Week 12: What does it mean to be literate? Literacy is defined “as the ability, confidence and willingness to engage with language to acquire, construct and communicate meaning in all aspects of daily living.”¹ Language and literacy are “Language, and literacy development are major domains of early childhood development. They involve the development of the skills used to communicate with others through languages (language development), as well as the ability to read and write (literacy development).”² The role of Language and literacy is related directly to our ability to communicate and interact in our social class and worldwide. Language is a building block to our identity, and literacy

is how we manipulate those blocks. Through language and literacy education, we can interact with others both in and out of social status, which brings me to the concept of single stories. 

Growing up, I saw the world through a child’s innocence from a broken home to a single white Canadian female who developed into this version of me, a married, white female, working-class student and mother. I will not always see the world through this lens because I am still evolving based on my education and surroundings; we are a product of our environments. Now I understand that my lens in this world is different than; my husband’s, and my children’s, my peers, and it is different from those of other ethnicities. I need to remember that everyone interrupts and understands this world differently. I can achieve an unbiased classroom by encouraging diversity, educating others that we all have a story, and understanding that story and experience can be a valued part of the school. By being aware of my biases as unintentionally as possible, I can provide a judgment-free environment where students can feel comfortable and embrace their learning process.

As I sit here trying to recall single stories present in my education, I find myself focusing on elementary holidays. For my elementary education, I attended both the public system and the separate systems. Holidays stories were very different, in the public system as Christmas is was all about Santa the reindeer, carols, plays; Easter about bunnies’ eggs and spring; St Patrick’s day leprechauns and pots of gold etc. Where when I entered the separate system, I was confused because the stories around the holidays were no longer the same. Christmas was about the birth of Jesus; Easter the events up to the resurrection of Jesus and St. Patrick’s Day about Ireland’s pagan snakes’ cleansing. As a child, this confused me, and I often found myself wishing to return to the narrative I enjoyed more.

In my education, as I worked to become a free thinker. The product of and public and separate system, I began to see the single narratives in other subjects such as science. There are two narratives to choose from; either science is the answer or acts of God, but how can it be both. There were no indigenous studies as I went through school. It wasn’t until my last year of grade 12 that I recall even learning that residential schools. d, my single story was that of the dominant white culture. As humans and future teachers, we must understand that there is a reaction for every action. History was written by the victorious, every story is told differently, and narratives adapt to their audience and environment.

Work Cited

Kumashiro (2009) Chapter 7.pdf – Google Drive

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story | TED Talk

[1] languages-literacy-and-communication-aole-december-2017.pdf (gov.wales)

[2]  Language and Literacy Development in Understanding Child Development | UniversalClass