Personal Literacy Philosophy
For me there are many theories that directly affect children’s ability to
understand and gain the concepts of literacy. I believe that every classroom should be
full of text to encourage and enhance children’s practice and time in text, giving them
more exposure which they need to thrive in literacy elements of learning. The Social
Constructivism theory (Vygotsky, 1978) says that children’s growth is directly related to
their social exposure to others. My cousin is six years old, and she has been around
adults her entire life, she reads on the middle of second grade level, she talks like she is
ten years old, this is just one example of this theory that I have personally experienced.
The Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1969) also has direct effects on children,
whatever they are exposed to at home, in the classroom, on the bus, are all models for
the learning that takes place. The last two theories that tie directly together have a
huge impact on children and their literacy developments are the Family Literacy Theory
(Taylor, 1983) and the Theory of Literacy Development (Holdaway, 1979). These
theories tie directly together because the family theory begins in the home before
exposure to literacy at school and the emergent theory states that children begin
developing listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills at birth. The family theory
states that children who are raised in print-rich environments succeed and excel with
reading, vocabulary, and literacy during the first few years of life; meaning this is
directly coming from home. Those who lack literacy and language in the home are
those who generally struggle with reading, vocabulary, and the ability to communicate
effectively in school.
Literacy entails word knowledge, spelling, reading, writing, hearing, and the
ultimate goal comprehension. When students are exposed to this at home, they will
learn to do most of these things naturally. The theory of literacy developing at home,
occurs only when parents are models for their children. When there is a lack of literacy
in the home, the development is offset and must take place at school. This then can
become a difficult task for those who are less apt to learning and those whom have not
been exposed to reading. Students must be able to recognize all their letters, letter
sounds, and be able to segment and blend those sounds together to make them mesh
into a word. Children must also be able to make sense of what they are reading or
writing, in order for them to have the entire process wrapped. This complex process is
so important for students to grasp because if not they will be underequipped mentally
for the entirety of their schooling career.
Students will be become successful literate adults through a supportive
environment and as the teacher or parent, the child’s needs should always come first.
The support could be many books to choose from, allowing practice with reading or
recognizing sight words, studying the patterns of words, expanding vocabularies
(listening and speaking), and practicing the strategies for comprehension. Children need
this support in school and at home to thrive and succeed in education. The teacher and
parents (in a perfect world) must work as a team to help coach the child to become a
better reader and writer, leading into becoming a well-rounded student. Literacy is
incorporated into every subject and so becoming a reader who can comprehend and a
writer who can get their point across, these students will have fewer problems.
As a literacy educator I plan on giving every child I work with the chance to
succeed, as well as providing them with the tools to succeed. Being literate is a key part
of survival in today’s world and so I believe that this is an extremely important part of
their education, especially in elementary school. No matter what skill level a child has;
becoming a better reader will always be an option and the ultimate goal is making
progress. This is why as a reading teacher I will work with instructing students in areas
where they are lacking knowledge. I have learned that incorporating word study,
writing workshops, guided reading, shared reading, and literacy centers in the
classroom every day is an important part of exposing students to the fun and
adventurous side of literacy. I plan on working very hard to give every child this
experience. I also plan on modeling how fluency sounds in reading, use a lot of
repetition, and challenge kids all at the same time. I will work on collecting informal
data after giving pre-assessments to keep up with where they are instructionally, to
gauge whether my instruction is on target or not, and to make sure they are not falling
behind in my classroom.
References
Bandura, A. (1969). Social-learning theory of identificatory processes. In D. A. Goslin
(Ed.), Handbook of socialization and theory research (pp. 213-262). Chicago:
Rand McNally.
Holdaway, D. (1979). The foundations of literacy. Sydney: Ashton Scholastic.
Taylor, D. (1983). Family literacy. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Interaction between learning and development. From: Mind and
Society (pp. 79-91). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.