Republic of the Philippines Tarlac State University COLLEGE OF EDUCATION CENTER OF DEVELOPMENT Lucinda Campus, Tarlac City Tel. No. (045) 493-0182; Fax No. (045) 982-0110 Re-Accredited Level IV by the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities of the Philippines (AACCUP), Inc. ______________________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 3: SOCIAL LITERACY Prepared by: Aguilar, Monica Charize R. Escoto, Danica Claire D. Gozun, Reynalyn S. Maniego, Ciaryll Mae S. Tamba, Angel Rose G. BEED 3A Submitted to: Ms. Frincess Flores Republic of the Philippines Tarlac State University COLLEGE OF EDUCATION CENTER OF DEVELOPMENT Lucinda Campus, Tarlac City Tel. No. (045) 493-0182; Fax No. (045) 982-0110 Re-Accredited Level IV by the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities of the Philippines (AACCUP), Inc. ______________________________________________________________________________ TITLE I. INTRODUCTION INSTRUCTION TO THE LEARNERS SOCIAL LITERACY Social literacy is so crucial in a persons success. The ability to communicate and voice opinions and thoughts, as well as listening to opinions and thoughts of others, is essential in learning. Firmly grasping social cues and norms is extremely beneficial. In literally every single setting of our lives:school, home, work, clubs and activities, interacting with people, we use our social literacy. We play so many roles everyday and we socially need to understand how to play those roles appropriately. This paper provides concepts regarding social literacy that will help and prepare children as they socialize with others. In addition, this will also discuss the role of parents and teachers in teaching social skills to children and what are the issues in teaching social literacy. This instructional material serves as a guide in understanding the third chapter under EDUC 206. It consists of the following sections: 1) Preparatory Activities: to engage and develop the skills, knowledge and understandings in different ways; 2) Developmental Activities: to deliver the intended learning outcomes in simple and organized manner; 3) Closure Activities: to summarize what was learned, check for student understanding, and transition to future instruction; 4) Synthesis: to highlight the key points that you should remember in this chapter; 5) Evaluation: to assess your comprehension of the concepts covered in this chapter. PRE-TEST Let us do a SELF-CHECK! As we all know, Filipinos are hospitable and it becomes the nature of how they welcome others wholeheartedly. It shows how they are good in socializing with others. In a whole sheet of paper, list down the social skills of Filipinos you know and cite example situations how it is being applied. Give at least 5 social skills. You can answer this within 10 minutes. II. LEARNING OBJECTIVES III.CONTENT A. PREPARATORY ACTIVITIES At the end of this chapter, the students are expected to: a) Develop understanding on the basic concepts of the social literacy mentioned. b) Explain the roles of parents and teachers in teaching social skills to children. c) Examine the different issues in teaching social literacy. d) Make a reflection paper about social literacy. View the video below and then answer the set of questions given. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZMX6H6YY1M& t=4s Upon watching the video, here are the questions to ponder: 1) What are the issues you saw based on the video? 2) What do you think the lesson we can get in the video? 3) What is/are the strategies/strategy that you can apply if ever you encounter these kind of situations? How will you solve these kind of issues? B. DEVELOPMENTAL ACTIVITIES In this chapter, the focus is on the rudiments of Social Literacy. What is Social Literacy? Social Literacy is a students successful performance and understanding of social Skills, organizational skills, and communication skills. It is the students ability to connect effectively with those around them. Social literacy spans across interacting with peers, family, coworkers, teachers, and even people we may not have met face to face. For example: I would speak differently with my friends than I would my mother, or I would chat on Facebook differently than I would while emailing a professor. Without an understanding of this communication, one cannot function with success in society. Social literacy concerns itself with the development of social skills, knowledge ad positive human values that enable human beings to act positively and responsibly in range of complex social settings. It is the knowledge of how to behave and treat other people in a way that is morally upright, just, and equitable, with a view of promoting positive and productive relations that are fee from unfair prejudices, hate, and discrimination. These three descriptions will be explained below. By morally upright, we refer to thoughts, speech, actions, and motivations that adhere to a standard of right and wrong. On the other hand, just refers to speech, actions, and behaviors that are in-line with a fixed standard of justice –a system that promotes and rewards good and at the same time punishes wrongdoing. Any system of justice, whether national, regional, or local, requires a body of rules or laws by which to measure and administer rewards and punishment. Equitable are the speech, actions, behaviors, and decisions that treat others fairly, regardless of background or circumstances. Not to be confused with equality, which connotes a fixed standard of treatment for all people, equity seeks the good of others, and labors to find means by which everyone gets “what they need” rather than simply “everyone gets the same thing in the same amount.” Peers and schools play a formative role on the social skills development of children. These social skills are often expressed as consisting of three inter-related components: social perception, social cognition and social performance (Arthur, Davidson, & Stow, 2000). Increasing emphasis has been placed on the last component, particularly in terms of outcomes. Social skill is defined in literature as ‘the ability to interact with others in a given social context in specific ways that are socially acceptable or valued and at the same time personally beneficial, mutually beneficial, or primarily beneficial to others.’ How has Social Literacy changed over time? In the past, social literacy was understood as a students ability to communicate in social settings. This definition broadened and continues to broaden into more and more social realms. Over time, and especially recently, social settings are changing from just a face to face environment. For students to competently interact socially and communicate effectively includes a newer and very present realm: the internet. Understanding how to communicate appropriately and use technology effectively in our social lives is so important in today's world. We as teachers are responsible for using technology as an advantage and fully using its benefits to improve social literacy even further. How can we incorporate Social Literacy into the Classroom? Ways to incorporate social literacy online: Blogging: Through blogging, students learn how to effectively use the internet and share their thoughts and knowledge appropriately. Reading classmates blog posts and responding helps students learn from others and gives them access to others ideas, as well as a chance to constructively respond. Class website: A class website is extremely useful in teaching students how to use and navigate on the internet. Keeping students updated on class happenings, as well as giving students opportunity to write and contribute on the class website will teach them useful skills in communicating on the internet. Video conferencing: Video conferencing has endless possibilities. Whether it is conferencing with a professional in the community, or students from a culture across the world, it opens up a realm of social interaction that can teach students so much about people in the world around them. Social Networking Sites: social networking gives students opportunities to know and learn about people all over the world in a matter of seconds. Encouraging students to meet people of other cultures and learn about social issues around the world is a priceless opportunityand we are so blessed to have sites like these to make it happen. Ways to incorporate social literacy in a face to face environment: Group projects: group projects give students opportunities to interact face to face and experience social interactions. It is so crucial that students learn to interact with people effectively and contribute their part. , Peer reviewing: Peer reviewing teaches students how to give constructive advice and communicate their thoughts well. To be able to give constructive criticism and view another persons ideas is an imprtant ability. Field trips: taking students to a museum or to volunteer in an area in need could help students open their eyes and learn about different societies. On any field trip, even learning how to travel in groups, communicate with people in charge, and work together as a group will be effective in teaching students to be socially literate. TYPES OF SOCIAL SKILLS There are several types of social skills that must be mastered for a child to be socially adept. These range from the ability to initiate, maintain, and end a conversation to reading social signals to more complex skills such as solving problems and resolving conflict (Lawson, 2003). The following examples represent some of the fundamental principles of relating well to others. Children with social skill deficits can be taught these skills directly by parents, teachers and/or professionals using the strategies of modeling, roleplaying, rehearsal, and practice. Greetings. Children develop relationships with peers by interacting with them. The first step in a social interaction is greeting someone. We not only greet others with words like “Hi!” or “How are you?” but with facial expressions, tone of voice and gestures such as a nod or a wave. Children with social inability may not say hello to people they know. They may walk right past them and not even look at them. If they do speak, they may not make eye contact and may simply look down at the floor. If they do say hello, it might not be in a very friendly tone of voice or with a smile. The nonverbal parts of greeting someone is just as important as the words. It’s not so much what you say but how you say it that lets people know you are glad to see them. Initiating Conversation. After you have greeted someone, you usually have a conversation with them. To carry on a conversation, a child must be able to initiate the conversation, maintain it and close it appropriately. This requires good listening and attentional skills, as well as the ability to take turns and probe for missing information. Sometimes children cannot think of anything to talk about. When you can’t think of anything to say, it can be good to ask the other person a question. The question can be about them or what they think about a movie or event that everyone is talking about. Sometimes when children don’t know what to say, they begin by talking about themselves or about something that the other person is not interested in. If they keep talking without giving the other person an opportunity to enter the conversation, or if they keep talking about themselves or something uninteresting to the other person, the person is likely to get tired of listening. He may walk away and even avoid future conversations with the child. Being a good conversationalist requires turn-taking and reciprocity. You must listen as well as talk. If you don’t show an interest in what the other person has to say, he probably won’t be interested in talking to you. Impulsive children often have trouble knowing when to talk and when to listen. Understanding the Listener. Once a conversation is initiated, to maintain it, it is important to understand the audience you are talking to. Children with social inability often have difficulty adapting what they say to their listener. A socially adept child quickly and unconsciously identifies and categorizes his listener, measures what she planned to say against the anticipated response of the listener, and then proceeds, alters, or avoids what she had planned to say. She knows that you don’t talk to authority figures in the same way that you talk to peers. Socially inept children can’t change their words or tone of voice to match their audience. For example, saying goodbye to a teacher with “Catch you later, dude!” would be inappropriate and could result in a detention. Adults often call children who have problems reading their audience disrespectful. Other students may view them as strange if they use stiff and formal language that is more suitable to conversations with adults than peers. A misread of the listener often leads to a misunderstood message and potential social rejection. To converse in a socially appropriate manner, children must be able to take the perspective or point of view of the other person, i.e., think the way they think. To do this a child must pretend that he is the listener and think about what he needs to hear to understand what is being said. For example, a child might say, “I finally got finished.” and not provide the details of what he started. Many children assume that other people think and feel the way that they do. These children may appear insensitive and selfish, although this is not their intent. They may also appear “dingy” because they seem to be coming from another planet when they speak. When your audience must guess what you are talking about, they are apt to feel uncomfortable and may be reluctant to converse with you. Empathizing. Empathy is like perspective taking but means that you can feel what the other person feels. Empathy allows you to really connect with other people. For example, if a student got an A on a math test and her friend got a D, she wouldn’t brag about her A to her friend because she knows it will make her feel bad because she didn’t do well. She could empathize with her by saying something like “That’s a bummer.” Other children often think of children who lack empathy as mean, unkind or self-centered. Reading Social Cues. It is very important to read social cues in a conversation. Cues are the hints and signals that guide us to the next thing to say or do. Social cues can be verbal or nonverbal. Verbal cues are the words that the other person is saying. Tone of voice is an important part of verbal cues. For example, “Oh, great!” can mean that something is terrific, or if said sarcastically, can mean that something is awful. Nonverbal cues are things that we see rather than hear in a conversation, such as body language and facial expressions. For example, if a friend’s facial expression changes from a smile to a frown and his body gets stiff when you are talking about a new CD that you bought, you might want to change the topic or ask him if what you said upset him. Good detectives pay very close attention to nonverbal cues. Previewing or Planning. Conversations also require that you preview or think about what effect your words or actions may have on your listener before you say or do them. If you think that the impact will be negative, you can adjust what you might say or do. Impulsive children often have trouble with previewing and are unable to stop and think before they say or do something. For example, if a group of children was talking about the football game last week, it would be inappropriate to interject a sentence about the math exam next week. When you walk in on the middle of a conversation, it is always a good idea to listen for a few minutes before entering the conversation. If your friends were complaining about not being able to drive their parents’ cars to the dance on Friday, it wouldn’t win any points with them to say, “Get real! Did you really think that your parents would let you take their car to the dance?” Doing this would be tactless and insensitive. Problem-solving. Problems and conflict are often a part of social interactions. Someone may not agree with you, get angry at something you say, insult you or become aggressive toward you. How you react to these conflicts depends on how good your problem-solving skills are. Children who are not good social problem solvers have trouble settling conflicts and disagreements. They get mad easily and may not speak to someone because they are mad at them. It must be “their way or the highway”. They always want to win no matter what the cost, even if that means losing a friend. It often also means making an enemy, which creates additional social problems. Conflicts cannot be avoided and are often necessary to “clear the air”. Turning a conflict from a “win-lose” situation to a “win-win” situation is the best way to resolve conflict. This requires negotiation and compromise, give, and take, but results in a situation that all parties can live with and helps maintain friendships. Apologizing. Everyone makes social mistakes at one time or another. A person with good social skills is confident enough to make a sincere apology for his error. This is a courageous act and is the quickest and easiest way to correct a social blunder. Children with weak social skills may have trouble saying they are sorry because they can’t lose face. They are afraid that others may see them as weak. They might also be too proud or feel stupid or foolish if they apologize. In reality, other people usually have a higher opinion of someone who apologizes for making a mistake. A. THE ROLE OF PARENTS AND TEACHERS IN TEACHING SOCIAL SKILLS TO CHILDREN Parents typically play the major role in teaching children social skills. Parents can directly teach social skills by modeling, role-playing, and providing opportunities for their child to rehearse and practice new skills. They should encourage and praise the child for successfully using a new skill. Parents can act as coaches for their children to develop these social skills. Children learn a lot from how parents treat them and when they observe how parents interact with others. Parents, like other coaches, will need to be creative and specific in teaching social skills. Beyond saying “You need to be better at X,” good coaches teach concrete skills and then support the use of these skills across a variety of situations. The goal should be not just to teach children to “be nice” but also to help them to advocate for themselves as well as care for others. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents use a 4-part strategy when helping their children develop social skills: Practice, Praise, Point out, and Prompt. These four steps can be used when parents notice that a child needs to work on a particular social skill. Before using them, however, the parent should point out the problem area sensitively and privately (not in front of others) to the child. Practice: A parent can help a child substitute a specific appropriate response for a specific inappropriate one. This might mean brainstorming with the child about different alternative responses and then practicing one or more with the child. Practicing can involve mapping out actual words to say or behaviors to use, role-playing, and using the newly learned skills in real situations. Praise: Often children are not eager to work on new skills so parents must reward their children with praise when the new skills are practiced as a way of helping the skills become habits. This might be a specific verbal statement (“You did an awesome job of X instead of Y when you got angry at the store”), a nonverbal sign such as a thumbs up, or even a treat (10 minutes extra fun time before bedtime). Point Out: Parents can use opportunities to point out when others are using the desired skills. It might be a specific behavior of the parent, another adult, a child, or even a character in a book or on TV. The idea is to give children examples and role models of people engaging in the appropriate social skill. Prompt: Without nagging, parents can gently remind their child to use a new skill when the opportunity arises. This might be verbal (“Now might be a good time to count to ten in your head”) or nonverbal (a nonverbal cue such as zipping the lips when a child is about to interrupt). Professionals typically intervene only when children are having substantial social difficulty with peers. These individuals can implement structured, guided, and effective programs that often involve group work with peers. Children must then generalize the skills they learn in the group to school and other personal social situations. Children tend to fall into four basic social categories in the school setting: Rejected – Students who are consistently subjected to ridicule, bullying and harassment by classmates. Isolated – Students who, although not openly rejected, are ignored by classmates and are uninvolved in the social aspects of school. Controversial – Students who have established a circle of friends based upon common interests or proximity but seldom move beyond that circle. Popular – Students who have successfully established positive relationships within a variety of groups. School is the place where children spend the majority of their time with peers. It is, therefore, a natural and perfect setting for children to learn and practice social skills. While teachers do not have to teach a class in social skills, they can take advantage of every opportunity to help children improve their social skills. They should be alert to teasing and bullying and aware of children that rejected or ignored by their peers. They should work cooperatively with the children’s parents to prevent humiliation, embarrassment, and distress that befall these children. Pairing a socially inept child with a socially adept one, involving children in cooperative instead of competitive learning exercises, identifying and acknowledging the strengths of all children, understanding social weaknesses, and creating an environment in which diversity is accepted and celebrated can greatly enhance all children’s social abilities, sense of belongingness, and self-esteem, not just in the classroom but in life as well B. ISSUES IN TEACHING SOCIAL LITERACY In regards to education, social literacy also aims to help students acquire the skills needed to comprehend the various social phenomena, events, and rapid changes our modern society experiences and how these things impact students' day-to-day lives. Social literacy aims to appeal to students' interests and needs. How children develop their social literacy is intrinsically a contextual matter and is not something that can be easily traced in a linear or developmental fashion. The acquisition of social literacy is a complex process that is historically and culturally conditioned and context-specific. Children learn through social practices, both explicit and implicit, and become human through social interaction. Nevertheless, it is also the case that children engage in social activity before they are taught it; in other words, children are disposed to be social before they learn what sociability is all about. There are two distinct ways of answering the question on how children learn to live socially with each other and with adults. The first view is normative and communal. From their culture, children learn customs that provide them with a guide to act in ways that minimize conflict. The second view is pragmatic and individualistic. The social order of children is created by explicit and implicit agreements entered into by selfseeking individuals to avert the worst consequences of their selfish instincts (Arthur, Davison, & Stow, 2000). In this last view, social order is dependent on sanctions and formal agreements. Rules are obeyed because they confer personal advantage on a child. In the normative view, children are persuaded of the moral force of acting socially through their voluntary associations with others, both in their immediate circle, such as the family, and in the wider community, for example, through membership of a church or club. The child in this normative view will not only know the correct behavior but will perform the role without any need for regular, conscious reference to the rules governing it. Teaching social literacy in schools is not as easy as it appears to be due to subjective standards of morality and inherent human capacity to judge and make excuses. 1. Subjective Standards of Morality The natural outcome of postmodern philosophies is that truth and morality are considered subjective and open to individual interpretation. This can be seen in the current culture, where actions and behavioral patterns that were once considered bad have now become acceptable – so much so that many now consider them to be even good. When the standards of measure between good and bad changes, this gives us license to change as well and opens the gates to all kinds of abuse. This, in effect, pulls the rug out from under any and all attempts at true justice and equitability, since they themselves rely on a fixed moral standard. Interestingly, many of those who insist on a subjective moral standard will be the first to demand for a fixed moral standard when they themselves fall victim to a subjective morality’s inevitable outcome. 2. Human Nature While we would all like to believe that people are inherently good, experience has taught us that the inherent goodness of humanity is, at best, unreliable: Sometimes it is there, often it is not. We are quick to champion the cause of moral uprightness, justice, and equity, but balk when our words and actions come under their scrutiny. In other words, we insist that others be judged according to a fixed moral standard but invoke a subjective one when our own behavior is questioned. We demand justice when we perceive ourselves to be victims of wrongdoing, but we surround ourselves with excuses when we do wrong. We insist that others treat us equitably, but are reluctant when treating others with equity costs more than we expected. Today’s students have grown up with the internet that they have become inseparable from their gadgets. Blake (2017) offers helpful reminders to young professionals in terms of social skills in the modern age. This situation underscores the importance of educating students in what could be called social literacy to ensure their academic and career success. Situational Awareness in the Workplace While casual office attire has become the norm in many offices, job interviews typically require more formal dress and behavior to demonstrate a level of respect. Stories prevail of young adults showing up to interviews in casual clothing, texting, or using phones during job interviews or even bringing their parents with them. “Such behavior demonstrates a lack of situational awareness about what is appropriate to do in different social circumstances. While college classrooms or the actual office atmosphere may allow for a more casual dress code, students need to be taught what is socially acceptable in terms of dress or behavior for them to stand out above their colleagues. An ability to read social situations illustrates strength to employers – quickly picking up on a client’s mood or expectations in various business or cross-cultural situations can be the difference between success and failure. Social Intelligence in Technological Communication Text-speak and technology use have affected many young people’s ability to communicate. While email has deformalized much of the communication process, students still need to ensure their writing denotes respect and provides enough context for professors (or future employers) to readily respond. In addition, text-speak has reduced students’ ability to communicate using correct grammar. Through studying particular communication genres and what they demand, students can learn more about what individual situations demand in terms of the formality of communication. For example, if a professor signs an email with “Dr. Smith,” this is a fairly good indication that he expects to be addressed as such and not informally by his first name. Social Intelligence in Traditional Communication While email has taken over as the primary method of communication, traditional modes of discourse still exist. For example, many employers still expect cover letters in addition to resumes, and the lack of a thankyou note for a gift is often perceived as more than a simple social oversight. An ability to craft these types of documents illustrates an understanding of social expectations and denotes a level of respect or appreciation. While not related to the traditional educational canon, learning to properly write a cover letter or business letter or a thank-you card not only teaches students that these documents exist and are often necessary but also shows them how to craft such documents, saving them time and energy in the future. Students who don't interact are known socially illiterate. That's why being aware about this issues about social literacy and creating strategies to avoid these is important. It is important for the children to learn the necessary skills to communicate and widen their social circles. By working in groups the students are practicing social skills that can be apply within and outside of the classroom. C. CLOSURE ACTIVITIES IV. SYNTHESIS / GENERALIZATION The concept of Social Literacy is exemplified in this chapter. For better understanding, you can access the link in the references and read about social literacy. In a clean sheet of paper, imagine being a teacher/ parent someday, what will you do in teaching social skills to your future students/children. Make a reflection paper regarding it. You may answer this for 10-15 minutes of the class time. Social Literacy is a students successful performance and understanding of social Skills, organizational skills, and communication skills. It is the students ability to connect effectively with those around them. Peers and schools play a formative role on the social skills development of children. These social skills are often expressed as consisting of three inter-related components: social perception, social cognition and social performance (Arthur, Davidson, & Stow, 2000). Understanding how to communicate appropriately and use technology effectively in our social lives is so important in today's world. Ways to incorporate social literacy online: Blogging Class website Video conferencing Social Networking Sites Ways to incorporate social literacy in a face to face environment: Group projects Peer reviewing Field trips There are several types of social skills that must be mastered for a child to be socially adept.Children with social skill deficits can be taught these skills directly by parents, teachers and/or professionals using the strategies of modeling, role-playing, rehearsal, and practice. Greetings Initiating Conversation Understanding the Listener Empathizing Reading Social Cues Previewing or Planning Problem-solving Apologizing Parents typically play the major role in teaching children social skills. They should encourage and praise the child for successfully using a new skill. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents use a 4-part strategy when helping their children develop social skills: Practice Praise Point out Prompt. Children learn through social practices, both explicit and implicit, and become human through social interaction. There are two distinct ways of answering the question on how children learn to live socially with each other and with adults. The first view is normative and communal. The second view is pragmatic and individualistic. Teaching social literacy in schools is not as easy as it appears to be due to subjective standards of morality and inherent human capacity to judge and make excuses. V. EVALUATION ASSIGNMENT / AGREEMENT REFERENCES In a whole sheet of yellow paper, answer the following questions. Choose and write the letter of the correct answer. In your assignment notebook, answer the following questions regarding social literacy: a. What issues will someone encounter in teaching and learning social skills? b.Do you think that the teachers can fill the role of parents in teaching social skills? Why or why not? What is social literacy. (n.d). Retrieved from Social Literacy Project: https://sites.google.com/site/socialliteracyproject/ Gutierrez, J. (2020, February 05). Social literacy. Retrieved from Prezi: https://prezi.com/lseyadn4215k/social-literacy/ What is Social Literacy and why is it important. (n.d).Retrieved from weebly: https://360430028271334326.weebly.com/index.html How has social literacy changed over time. (n.d). Retrieved from weebly: https://360430028271334326.weebly.com/how-hassocial-literacy-changed-over-time.html How can we incorporate social literacy into the classroom. (n.d). Retrieved from weebly: https://360430028271334326.weebly.com/how-cansocial-literacy-be-taught-in-a-classroom.html Dr. Lawson, C. Social Skills and School. Retrieved from Go Strengths: https://gostrengths.com/social-skills-and-school/ Wiley, A. (2007, April 19). Importance of Teaching Social Skills to Children. Retrieved form Parenting 24/7: http://parenting247.org/article.cfm?ContentID=1241 Lavoie, R. The Teacher's Role in Developing Social Skills. (n.d). Retrieved from LD Online: http://www.ldonline.org