ERIC Number: EJ1100511
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Apr
Pages: 2
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0276-928X
EISSN: N/A
Smart Currency: Defining Literacy in the Modern Age is Crucial to Building Professional Learning that Prepares Students for the Knowledge Economy
Celeste, Eric
Journal of Staff Development, v37 n2 p10-11 Apr 2016
Policymakers and education professionals have emphasized the importance of literacy in a global economy many times this century. The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) updated its own definition of 21st-century literacies, noting that "[a]s society and technology change, so does literacy. Because technology has increased the intensity and complexity of literate environments, the 21st century demands that a literate person possess a wide range of abilities and competencies, many literacies." Noting that these literacies are "multiple, dynamic, and malleable," NCTE said that those entering the 21st-century global society must be able to do six things: (1) Develop proficiency and fluency with the tools of technology; (2) Build intentional cross-cultural connections and relationships with others so to pose and solve problems collaboratively and strengthen independent thought; (3) Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes; (4) Manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information; (5) Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia texts; and (6) Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments (National Council of Teachers of English, 2013). Given this broad, complex definition of literacy and its centrality to all learning in schools, it's no wonder that many professional learning efforts at the district or school levels begin with tackling literacy challenges.
Descriptors: Literacy, Literacy Education, Professional Development, Knowledge Economy, Global Approach, Outcomes of Education, Standards
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A