It’s a Book!

This blog is a record of my journey towards a deeper appreciation of 21st century literacy. I have grown up in the midst of good literature. With my father a professor of literature, and my mother a high-school English teacher, literature and literacy had a place of great importance. Literacy in our family was synonymous with books. Our house was filled with books. Books would arrive in large boxes every few months for reviewing by either of my parents. I have always seen books as wonderful, and the heart of what it means to be literate. My recent engagement in the university course Youth, Popular Culture and Texts has prompted me to reassess my hierarchical approach to literacy.

Even a book-bug like myself knows that literacy is not only about printed texts. As a teacher I have regularly been exposed to the discourse of multiliteracies which was first defined by The New London Group in 1996. According to the group, the term ‘Multiliteracies’ refers to a new approach to literacy pedagogy which recognises “the multiplicity of communications channels and increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in the world today” (Cazden et al., 1996, p. 60). Since the group’s definition of the term, it has become a routine part of school curriculum to teach students multiliteracies. Although this has also been the case in my own classroom, the book still holds a superior place in my mind.

I recently came across a text which offered me concrete examples of how young people are using new technologies to extend and enrich their engagement with written texts. The examples are found in O’Sullivan’s book chapter Books and Blogs: Promoting Reading Achievement in Digital Contexts (2012). O’Sullivan begins with a general discussion about multiliteracy. She states that “concepts of what it means to be literate in the twenty-first century are evolving and multifaceted skills are required to live and learn in a global context” (O’Sullivan, 2012, p.191). She goes on to discuss the benefits of youth involvement in new communication technologies. She suggests that students are employing and developing literacy skills outside the classroom context using these technologies.

To support her argument, O’Sullivan refers to several blog sites, some of them run by teenagers, which give young people space to review and discuss texts (O’Sullivan, 2012, p.194- 197). The sites she refers to include Three Evil Cousins and Inside a Dog. Both are worth a visit. The very existence of such sites astonishes me because they suggest a large body of young readers who are excited about engaging with each other over literary texts. The examples of blog comments provided by O’Sullivan show “that the books written about in the blogs have actually been read” (O’Sullivan, 2012, p.202). Many of the comments show truly insightful or deeply personal responses to books. The examples provided by O’Sullivan prove for me that these young people are engaging with books as a community in a far more complex way than I probably ever did in my own teenage years as I sat curled up alone in a far corner of the library.

My antiquated attitude towards technology is illustrated beautifully in the delightfully playful picture book by Lane Smith, It’s a Book (2010). In the story, a young Donkey discovers the delight of becoming absorbed in a book. His discovery only comes after a lengthy and frustrating conversation with his Monkey friend who is baffled by Donkey’s lack of knowledge about non-electronic text forms. Donkey cannot find the value in a text which does not move, beep and require interaction. At the end of the story, the book triumphs, absorbing the young donkey and drawing him away from his noisy, blinking technology. For a book-bug like myself there is a sense of satisfaction as the book wins out over technology.

But examples like the ones discussed in O’Sullivan’s text give me the opportunity to draw new conclusions. I find myself reassessing the story It’s a Book and asking new questions. How would the Monkey cope not just reading, but being required to respond in the electronic world of the Donkey? Why should the book be superior to electronic texts? What literary challenges does the young Donkey face as he becomes literate in front of a screen instead of a page? What if the electronic world could enrich the Donkey’s experience of the book, not replace it? As I plunge into the course Youth, Text and Popular Culture, I hope I begin to answer these questions and find more examples like those offered in O’Sullivan’s text. If you are a book bug like me, perhaps you’d like to follow my journey.

Cazden, C., Cope, B., Fairclough, N., Gee, J., et al,. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66 (1), 60- 92.

O’Sullivan, K. (2012). Books and Blogs: Promoting Reading Achievement in Digital Contexts. In J. Manuel & Jacqueline and S. Brindley (Eds.), Teenagers and reading: literary heritages, cultural contexts and contemporary reading practices (pp.191 – 209). Kent Town, SA: Wakefield Press/ AATE.

Lane, S. (2010). It’s a Book. Newtown, NSW: Roaring Brook Press.