namely:
 reading and understanding digital and non-digital formats;
 creating and communicating digital information;
 knowledge assembly;
 information literacy; and
 media literacy.
4. Attitudes and Perspectives – Bawden (2008) suggest that it is these attitudes and perspectives that link digital literacy
today with traditional literacy, saying “it is not enough to have skills and competencies, they must be grounded in some
moral framework,” specifically:
 independent learning – the initiative and ability to learn whatever is needed for a person’s specific situation; and
 moral/social literacy – an understanding of correct, acceptable, and sensible behavior in a digital environment.

Information Literacy within Digital Literacy

Given the ease with which digital media (as opposed to traditional print media) can be edited and manipulated, the ability to
approach it with a healthy amount of skepticism has become a “survival skill” for media consumers. Eshet-Alkalai (2004) draws
attention to information Literacy as a critical component of Digital Literacy as “the cognitive skills that consumers use to evaluate
information in an educated and effective manner.” In effect, Information Literacy acts as a filter by which consumers evaluate the
veracity of the information being presented to them via digital media and thereupon sort the erroneous, irrelevant, and biased from
what is demonstrably factual.

From this perspective, part of the efforts of Digital Literacy Education should be toward developing media consumers who
think critically and are ready to doubt the quality of the information they receive, even if said information comes from so-called
“authoritative sources.” However, a majority of studies on information Literacy seem to concentrate more on the ability to search
for information rather than its cognitive and pedagogical aspects (Ekshet-Alkalai, 2004; Zinns, 2000; Burnett & Mckinley, 1998).

Socio-Emotional Literacy within Digital Literacy

 Alongside information Literacy, Ekshet-Alkalai (2004) highlights a kind of Socio-Emotional literacy needed to navigate the
Internet, raising questions such as, “How do I know if another user in a chatroom is who he says he is?” or “How do I know if a call
for blood donations on the Internet is real or a hoax?”

Such questions should make us realize that there are no hard and fast rules for determining the answers. Instead, there is a
necessary familiarity with the unwritten rules of Cyberspace; an understanding that while the internet is a global village of sorts, it is

P32

also a global jungle of human communication, embracing everything from truth to falsehoods, honesty and deceit, and
ultimately, good and evil. According Ekshet-Alkalai (2004), This Socio-Emotional literacy requires users to be “very critical, analytical,
and mature” – implying a kind of richness of experience that the literate transfers from real life to their dealings online. Curiously,
while research shows that the older a user is, the less likely they are to behave naively online, this does not exempt them from the
occasional lapse: They might not believe that a Nigerian prince is bequeathing 100 million dollars in gold bullion to them in exchange
for their bank details, but they might be willing to believe that someone really is giving away 1000 units of the latest smartphone in
exchange for their contact information.

Digitally literate users know how to avoid the “traps” of cyberspace mainly because they are familiar with the social and
emotional patterns of working in cyberspace-that it is really just an outworking of human nature.

Digital Natives

The term digital native has become something of a buzzword in the education sector over the past decade. This was
popularized by Prensky (2001) in reference to the generation that was born during the information age (as opposed to digital
immigrants- the generation prior that acquired familiarity with digital systems only as adults) and who has not known a world
without computers, the internet, and connectivity.

Despite the fact that Prensky’s original paper was not an academic one and had no empirical evidence to support its claims,
educators and parents alike latched onto the term, spawning a school of thought wherein the decline of modern education is
explained by educators’ lack of understanding of how digital natives and make decisions.

However, a popular misconception borne out of the term digital natives and the educational ideas it spawned is that the
generation in question is born digitally liberate. If this is the case, then the question, “How can digital immigrants teach digital
natives a literacy they already have?” is a valid one, to which the answer would be, correctly, “they cannot.”

But the problem here is that “digitally literate” is popularly defined as the ability to use computers or use the internet, which as
we have seen earlier, forms only one part of the crucial skills and competencies required to be digitally literate. Our expanded view
of the term “literate” allows us to see that while the digital natives in our classrooms are most certainly familiar with digital system-
perhaps even more so than their instructors – this does not mean they automatically know how to read, write, process, and
communicate information on these systems in ways that are both meaningful and ethical, especially when the information involved
does not involve technology’s most common use: personal entertainment. That is to say, when the task at hand does not involve
what the digital natives consider to be entertainment, the gaps in their literacy being to show.

A good example of this is the difficulty many Senior High School instructors have in teaching research: Students who are
otherwise quite familiar with using the internet for entertainment are suddenly at a loss in locating, accessing, and understanding
information from research journals and websites, mainly because they are looking for information on topics they are either
unfamiliar with, uninterested, or both.

Another problem concerning digital natives is the misconception that everyone belonging to the generation is on more less
equal footing in regard to digital literacy. Although the drawing of such a conclusion is understandable (given the near-ubiquity of
digital technology and the internet), it is nonetheless mistaken, as one is truly “born digital.” Instead, the determining factor is
access to education and experience: children born to poorer families will naturally seem less digitally literate for lack of access to
technology and an education in said technologies, while those born to privileged families will display more of the literacies discussed
earlier.

Challenges to Digital Literacy Education

 Digital Literacy education shares many of the same challenges to Media Literacy For example: how should it be taught? How can
it be measured and evaluated? Should it be taught for the protection of students in their consumption of information or should it be
to develop their appreciation for digital media?

Brown (2017) also noted that despite the global acknowledgement that Digital Literacy Education is a need, there is as of yet no
overarching model or framework for addressing all of the skills deemed necessary. Put simply, there is no single and comprehensive
plan anywhere for teaching digital literacy the way it should be taught. Accordingly, he asked, “What assumptions, theories, and
research evidence underpin specific frameworks? Whose interests are being served when particular frameworks are being
promoted?

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Beyond efforts to produce flashy and visually attractive models how might we reimagine digital literacies to promote critical
mindsets and active citizenry in order to reshape our societies for new ways of living, learning, and working for a better future -for
all?”

Enhance
Despite the challenges posed by the broad and fluid nature of media (and therefore digital) literacy, educators in the Philippines can
spearhead literacy efforts by doubling-down on those concepts and principles of Media Literacy that are of utmost importance,
namely, critical thinking and the grounding of critical thought in a moral framework.

 Teach media and digital literacy integrally. Any attempt to teach these principles must first realize that they cannot be
separated from context-meaning, they cannot be taught separately from other topics.
 Master your subject matter. Whatever it is you teach. You must not only possess a through understanding of your subject
matter, you must also understand why you are teaching of your subject matter, you must also understand why you are
teaching it, and why it is important to learn. As educators, we must not shy away from a student genuinely asking us to
explain why something we are teaching is important. After all, teaching is in itself a kind of media the students are obliged
to consume; it is only fair they know why.
 Think “multi-disciplinary.” How can educators integrate media and digital literacy in a subject as abstract as Mathematics,
for example? The answer lies in stepping-out of the “pure mathematics” mindset and embracing communication as being
just as important to math as computation. Once communication is accepted as important, this opens-up new venues where
the new literacies can be exercised. For example, have students create a webpage detailing what systems of linear
equations are, why there are important, and the techniques for solving them. Alternatively, they can create poster
infographics that explain the same things. The exact same strategies can be applied to nearly any subject and any topic. It is
just a matter of believing, as educators, that how we communicate is as important as what we communicate.
 Explore motivations, not just messages. While it is very important that students learn what is the message being
communicated by any media text, it is also important to develop in them a habit for asking why is the message being
communicated in the first place. In the case of an information pamphlet warning against some infectious disease for
example, is there an outbreak we ae being warned of? If not, could this then be an attempt to sow panic and discord in the
target populace? Why? Who stands to again from doing such things? The objective here is not so much to find the correct
answers, but rather to develop the habit of asking these questions.
 Leverage skills that student already have. It is always surprising how much a person can do when they are personally and
affectively motivated to do so-in other words, a person can do amazing things when they really want to. Students can
produce remarkably well-researched output for things they are deeply interested in, even without instruction. Harnessing
this natural desire to explore whatever interests them will go a long way in improving media and digital literacy education in
your classroom.
 Wrap Up
 Media Literacy is the ability to identify different types of media and understanding the messages they are
communicating, including who is the intended audience and what is the motivation behind the message.
 Digital/Cyber Literacy is a subset of media literacy; the ability to locate, evaluate, create, and communicate information
on various digital platforms. This includes the ability to verify information as factual as well as identify and avoid
communication with deceitful, malicious, and exploitative content.
 Information Literacy is a subset of media literacy; the ability to locate, access, and evaluate information from a variety
of media sources.
Of utmost importance to both literacies (media and digital) is the ability to analyze and think critically about what is being
communicated. This means making value judgements about the message (i.e., identifying truth from falsehood, right from wrong,
etc.) and goes beyond simply comprehending the what is being said.

References
Andretta, S. (Ed.). (2007). Change and challenge: Information literacy for the 21st century. Adelaide: Auslib Press.
Bawden, D. (2001). Information and digital literacies: A review of concepts. Journal of Documentation, 57(2),218-259.
Bawden, D. (2008). Origins and concepts of digital literacy. In C. Lankshear, & M. Knobel (Eds.), Digital literacies: Concepts, policies,

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GENERAL Instructions:
1. Use white short bond paper and paper clip;
2. On the cover page. Print the following:
a. Your name
b. Subject/Time
c. Instructor’s name
3. Use extra bond paper for your answers if necessary.

Questions to Ponder

To better comprehend what each skill and competency requires and how educators are to learn and teach them in class, it is
useful to summarize each one as a set of questions for discussion and reflection. Write your answers in the space provided.

1. Can I read/write? Do I know how to write and send emails, create documents and simple spreadsheets, use a web browser,
and make sense of the search results returned by a search engine?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
2. Do I know where to find information on local and national news, politics, and events? Do I know where I am likely to find
reliable, factual information on a given topic? Do I have an understanding of the relationship between what the information
is about and its ability to make itself stand-out?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
3. Can I make sense of documents and images that must be scrolled through rather than flipped (i.e., like the pages of a
book)? Do I have the stamina and ability to listen to and understand videos of people talking? How about animation? Do I
know at least three ways to share information online? Do I know how to evaluate if a particular information source is
factual/true and trustworthy? Do I know how to synthesize the contents of several texts on the same topic into a coherent
whole? Do I know how to best match the manner in which I communicate information to my intended audiences?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
 4. Do I understand and accept the fact that with all these digital tools at my command, I have both the ability and
responsibility to learn whatever I have learn, and to do so on my own? Do I understand and agree that there are morally
acceptable and unacceptable behaviors that ought to govern what, how, why and with whom I communicate online?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

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CHAPTER 6
ecological literacy

At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

 define ecological literacy,

 distinguish among environmental literacy, ecoliteracy, and ecological literacy;
 describe an ecolite person, and
 recognize individual and collective roles in protecting and rehabilitating the environment and ecosystem.

The development of ecological understanding is not simply another subject to be learnt but a fundamental change in the
way we see the world. – John Lyle, 1994

We are now at a critical point with many environmental issues such as climate change and rampant environmental destruction.
Alienation from nature greatly contributes to the aggravation of these environmental problems. Ecological literacy is important to
business and political leaders, and to all levels of education.
 Ecological literacy refers to an individual’s understanding not only of ecological concepts, but also of his or her place in the
ecosystem (Meena & Alison, 2009). The term ecological literacy was first introduced by David Orr in 1989 in his essay “Ecological
Literacy.” He indicated that knowing, caring, and practical competence from the foundation for ecological literacy. He pointed out
that the root of environmental crisis is the individual’s inability to think about “ecological patterns, system of causation, and long-
term effects of human actions” (Orr, 1994). Thus, he emphasized the importance of experience in one’s natural environment that
can enable humans to shift perspective form one of an economic emphasis to one of balance amongst economics, ecology, and
cultures.

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Orr (1992) also argued that the ecologically literate person understands the dynamics of the environmental crisis, which
includes an understanding of how people have become so destructive. Therefore, identifying school student’s ecological literacy
levels is a necessary step to investigate their behavior, attitudes, sensitivity, and behavioral intention. In order to create awareness
among students, it is important to foster correct knowledge to ensure positive approach to the environment (Hares, Eskonheimo,
Myllytaus, & Luukkanen, 2006). Kahyaoglu (2009) also stated that positive attitudes and values toward the environment are
occurred with a good knowledge. Developing environmentally responsible behavior requires correct knowledge about climate
change, the cause of global warming, carbon emissions, and carbon footprint (Kuo & Chen, 2009).

There has been an increasing concern with enhancing “ecological literacy” in society. The current literature on ecological
literacy emphasizes the role of scientific knowledge and ecological thinking in identifying cause-effect relationships in socio-
environmental systems, in order to allow more enlightened decision-making; therefore, its primary pedagogical goals are cognitive
and experimental. In this, it differs from the broader concept of environmental literacy, which incorporates civic literacy that
pertains to changes in values and behaviors, and thus also contains affective and moral pedagogical goals (McBride et al. 2013).

Ecological Literacy is meant to enable conscious and participant citizens to make informed decisions or take action on
environment issues (Jordan et al. 2009). Efforts in this direction include books by experienced ecologists for the general public, of
which two outstanding examples are Levin (2000) and Slobodkin (2003).

Characterizing an Ecoliterate Person

Dr. Tom Puk (2002) of Lakehead University characterized an ecologically literate person of the 21 st century as “the
responsible, lifelong learner who strives to improve the human condition and the environment within the context of self, human
groups, the biosphere, and the ecosphere.” The ecologically literate person in order to achieve the aforementioned ultimate goal
should become:

 an inquirer, who actively secures the basic skills and knowledge in order to carry out ecological responsibilities. This also
enables her to reach her own potential and place in the physical and natural environment.
 A reflective learner, who understands the value and limitations of human knowledge, the power and limitations of the
natural world, the role of intuition in real life pursuits, and the role of self as it is manifested in one’s personal narrative.
 Intelligently self-directed, who engages in self-appraisal, sets new learning objectives, develops plan to achieve those
objectives, carries out those plans in a flexible inquiry-directed manner, and reflects on the whole process;
 Morally responsible, who governs actions with precepts (responsibility, seeking justice and equality for all) that maintain
harmonious relationship;
 Ecologically responsible, who establish, who embodies ecological ideals in daily life; and
 Seek self-transcendence, who moves beyond the limitations of personal ego by identifying with human groups (past and
future), flora and fauna, ecosphere, that transcend the individual life in scope and time.
 The ecologically literate person of the 21st century has appositive view of life, grounded in the faith of interconnectedness, and
has the capacity to competently perform significant life work and related task. Such a view enables her to look upon the human
experience positively and all living things compassionately.

Environmental Literacy, Ecological Literacy, and Ecoliteracy

Frameworks for ecoliteracy exhibit a high degree of similarity with frameworks for environmental literacy, in that both sets
include similar affective, knowledge, cognitive skills, and behavioral components. However, what most differentiates ecoliteracy
from environmental literacy is the clear emphasis on sustainability, and the introduction of spiritual, holistic component, expressed
in terms of “celebration of creation” (Orr, 1992). “spirit” and “reverence for the earth” (Capra, 1996, 2007), and “expansion of the
soul” (Wooltorton, 2006). An ecoliterate person is prepared to be an effective member of sustainable society, with well-rounded
abilities of head, heart, hands, and spirit, comprising an organic understanding of the world and participatory action within and with
the environment.

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Environmental literacy, ecological literacy, and ecoliteracy

General conceptions Dominant educational Primary pedagogical Examples of strategies

of environment objectives approaches
Environmental Problem field of values Develop problem- Cognitive Case study issue
Literacy solving skills, from Pragmatic analysis, problem-
diagnosis to action Affective/Moral solving project
Develop a system of Analysis and
ethics clarification of values,
Adopt environmentally criticism of social
responsible behaviors values
Ecological literacy Object of study system Acquire knowledge of Cognitive Observation,
ecological concept and Experientail demonstration,
principles experimentation
Develop skills related Case study,
to the scientific environmental system
method: observation analysis, construction
and experimentation of ecosystem models
Develop systems
thinking: analysis and
synthesis
Understand
environmental
realities in view of
informed decision-
making
Ecoliteracy Shared resource for Promote and Cognitive Case study, social
sustainable living Gaia contribute to Pragmatic marketing, sustainable
economic Holistic consumption
development that Intuitive/Creative activities, sustainable
addresses social equity living management
and ecological project
sustainability Immersion,
Develop the many visualization, creative
dimensions of one’s workshops
being in interaction
 with all aspects of the
environment
Develop an organic
understanding of the
world and
participatory action in
and with the
environment

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Greening Initiatives in Colleges and Universities

Increased awareness of environmental degradation and concern for its rehabilitation have prompted colleges and universities to
green their campuses. A green campus is “a place where environmentally responsible tenets are borne out by example” (NEIWPCC
n.d.). The green campus institution is a model environmental community where operational functions, business practices, academic
programs, and people are interlinked, providing educational and practical value to the institution, the region, and the world.

Greening initiatives, although challenging demanding, yield significant benefits in the long run:

 Environmental and economic sustainability. A system-wide culture of sustainability helps preserve and enhance what the
institution values today as well as for the future.
 Reputation as a leader through example. As colleges and universities offer courses in environmental management,
engineering, laws and regulations, and assessment, greening initiatives provide them opportunities to practice what they
preach and make their mark as environmental leaders. Colleges and universities need to examine their own organizations
and implement on their own campuses what they and the public expect their industry to do.
 Economic benefits. a routine, curriculum-based, environmental audit program that reveals waste and inefficiently
associated with campus activities, coupled with the identification of environment-friendly alternatives, can yield significant
cost savings for the institution.
 “Real-life” work experience for your students. Environmental audits and pollution prevention evaluations can be
integrated into the curriculum, providing students with hands-on investigative and problem-solving experience that they
can take with them when they enter the workforce. This experience not only makes your students more marketable, it also
provides them with the kinds of broad thinking skills that allow them to succeed and thrive once they are employed.
 Improved quality of life in the campus. A green campus is a cleaner, safer, and healthier place to live and work.

Enhance

Ecological literacy is a form of transformative education that requires shifts in three related areas: (1) perception (seeing), (2)
conception (knowing), and (3) action (doing).

In schools, teachers are also required to shift emphasis through the following:

 From parts to whole – subjects are to be taught as integrated, not as isolated units in the curriculum.
 From objects to relationship – an ecosystem is a community. Communities are characterized by sets, networks, or
relationship. Schools put premium on relationship-based processes such as cooperation, collaboration, and decision-making
by consensus.
  From objective knowledge to contextual knowledge – this shift requires one to explain properties of the parts within the
context of the whole or in terms of environments and systems.
 From quantity to quality – assessments have traditionally emphasized standardized testing in terms of quantities, numeric
scores, and measurements. Schools are challenged to design assessment more adequate than the standardized tests if they
are to practice this principle.
 From structure to process – systems are dynamic and evolving. Thus, the understanding of living structures is linked to
understanding renewal, change, and transformation. This shift is embodied in project-based learning, which highlights the
application of knowledge within evolving real-life contexts.
 From contents to patterns – when we draw maps of relationships, we discover certain configurations of relationships that
appear again and again. We call these configurations patterns. Instead of focusing on what a living system is made of, we
study its patterns. Pedagogically, the shift reminds us of the importance of integrating art into programs of study. This
enables children even at young age to recognize and express patterns whether we talk about poetry, literature, visual arts,
performing arts, and music.

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Reflect

 Ecological literacy refers to an individual’s understanding not only of ecological concepts, but also of his or her place in the
ecosystem.
 Ecological literacy is a form of transformative education that requires shifts in three related areas: (1) perception (seeing),
(2) conception (knowing), and (3) action (doing).
 The ecologically literate person of the 21st century has a positive view of life, grounded on the faith of interconnectedness,
and has the capacity to competently perform significant life, work, and related tasks.

Reference

 Adawiah, R. M., & Norizon, E. (2013). Ecological literacy among secondary school student. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263011210
 Capra, F. (1996). The of life. New York: Anchor Books.
 Capra, F. (2007). Sustainable living, ecological literacy, and the breath of life. Canadian Journal of Environmental Education,
12.
 Goleman, d., Bennett, L., & Barlow, Z. (2012). Ecoliterate: How educators are cultivating emotional, social, and ecological
intelligence. CA: Jossey-Bass.
 Hares, M., Eskonheimo, A., Myllytaus, T., & Luukkanen, O. (2006). Environmental literacy in interpreting endangered
sustainability case studies from Thailand and the Sudan. Geoforum, 37(1), 128-144.
P40 6

GENERAL Instructions:
1. Use white short bond paper and paper clip;
2. On the cover page. Print the following:
a. Your name
b. Subject/Time
c. Instructor’s name
3. Use extra bond paper for your answers if necessary.

Questions to Ponder

Read the questions and instructions carefully. Write your answers in the space provided.

1. In “ecological Literacy among Secondary School Students,” Adawiah and Norizan (2013) identified essential ecological
concepts that students need to understand. Let us see how well you know and understand these concepts by writing on the
corresponding column key ideas.

Concepts Key ideas

The Ecosystem
Succession
Energy Flow
Conservation of Resources
Competition
Niche
Materials Cycling
The Community
Life History Strategies
Ecosystem Fragility
Food Webs
Ecological Adaptation
 Environmental Heterogeneity
Species Diversity
Density Dependent Regulation
Limiting Factors
Carrying Capacity
Maximum Sustainable Yield
Population Cycles
Predator-Prey Interactions

2. What environmental issues and concerns move you and provoke you to action? What efforts and practical steps do you do
to influence others to take action?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

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CHAPTER 7
Artistic and creative
literacy

At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

 characterized artistic literacy;

 discuss the value of Arts to education and practical life;
 identify approaches to developing/designing curriculum that cultivates the arts and cultivates the arts and creativity
among learners;
 formulate a personal definition of creativity; and
 design creative and innovative classroom activities for specific topic and grade level of students.
 Artistic literacy is defined in the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards: A Conceptual Framework for Arts Learning
(2014) as the knowledge and understanding required to participate authentically in the arts. While individuals can learn about
dance, media, music, theater, and visual arts through reading print texts, artistic literacy requires that they engage in artistic creation
processes directly through the use of materials (e.g., charcoal or paint or clay, musical instruments or scores) and in specific spaces
(e.g., concert halls, stages, dance rehearsal spaces, arts studios, and computer labs).

Researches have recognized that there are significant benefits of arts learning and engagement in schooling (Eisner, 2002;
MENC, 1996; Perso, Nutton, Fraser, Silburn, & Tait, 2011). The arts have been shown to create environments and conditions that
result in improved academic, social, and behavioral outcomes for students, from early childhood through the early and later years of
schooling. However, due to the range of arts forms and the diversity and complexity of programs and research that have been
implemented, it is difficult to generalize findings concerning the strength of the relationships between the arts and learning and the
causal mechanisms underpinning these associations.

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The flexibility of the forms comprising the arts positions students to embody a range of literate practices to:

 use their minds in verbal and nonverbal ways;

 communicate complex ideas in a variety of forms;
 understand words, sounds, or images;
 imagine new possibilities; and
 persevere to reach goals and make them happen.

Engaging in quality arts education experiences provide students with an outlet for powerful creative expression,
communication, aesthetically rich understanding, and connection to the world around them. Being able to critically read, write and
speak about art should not be the sole constituting factors for what counts as literacy in the Arts (Shenfiled, 2015). Considerably,
more dialogue, discussion, and research are necessary to form a deeper picture of the Arts and creativity more broadly. The
cultivation of imaginations and creativity and the formation of deeper theory surrounding multimodality and multi-literacies in the
Arts are paramount.

Elliot Eisner posited valuable lessons or benefits that education can learn from arts and he summarized this into eight as
follows:

1. Form and content cannot be separated. How something is said or done shapes the content of experience. In education, how
something is taught, how curricula are organized, and how schools are design impact upon what students will learn. These
“side effects” maybe the real main effects of practice.
2. Everything interacts; there is no content without form and no form without content. When the content of a form is change,
so too, is the form altered. Form and contend are like two sides of a coin.
3. Nuance matters. To the extend to which teaching is an art, attention to nuance is critical. It can also be said that the
aesthetic lives in the details that the maker can shape in the course of creation. How a word is spoken, how a gesture is
made, how a line is written, and how a melody is played, all affect the character of the whole. All depend upon the
modulation of the nuances that constitute the act.
4. Surprise is not to be seen as an intruder in the process of inquiry, but as a part of the rewards one reaps when working
artistically. No surprise, no discovery, no discovery, no progress. Educators should not resist surprise but create the
conditions to make it happen. It is one of the most powerful sources of intrinsic satisfaction.
5. Slowing down perception is the most promising way to see what is actually there. It is true that we have certain words to
designate high levels of intelligence. We describe somebody as being swift, or bright, or sharp, or fast on the pickup. Speed
in its swift state is a descriptor for those we call smart. Yet, one of the qualities we ought to be promoting in our schools is a
slowing down of perception: the ability to take one’s time, to smell the flowers, to really perceive in the Deweyan sense,
and not merely recognize what one looks at.
 6. The limits of language are not the limits of cognition. We know more than we can tell. In common terms, literacy refers
essentially to the ability to read and to write. But literacy can be re-conceptualized as the creation and use of a form of
representation that will enable one to create meaning-meaning that will not take the impress of language in its
conventional form. In addition, literacy is associated with high-level forms of cognition. We tend to think that in order to
know, one has to be able to say. However, as Polanyi (1969) reminds us, we know more than we can tell.
7. Somatic experience is one of the most important indicators that someone has gotten it right. Related to the multiple ways
in which we represent the world through our multiple forms of literacy is the way in which we come to know the world
through the entailments of our body. Sometimes one knows a process or an event through one’s skin.
8. Open-ended tasks permit the exercise of imagination, and an exercise of the imagination is one of the most important of
human aptitudes. It is imagination, not necessity, that is the mother of invention. Imagination is the source of new
possibilities. In the arts, imagination is a primary virtue. So, it should be in the teaching of mathematics, in all of the
sciences, in history, and, indeed, in virtually all that humans create. This achievement would require for its realization a
culture of schooling in which the imaginative aspects of the human condition were made possible.

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Characterizing Artistically Liberate Individuals

How would you characterize an artistically literate student? Literature on art education and art standards in education cited
the following as common traits of artistically liberate individuals:

 use a variety of artistic media, symbols, and metaphors to communicate their own ideas and respond to the artistic
communications of others;
 develop creative personal realization in at least one art form in which they continue active involvement as an adult;
 cultivate culture, history, and other connections through diverse forms and genres of artwork.
 Find joy, inspiration, peace, intellectual stimulation, and meaning when they participate in the arts; and
 Seek artistic experiences and support the arts in their communities.

Issues in Teaching Creativity

In his famous TED talks on creativity and innovation, Sir Ken Robinson (Do schools kill creativity? 2006; How to escape
education’s death valley?, 2013) stressed paradigms in the education system that hamper the development of creative capacity
among learners. He emphasized that schools stigmatize mistakes. This primarily prevents students from trying and coming up with
original ideas. He also reiterated the hierarchy of systems. Firstly, most useful subjects such as Mathematics and languages for work
are at the top while arts are at the bottom. Secondly, academic ability has come to dominate our view of intelligence. Curriculum
competencies, classroom experiences, and assessment are geared toward the development of academic ability. Students are
schooled in order to pass entrance exams in colleges and universities later on. Because of this painful truth, Robinson challenged
educators to:

 educate the well-being of learners and shift from the conventional learnings toward academic ability alone;
 give equal weight to the arts, the humanities, and to physical education;
 facilitate learning and work toward stimulating curiosity among learners;
 awaken and develop powers of creativity among learners; and
 view intelligence as diverse, dynamic, and distinct, contrary to common belief that it should be academic ability-geared.

Enhance

In “First Literacies: Art, Creativity, Play, Constructive Meaning-Making,” McArdle and Wright asserted that educators should
make deliberate connections with children’s first literacies of art and play. A recommended new approach to early childhood
pedagogy would emphasize children’s embodied experience through drawing. This would include a focus on children’s creation,
manipulation, and changing of meaning through engaged interaction with art materials (Dourish, 2001), through physical, emotional,
and social immersion (Anderson, 2003). The authors proposed four essential components to developing or designing curriculum that
cultivates students’ artistic and creative literacy. Such approaches actively encourage the creative, constructive thinking involved in
meaning making which are fundamental to the development of the systems of reading, writing, and numbering.

1. Imagination and pretense, fantasy and metaphor

A creative curriculum will not simply allow, but will actively support, play and playfulness. The teacher will plan for learning
and teaching opportunities for children to be, at once, who they are and who they are not, transforming reality, building
narratives, and mastering and manipulating signs and symbol systems.

2. Active menu to meaning making

In a classroom where children can choose to draw, write, paint, or play in the way that suits their purpose and/or mood,
literacy learning and arts learning will inform and support each other.

3. International, holistic teaching

A creative curriculum requires a creative teacher, who understands the creative processes, and purposefully supports
learners in their experiences. Intentional teaching does not mean drill and rote learning and, indeed, endless rote learning
exercises might indicate the very opposite of intentional teaching. What makes for intentional teaching is thoughtfulness
and purpose, and this could occur in such activities as reading a story, adding a prop, drawing children’s attention to a

P44

spider’s web, and playing with rhythm and rhyme. Even the thoughtful and intentional imposing of constraints can lead to
creativity.

4. Co-player, co-artist

Educators must be reminded of the importance of understanding children as current citizens, with capacities and
capabilities in the here and now. It is vital for teachers to know and appreciate children and what they know by being
mindful of the present and making time for conversation, interacting with the children as they draw. Teachers must try to
avoid letting the busy management work of their days take precedence and distract them from the ‘being.’

Reflect
Wrap Up
 Creativity can be defined as the process of having original ideas that have value.
 All children have capacity for innovation and creativity.
 Schools should work toward educating the whole-being of the child.

References

 Anderson, M.L. (2003). Embodied cognition: A field guide. Artificial Intelligence, 149, 91-130.
 Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1978). Intrinsic Rewards and Emergent Motivation. In M. Lepper & D. Green. The hidden cost of
reward: New perspective on the psychology of human motivation (p.211). Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Eribaum.
 Demaris, H. (2012). Motivating music learning through formative assessment and careful planning. In Brophy, T., & Andreas
Lehmann-Wemser, (Eds.), Proceedings of the 3rd international symposium on assessment in music education, The University
of Bremen, Germany. Chicago: GIA Publications, Inc.
 Dourish, P. (2001). Where the action is: The foundations of embodied interaction. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
 Eisner, E. W. (2002). What can education learn from the arts about the practice of education? The Encyclopedia of Informal
Education. Retrieved from https://www.infed.org/biblio/eisner_arts_and_the_practice_or_education.htm
P45

GENERAL Instructions:
1. Use white short bond paper and paper clip;
2. On the cover page. Print the following:
a. Your name
b. Subject/Time
c. Instructor’s name
3. Use extra bond paper for your answers if necessary.

Question to Ponder

Read the questions and instructions carefully. Write your answers in the space provided.

1. What is your personal definition of creativity?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
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_________________________________________________________________________________
2. Recall some of the creative classroom activities you had in school. What made them creative?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
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_________________________________________________________________________________
3. Is creativity the same with innovativeness? Read various definitions on these two concepts and organize your notes using a
Venn diagram.

P46
4. Refer to the characteristics of artistically literate students. Examine yourself and tell whether you possess any of the
characteristics mentioned.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
5. Explain this quote from Picasso: All children are born artists. The problem is to remain as an artist as we grow up.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
P47

CHAPTER 8
critical literacy

At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

 characterize critical literacy;

 discuss a brief background of critical literacy theory; and
 apply principles of critical literacy in designing lessons and classroom activities.
 The concept of critical literacy is theoretically diverse and combines ideas from various critical theories, such as critical
linguistics, feminist theory. Critical race theory, as well as reader response theory and cultural and media studies (Luke et al., 2009).
Critical literacy is a central thinking skill that involves the questioning and examination of ideas, and requires one to synthesize,
analyze, interpret, evaluate, and respond to the texts read or listened to (University of Melbourne, 2018). Critical literacy uses texts
and print skills in ways that enable students to examine the politics of daily life within contemporary society with a view to
understanding what it means to locate and actively seek out contradictions within modes of life, theories, and substantive
intellectual positions (Bishop, 2014). Rather than promoting any particular reading of any particular group or text, critical literacy
seeks to examine the historical and contemporaneous privileging of and exclusion of groups of people and ideas from mainstream
narratives (Lankshear & McLaren, 1993). It is a kind of literacy about structures, structural violence, and power systems.

Sine the 1990s, critical literacy theorist have outlined emancipatory theories of learning (Freire & Macedo, 1987) that addressed
the complex relations of language and power through social critique, advocacy, and cultural transformation (Knoblauch & Brannon,
1993). Educational researchers discuss critical literacy as a theory of social practice, as the negotiation of and the creation of
meaning for social justice (Greene, 2008). While there is no single model of critical literacy (as there is no single model of youth
organizing), the emphasis on Freire’s (1970) action-reflection cycle of “praxis” has offered participants a concept through which to
construct meanings that support their literacy for civic engagement (Lankshear & McClaren, 1993).

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History of Critical Literacy Theory

Much of the earliest scholarship on critical literacy is grounded in Freirian pedagogy. In 1987, Freire and Macedo published their
expansive volume on literacy and critical pedagogy. In it, they argued that those who are critically literate can understand not only
how meaning is socially constructed within texts, but also the political and economic contexts in which those texts were created and
embedded (Freire & Macedo, 1987). While Friere and Macedo were perhaps the first to initiate a dialogue around the idea of critical
literacy in their collection, it was not until 1993 that Lankshear and McLaren issued what was to become the seminal text devoted to
the topic. In it, they stated that literacy is more complex than the traditionally defined skills of reading and writing. Rather, they
argued that such a traditional definition of literacy is ideologically aligned with particular postures of normative socio-political
consciousness that are inherently exploitative. By contrast, critical literacy emphasized the social construction of reading, writing,
and text production within political contexts of inequitable economic, cultural, political, and institutional structures. Lankshear and
McLaren argued for critically reflective teaching and research focused on both the forms that literate skills take as social practices
and the uses to which those skills are employed.

The authors identified three forms of educational practice that critical literacy can take on, varying by their commitment to
inquiry and action: liberal education, pluralism, and transformative praxis. Liberal education here means an approach to disciplinary
knowledge where intellectual freedom exists and where disparate interpretations are considered, but inevitably contradiction is
avoided and rational argumentation wins out. In pluralism, there is an emphasis on reading to evaluate principles that support a
loose conception of tolerance. Tolerance here is aligned with a notion of diversity that is grounded on benevolence toward those
who are not mainstream (and in the process maintains the mainstream). Against these approaches, the authors forwarded
“transformative praxis” as that which takes the radical potential of critical literacy into direct emancipatory action in the world.
Praxis is here defined through the Freirian (1970) process of naming the conditions of oppression and struggling collectively with
others in a cycle of action-reflection-action against such oppression. Lankshear and McLaren argued that a guiding principle behind
the processes of transformative critical literacy praxis involves on analysis “attempting to understand how agents working within
established structures of power participate in the social construction of literacies, revealing their political implications” (p.7).

Critical literacy praxis, which Lankshear and McLaren also called “political and social literacies,” involves textual studies that are
analyzed at the discursive level in which the texts were created and in which they are sustained. While the authors understood that
this move might lead to such literacies being seen as “potentially subversive,” they forwarded a key distinction centering on the
difference between political indoctrination and the development of a critical consciousness-or what Freire (1970) called
“conscientization.”
 At the turn of the millennium, just before the 2001 re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as
the controversial No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), Janks (2000) posited four possible orientations for future approaches to critical
literacy education based on different perspectives on the relationship between language and power: (a) to understand how language
maintains social and political forms of domination: (b) to provide access to dominant forms of language without comprising the
integrity of non-dominant forms; (c) to promote a diversity which requires attention design perspective that emphasizes the need to
use and select from a wide range of available cultural signs system. Although frequently taken in isolation, Janks argued that it is
through the interdependence of these approaches that learners can most fully engage theories and pedagogies of critical literacy.

Critical Literacy and the Arts

The creation of artistic product s by an individual and the perception and rejection upon others’ artworks showcase the power of
critical literacies at work within Arts contexts. Luke (2000) argues that it is the primary aim of critical literacy to:

1. allow students to see how texts work to construct their worlds, their cultures, and their identifies in powerful, often overtly
ideological ways; and
2. understand how they use texts ass social tools in ways that allow for a reconstruction of these same worlds.

The arts, literacies, and reality are dynamically linked and the understanding attained by critically reading aesthetic texts
involves perceiving the relationship between the art, its creator, and its contexts. Both the practice and understanding of art forms,
and being critically literate are interconnected. Indeed, critical literacy makes possible a more adequate ‘reading’ of the world into a

P49

formation in which their interests, identities, and legitimate aspirations are more fully present more equally (Lankshear & McLaren,
1993, cited in Morgan, 2002, p. 6).

Freedom and Luke (cited in Luke, 2000) developed a four-tiered approach to early reading instruction that has now been widely
adapted across Australian schools. These approaches are necessary but not sufficient sets of social practices requisite for critical
literacy. A recent version of the model offered the following descriptions (Freebody, 1992; Luke & Freebody, 1997);

 Coding Practices: Developing Resources as a Code Beaker – How do I crack this text? How does it work? What are its
patterns and conventions? How do the sounds and the marks relate, singly and in combinations?
 Texts – Meaning Practices: Developing Resources as a Text Participant – How do the ideas represented in the text string
together? What cultural resources can be brought to bear on the texts? What are the cultural meanings and possible
readings that can be constructed from this text?
 Pragmatic Practices: Developing Resources as a Text User – How do the uses of this text shape its composition? What do I
do with this text, here and now? What will others do with it? What are my options and alternatives?
 Critical Practices: Developing Resources as Text Analyst and Critic – What kind of person, with what interests and values,
could both write and read this naively and without any problem with it? What is this text trying to do to me? In whose
interests? Which position, voices, and interests are at play? Which are silent and absent?

There are a number of classroom activities that can be used to apply the aforementioned approaches.

Textual Analysis

Textual analysis can be guided by asking the learners to make their way systematically though a list of questions such as the
following:

 What is the subject or topic of this text?

 Why might the author have written it?
 Who is it written for? How do you know?
 What values does the author assume the reader holds? How do you know?
 What knowledge does the reader need to bring to the text in order to understand it?
 Who would feel ‘left out’ in this text and why? Who would feel that the claims made in the text clash with their own values,
beliefs, or experiences?
  How is the reader ‘positioned’ in relation to the author (e. g., as a friend, as an opponent, as someone who needs to be
persuaded, as invisible, as someone who agrees with the author’s views)?

Another approach for analyzing texts is to use a checklist such as CARS (Credibility, Accuracy, Reasonableness, Support), which
was originally developed for used in evaluating web sites.

Credibility

Evidence of authenticity and reliability is very important. Tests that help the reader judge the credibility of a text include
examining the author’s credentials and the quality of content. It is necessary to look for biographical details on their education,
training, and/or experience in an area relevant to the information by asking, “Do they provide contact information (email or posted
address, phone number)? What do you know about the author’s reputation or previous publications”? information texts should pass
through a review process, where several readers examine and approve the content before it is published Statement issued in the
name of an organization have almost always been seen and approved by several people.

Accuracy

Information need to be up to date, factual, detailed, exact, and comprehensive. Thinks to bear in mind when judging accuracy
include timeliness and comprehensiveness. We must therefore be careful to note when information was created, before deciding
whether it is still of value. It is always a good idea to consult to more than one text. Indicators that a text is in accurate, either in
whole or in part, include the absence of a date or an old date on information known to change rapidly; vague or sweeping
generalizations; and the failure to acknowledge opposing views.

P50

Reasonableness

Reasonableness involves examining the information for fairness, objectivity, and moderateness. Fairness requires the writer to
offer a balanced argument, and to consider claims made by people with opposing views. A good information text will have a calm,
reasoned tone, arguing or presenting material thoughtfully. Like comprehensiveness, objectivity is difficult to achieve. Good writers,
however, try to minimize bias.

Support

Support for the writer’s argument from other sources strengthens their credibility. It can take various forms such as writing
bibliography and references and corroboration. It is a good idea to triangulate information, that is to find at least three texts that
agree. If other texts do not agree, further research into the range of opinion or disagreement is needed. Readers should be careful
when statistics are presented without identifying the source or when they cannot find any other texts that present or acknowledge
the same information.

Text Clustering

Text clustering involves confronting students with texts which obviously contradict each other. The task is to use whatever
evidence they can find to try to make judgement about where the truth actually lies. Sometimes these judgements are relatively.
New reports, fairytales, everyday texts are good materials for text clustering.

Reflect
Wrap Up

 Critical literacy is a vital element to teach pupils in the 21st century.

 Critical literacy is a central thinking skill that involves the questioning and examination of ideas, and requires one t
synthesize, analyze, interpret, evaluate, and respond to the texts read or listened to.
 Texts are always situated in fields of power, with economic, cultural, and social exchange involved.

References
Bishop, E. (2014). Critical literacy: Bringing theory to praxis. Journal of Curriculum Theorizing 30(1). Retrieved from
http://journal.jconline.org/index.php/jct/article/view/457
Freebody, P. (1992). A sociocultural approach: Resourcing four rolls as a literacy learner. In A. Watson & A. Badenhop (Eds.),
Prevention of reading failure (pp.48-80). Sydney: Ashton-Scholastic
Freebody, P., & Luke, A. (1990) Literacies programs: Debates and demands in cultural context. Prospect: Australian Journal of TESOL,
5(7), 7-16.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Herder & Herder.
Freire, P., & Macedo, D. (1987). Literacy: Reading the word and the world. South Hadley, MA: Bergin & Garve.

P51 8

GENERAL Instructions:
1. Use white short bond paper and paper clip;
2. On the cover page. Print the following:
a. Your name
b. Subject/Time
c. Instructor’s name
3. Use extra bond paper for your answers if necessary.

Question to Ponder

Read the questions and instructions carefully. Write your answer on the space provided.

1. Assess your critical literacy skills by answering the following questions with YES or NO.
a. Do you evaluate your sources before using them in your essays? _____________
b. Do you support your opinions and claims with experts’ ideas? ______________
c. Do you read with a critical eye? ___________
d. Do you manage the vast amount of information you need to read? __________
e. Do you verify date and information before accepting them? _____________
2. Let us explore your personal literacy histories by recalling and writing below your answers to the following:
a. Your first memories of reading (what, where, with whom?)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
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_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
b. Favorite reading as a child and as an adult
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_________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
c. The most important book/s or author/s in your life
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d. The main roles and purpose of reading in your life (as a parent, professional, for pleasure, religious purposes, etc.)
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