The Crisis of Learning and Literacy
Learning and Literacy in America
The trends for learning and literacy in America are very disturbing. According to the National Survey on Adult Literacy of 180 million adults over 96 percent cannot read, write and figure well enough to go to college. And, two thirds (120 million) do not have the literacy proficiency to go to high school. And, nearly one fourth or 40 to 44 million adults cannot read at all even though many can fill out forms and sign their names. From a learning point of view this is a critical situation. However, this crisis goes much deeper than even these statistical facts.
College professors in recent surveys have stated that the writing abilities of students entering college are continuing to decline. Yet, with the assumption that college students already have reading and writing skills there are very few writing courses in higher education that help students to improve their abilities in these areas. Even though writing and research study (reading) are still required in many college classes, more and more students are graduating without even the ability to write a decent term paper. Why is this happening? And, what can we do about it? Clearly, it is not simply a problem with teaching that must be addressed. There are critical voids in the curriculum of high schools and colleges. And, these large gaps in learning and literacy must be filled in order to develop students with not only functional literacy abilities but the critical and collaborative learning skills necessary to cope with the social and economic needs of an increasingly complex global society.
Clear writing leads to clear thinking. And, without adequate courses in writing, students develop a type of learning disability that includes muddled, narrow thinking without a clear direction and the tendency to rely on “short-cuts.” Also, as more and more student needs in this area are being ignored in an increasingly “high tech” and over specialized curriculum, students start to believe that they can “get by” with short hand knowledge and limited reading and writing abilities. Our high tech society even reinforces this thinking with the proliferation of “text messaging” and increasing numbers of articles and information given in video formats such as “flash player” on the internet. It is becoming more and more apparent that over time it will be harder to find detailed articles and information on the internet as video news and information will dominate. Such trends put even more pressure on schools and our entire educational system to improve curriculum in a way that teaches reading, writing and collaborative learning skills from k-12 all the way through higher education. The development of our future leaders depends on it. We need leaders with clear thinking ability that is nurtured and reinforced through competency in reading, writing and collaborative learning interaction (See Collaborative Learning and Democratic Context).
Thomas Jefferson stated that in order to sustain democracy we need a critically literate society that is capable of understanding issues. This understanding requires the ability to think clearly, read and work through problems to arrive at solutions that benefit the majority of the people. Writing enables learners to formulate ideas and then to express them in an orderly and understandable way. Increasing skill in this endeavor results in increasing clarity and the greater ability to work through various issues and look at problems from different points of view. This critical thinking ability is one of the greatest benefits of a complete education. And, it is this kind of critical literacy that is essential to keep democracy strong.
As we begin to see more and more undereducated and critically illiterate people running for public office, the need for improvements in writing, reading and collaborative learning skills is more apparent than ever. Many of these people do not even believe that they have a learning disability when they are unable to look at issues from more than one point of view. In a democracy this is a catastrophic learning problem that can only be addressed with leaders in government and education willing to improve the curriculum of our schools with more courses in writing, reading and collaborative learning. This will ensure that we will have the collaborative leaders of the future with the critical thinking and problem solving abilities to deal with any situation in an increasingly complex and challenging global society.
Copyright 2010, Global Leadership Resources: For teaching or classroom use only.
Discussion Questions
- Discuss the learning and literacy trends in America. What are the facts and what do they mean for the future of education and society?
- Why have writing, reading and collaborative learning skills been declining in America? What can be done about it?
- Discuss the learning and literacy “gaps” in curriculum. And, how can they be filled with courses that will make a difference for students?
- Why are there so few courses in higher education to help students improve their writing, reading and collaborative learning abilities?
- How does clear writing lead to clear thinking? Discuss the bad habits that students have picked up from new technology and the responsibility of education to help students to eliminate the short-cuts to learning and literacy.
- Why did Thomas Jefferson believe that critical literacy was essential for the future of democracy? How do writing, reading and collaborative learning help students to become better critical thinkers and citizens?
- Discuss how critically illiterate people impact society and our political process? How do they hurt democracy?
- Why is critical illiteracy a learning disability? How do writing, reading and collaborative learning abilities facilitate higher levels of critical thinking?
