My teaching experiences raised questions about the nature of literacy,
especially about its relationship with education and schooling. Common
sense, straightforward definitions of literacy failed to address those questions
adequately, and that inadequacy led to the study which culminates in this
thesis. In Pursuit of Literacy focuses on literacy in order to explore answers to
those questions. It does so first by establishing a problematized understanding
of literacy, then by examining research into the implications of such an
understanding, and finally by analyzing the historical link between literacy
and schooling in the United States with that understanding as a basis.
This thesis arrives at its initial problematized understanding by
considering historical and contemporary definitions of literacy and standards
for measuring it, revealing that context plays a central role in these
definitions and standards. This work then posits a literacy uncertainty
principle, analogous to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle in physics,
emphasizing the definer's role and purpose as necessary elements in any
understanding of literacy itself. A view of literacy as a contextualized human
activity rather than an abstract and narrowly defined concept emerges from
this problematization.
This study then examines some implications of this view. Three
metaphors commonly identified with literacy provide a basis for analyzing
these implications. Finally, literacy as schooling, a fourth metaphor is
considered in an historical context, tracing possible sources of confusion
between the demands of schooling and those of literacy. The conclusions
drawn here help clarify the relationship between schools and literacy. / Graduation date: 1995
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/35248 |
| Date | 21 April 1995 |
| Creators | Freemole, George Maynard |
| Contributors | Ede, Lisa |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
Page generated in 0.0016 seconds