Quote: "If literacy is understood as a global and social practice, this helps us understand why children need to communicate not only across different cultures, but also in relation to changing global communication." (Pahl, 10)
Comment: This takes such an interesting view on literacy in accordance with the way our world is going. We are coming in more contact with different cultures and our planet is becoming much smaller. It is not enough to simply know about other cultures and that they exist, but we need to know how to communicate on a much greater scale. I think about how much communication and technology has changed in my lifetime and I can only imagine how much it will continue to change in the lives of those young children I teach.
Question: How can I (we), as a teacher(s), strengthen our communication skills to span different cultures as well as the globe? If we are to teach our students this, we first must embrace it, what can we do now to be better teachers in this regard?
I think that the best thing we can do is express appreciation for and understanding of the various cultures represented. We need to be aware of what holidays they celebrate, what their customs are, and what their culture has to offer our classrooms. With regards to literacy we need to give our diverse students an opportunity to express their culture through the literacy we use. We can read texts that might support their culture as well as give them opportunities to write about or talk about their experiences. We also can use literacy to familiarize these students with the customs of our culture, since there are so many cultural references and experiences expressed through literature that we may not even realize. Overall, however, I think we simply need to be sensitive to different cultures around the globe and use literacy to help our students become more aware of not only what but how to communicate.
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