The Right to Literacy Education in Secondary Schools

The Right to Literacy Education in Secondary Schools

This chapter was very interesting to me as it describes how literacy can be incorporated into mathematics, science, social studies and language arts. As a non-classroom teacher, it is nice to see how this is done. We are always told “you have to incorporate reading and writing into your curriculum”, but no one has ever shown me how. While this book doesn’t talk specifically about physical education, it does show me that literacy has been used successfully in classes outside of language arts. As a teacher who cares deeply about student achievement, it encourages me to use literacy in my classroom.

The item I liked most about this chapter was the parts in the social studies and language arts sections where the teacher said that they were attempting to make their students better citizens. Instead of just spoon feeding the students the information, they encouraged the students to questions everything that they read, to find meaning and value in the material they were presented. Students were also engaged in an active discussion. Instead of becoming a human computer, they thought for themselves and examined what they thought and why they thought. It is easy to see that their students were much more motivated in these classrooms. It is refreshing, because educating young people for life was the reason that I became a teacher. These sections make me want to be a better teacher.

I strongly believe that literacy is a civil right. Many people say that inner city students can’t or won’t learn. In what I have seen in my short career is that is simply not true, or worse, a copout. Our students are hungry to learn and if we can empower them to not only understand what they have read, but to think critically about it, we will have given them a tool that they can use the rest of their life. Therefore, literacy education, as it appears in section II, needs to be incorporated, not just into the core academics, but into classroom like mine. For example, my students could read articles about sporting events or athletes and report back to the group regarding what they found. Or they could choose an athlete that has had personal trouble and give their feelings about that topic. This would make them think critically and evaluate their heroes. Much like the core subject teachers, the resource teachers need to work together to show our students that literacy matters in every area of school. By doing so, these students may gain a greater respect and understanding of each subject they encounter in school.