21st Century Literacy in Education

As a fourth year primary/ junior concurrent education student, my course plan has required me to take various courses about education. Many of the courses have focused on the history of education, philosophers that have influenced western education, and forms of education such as inquiry based education. My current education course discusses the topic of literacy, focusing on 21^st century literacy.

To be honest, before the class started the title of ‘21^st Century Literacies: an Introduction’ did not thrill me. I had a preconceived notion that the course was going to reiterate our discussions about assessment and how to integrate it into our classroom. I also thought we were going to discuss the various standardized tests in Ontario such as EQAO. I was pleasantly surprised when the class started off breaking ‘21^st century and literacy’ into two big ideas.

From this one lecture I learned that literacy is not simply the act of being able to read words on a page. Literacy is defined as the various techniques that individuals use to grasp and understand content. From these understandings, conclusions are made allowing an understanding of their world. The 21^st century is more than just this current century, and more than the technology which is often associated with this time period. The 21^st century in education refers to the acknowledgement of diversity of student learning, the need to be able to communicate effectively, and being critically literate. Expanding further, critically literate requires the synthesis of information, making informed decisions, and effective communication in a changing environment.  

As a teacher candidate, I understand that it is my duty to teach students to use tools and skills to accomplish critical literacy. I feel there is still a lot to learn about how I am going to implement this into my classroom. For now, I have been able to conceptualize that there are no right answers because everyone has a different view of the world, and the content needs to be taught reflecting the students’ contexts. I am excited to learn more in-depth about the new literacies (media literacy, moral literacy, character education, environmental literacy, financial literacy, global literacy, multicultural literacy, technology literacy, mental health literacy, and discipline-based literacy) that can be incorporated into the classroom, that will allow me to teach my students to function and work in today’s evolving society.