As an American living in this
modern age, you probably have never had to stop and consider whether or not you
would attend school as a child. Your parents went to school, your grandparents
went to school and maybe even your great-grandparents went to school. But did
you ever stop to think of why that is? Education and literacy has become so
ingrained in our brains and lives that we don’t even stop to ask why or how we
need or use our education. It is my personal opinion that education and
literacy are essential to our lives and that its importance can be generally
explained through an outline of its benefits, an understanding of what literacy
really is, a brief history of illiterate people versus literate people, and an
inspiring example of the power of education from Frederick Douglass’ own
narrative.
As
you are reading the words on this page, you are using your skill of basic
literacy to decipher what each character is and what each group of characters,
or word, means. This skill was probably first taught to you in preschool
through about first or second grade when the basics of phonics were integrated
into your daily lessons on the alphabet. By sixth grade you should have been
writing your own sentences, reading fairly fluently, and be able to recognize
the rudimentary points of grammar. In your years of education afterwards, your
basic literacy skills were being honed to a fine point so that basic literacy
was as natural to you as breathing. This is the point where critical literacy
really begins to take over.
In my opinion,
critical literacy entails a more advanced understanding of the world around you
than what basic literacy will give you. For example, if you were to read a
book, the actual act of reading the words on the page is accomplished through
your skills of basic literacy however, the understanding of what each sentence
means in the context of other sentences uses your critical literacy skills.
Critical literacy also includes critical thinking skills like recognizing
themes and abstract concepts or understanding what an answer in a math story
problem means for the problem as a whole. You, dear reader, are now using your
critical literacy skills to determine what tricks of the English language I am
employing to argue my points. These skills are generally taught from twelve
years of age and on until you die. Critical literacy is especially helpful when
your teacher instructs you to decipher a deeper meaning in a story such as what
the themes are, whether or not there are any motifs present, what the symbols
are and how they are important to the story as a whole, and analyzing the main
character with their roles in the story.
One important
point I would like to get across first is the difference between what we now
call basic and critical literacy. In comparison to basic literacy, critical
literacy is harder to learn and to teach so it takes a longer time to really
develop the necessary skills. Basic literacy is normally taught only by tutors
or teachers in class whereas some instruction in critical literacy can be
directly taught and other skills have to be gained by everyday experiences like
checking the time or reading a book. Also, as I have afore said, critical
literacy is taught at a much older age than basic literacy is because of its
complexity. Basic literacy is the very rudiments of reading and writing whereas
critical literacy takes those skills and builds upon them. Lastly, unlike with
basic literacy, the lessons in critical literacy never end.
Some
people may not realize the great importance education has on our daily lives. Just
think about what you do every day, day after day. You wake up, brush your
teeth, read the newspaper, check the weather, check your email, and maybe even
read a book. Just in that short amount of time you have used your education
five times already. Without a proper education, you would not be able to
function in today’s world. In order to tell the time you would need an
education and an understanding of the concept of time. In order to read or
check your email, you would have to be literate.
Education prevents
us from being cheated or taken advantage of when we buy things or read
contracts for a legal situation. We use our education to gain respect amongst
our peers even outside of the classroom. In our adult life, we use our
education to land the best jobs and the best applicant usually has the best or
most extensive education. As Kidwai says “The more educated you are, the more
respect you will get from those around you.” An illiterate man or woman is
shunned by society and has a lower quality of life than a literate man or
woman. We are even kept safe by being literate. For example, a literate person
could read a sign that warns of danger if that person were to touch a hot
object whereas an illiterate person would pass by the sign and burn themselves.
Literacy also gives us a better understanding of the outside world. A lack of
literacy and education has always been linked to higher crime and poverty rates
by Leyla Norman in her article “Why Are Literacy Skills Important?” Her claim
is highly supported by the basic logic and understanding of our world that we,
the educated, possess. It is only logical that an illiterate man, not being
able to read or write, would hold less promise in obtaining a decent job that
then leads to that same man having to find other ways of supporting his family.
Crime, to the uneducated man, may be the only solution to escaping the black
hole of poverty. Along that same train of thought comes the truth that a proper
education allows a man or woman to be self-reliant and independent.
Think
back to when you were a young child, before you began speaking coherently. That
was a time of complex systems of communication that did not always have the
desired result. Imagine having to keep that same system throughout your entire
life. The only reason this does not occur is your education. Education is the
key to communication, not only between two people but between two cultural
worlds. With your education, you can type emails, write letters, and speak in a
way that the person you are communicating to will understand. The very basics
of communication require a clear knowledge of vocabulary, syntax of sentences,
and an understanding of spelling if not at least correct pronunciation when
speaking.
In
order to explain my earlier points on the importance of education and literacy,
I will provide examples from various points throughout history. During the
medieval period in Europe, much of the people were illiterate and possessed
only an education in manual labor in a specific field such as blacksmithing,
weaving, or farming. This gave those that were literate a great advantage over
the others. The literate people could cheat and claim their superiority with
impunity. The law had the potential to cheat the illiterate laborers out of
justice. Traders could lie about their prices in order to gain unlawful amounts
of money from the poor illiterates that would not be possible if the buyers
could read the trader’s prices. Illiterate peoples are also more likely to
follow superstitions that would seem ridiculous to an educated person, possibly
resulting in a loss of respect in society and those illiterates being labeled
“ignorant.” Those with superstitious attitudes could be taken advantage of
because of their beliefs such as if an ambitious man were to happen upon a
fertile land that he wanted. He could easily pose as a ghost or apparition in
order to scare the current inhabitants off the land. This ploy would not work
if those inhabitants were educated and logically did not believe in such
things. According to Houston, “As late as 1800 no European country could claim
that half its population could read and write. In most regions complete, if
basic, literacy was still confined to town-dwelling men of middling status or
above.” This shows that even if the amount of literate people increased, the
type of people that were literate did not really change. Literacy was a luxury
only the rich and well-to-do could afford.
In
the passage from Narrative of the Life of
Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass, Douglass
argues the power of education. For example, Douglass explains that “the more I
read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers” as Douglass’ former
master, Mr. Auld, said would happen if a slave were to be educated. In the
beginning, before Douglass’ mistress began to teach him to read, Douglass was
ignorant of the severity of his situation. Afterwards, Douglass perceived the
cruelty with which he and other slaves had been treated for so long and it
opened his eyes to the possibility of a different sort of life. Douglass’
education gives him both joy and torment as he soon realizes when he starts to
read books and newspapers that give him the hope of being freed though it
tortures his soul to think that this may never happen to him and that his
fellow slaves are entirely ignorant of this fact. He even states “I often found
myself regretting my own existence, and wishing myself dead; and but for the
hope of being free, I have no doubt but that I should have killed myself, or
done something for which I should have been killed.” Which gives the reader a
better sense of his torment and hope combined as a result of his education.
Over
the years I have heard the same counterargument over and over again: how will I
use this idea I just learned in school in the real world or when will this
education be of any use to me. As for the first question, I would reply that
your most basic education is what you’ll have use of most but, yes, if your
future career does not require the information you are learning, you are not
likely to use those ideas or lessons. As to the second question, I would say
that if you ever have children guess who will be helping them do their
homework? You, the parent, of course. So even if you don’t believe part of your
education is important, just think of how much better off your children will be
with your help.
As
you may now perceive, education has played an extremely important role in our
everyday lives. Basic literacy skills provide the necessary precursor to
critical literacy with its attributes of higher level thinking and deeper
understanding. This critical literacy and education is crucial to our survival
in today’s society with its ever-changing technology and its rapid
communications systems. Education is as much a part of our lives as breathing
is. Our education is beneficial to our safety, sense of respect, our
understanding of the world around us, communication, is protection against
being conned, can keeps us from poverty and crime by giving us a greater chance
of being employed in a decent job, and allows us to be independent. In the
past, illiteracy has given the majority of people a great disadvantage in life
whereas in the modern world, most people are at least basically literate by the
time they are adults, giving them the advantage most were not given in the
past. Douglass shows us the immense power of education and literacy and the
giant impact even learning basic literacy skills had on his life.
Bibliography
Kidwai, Anam. Top 15 Reasons why
Education is Extremely Important. N.p., Aug. 2014. Web. 30 Oct. 2014.
<http://listovative.com/top-15-reasons-why-education-is-important/>.
Literacy Counts. N.p., 1
Dec. 2008. Web. 30 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/81-004-x/200404/6853-eng.htm>.
Norman, Leyla. Why Are Literacy
Skills Important?. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2014. <http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/literacy-skills-important-27677.html>.
Houston, R. "Literacy." Encyclopedia
of European Social History. Ed. Peter Stearns. Vol. 5. Detroit: Charles
Scribner's Sons, 2001. 391-406. Global Issues In Context. Web. 30 Oct.
2014.
Douglass, Frederick. “From…..” A World of Ideas 9th Edition.
Lee Jacobus. Boston: Bedford-St. Martin's, 2013.
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