What Does Reading Look Like, Anyway?

In “What Does Reading Look Like, Anyway?”, Kajder addresses the importance of including students in what she calls the “literacy club” by acknowledging literacy outside the traditional. She raises an interesting point: students do not believe untraditional literacy counts. I have observed this through the comments on my psmonline post. Does this mean that video games, graphic novels, film, photography, and other internet-related literacy are not as important as traditional literacy? Or, have students been incorrectly convinced, by teachers and parents who were taught traditional literacy, that traditional literacy is the only literacy worth teaching? Kajder’s definition of literacy is right on: “literacy is using the most powerful cultural tools to communicate our understandings.” Her definition does not exclude traditional literacy; in fact, it still makes traditional reading and writing the most powerful cultural tool. However, it is no longer the only powerful cultural tool for communicating. Untraditional literacy is being developed outside of school. Teacher’s need to get students to see that what they are doing with untraditional literacy (analyzing) is what teachers want them to do with in-school literacy. Providing a place for both untraditional and traditional literacy can help students to become confidant, interested, and successful in the most powerful literacy, reading and writing.