Celebrating Literacy Traditions

Literacy traditions are the sum of familial and societal engagement with text and storytelling. A paper in the Journal of Aesthetic Education discusses cultural literacy, which involves understanding and participating fluently in a given culture. A child's literacy journey begins in the womb, where they are first exposed to sounds, music, and the cadence of speech patterns. As a child grows up, the more speech they hear, the more language skills they develop. The same is true for engagement with printed text. 

A girl child whispers into a boy child's ear
as he grins and looks to the side mischievously.

One principle to always keep in mind in the classroom is that each student has a different literacy background, so they also start the school year with varying skill levels. More and more, teachers have become advocates for celebrating diverse literacy traditions, since literacy skills and proficiency can be shown in many different ways.

A traditional classroom may put heavy emphasis on print-based learning and print-based literacy. While this is an indispensable and critical part of the literacy curriculum, it does not always account for diverse literacy experiences and hinders students of different backgrounds to showcase their skills. For example, students from African American or Native American families and communities may or may not have rich experiences with print or regular reading of children's books. However, this does not necessarily mean that they are behind in their literacy journey. In fact, it usually means that their family celebrates oral traditions, with storytelling as a common practice among family members. I myself was blessed to be read to as a child. However, I did not feel like my bilingualism was valued in my school in East Tennessee. As a result, I refused to read books in my native language and lost my ability to read or write fluently with all of the accents. When these diverse literacy traditions are welcomed and celebrated instead of looked down upon in favor of other modes of literacy, this creates a more dynamic classroom environment. Focusing on both oral and printed language allows students to learn from each other and see each other's differences as strengths, not weaknesses.