I’ve been reading To Kill a Mockingbird for the first time since eighth grade. I have fond memories of Ms. Clark reading this classic aloud. She dimmed the lights for a calming, dramatic effect. Her reading was evocative and inspiring. The images of Maycomb are vivid to me even now. The subject matter would prohibit me from doing so, but imagine I instructed my seven-year-old daughter to read To Kill a Mockingbird. She could piece together most of the words and sentences. When she confronted unfamiliar words she could ask for help. By the end of the book she would have a good sense of the story, enough so that she too might be upset and saddened by the injustices Harper Lee so powerfully unfurls. She’s literate, is she not?

As I am coming to understand, the question ought not to be binary; either my daughter is literate, or she is not. Rather, we should ask: How literate is she? Between now and the time my daughter is in eighth grade and more fortified to digest such a book, she will read more about the history of the South. In particular she will likely broaden her understanding of its complex cultural history. Perhaps we’ll even visit. It is sad but true: In the next six years she will expand her understanding of topics related to race relations, prejudice, and injustice. This knowledge will deepen her literacy. When at last she takes up To Kill a Mockingbird her comprehension—and therefore literacy—will be far greater and more meaningful. The joy and heartache she experiences while reading will be more profound.

I am writing this newsletter with a two-fold purpose in mind. First, I’d like to encourage our understanding of literacy to move beyond simple reading and comprehension. A higher degree of literacy enables us to fathom depths of meaning that set the stage for us to consider with greater acumen the questions: What is the author saying? What do I think about this and why? How should I live in light of this literature? Deeper understanding is a prerequisite for being a more circumspect individual and citizen. In a culture super-saturated in propaganda, this kind of thoughtfulness is essential to preserving and promoting a person’s unique identity, and equipping each individual for the task of shaping a strong civil society. Second, I’m setting in place a springboard from which I’d like to explore the importance of boosting our media and relational literacy. In the newsletters that follow you will, I trust, find common threads that have immediate implications for how we choose to interact with our world.

Tags: divergent learning, literacy