Editors' Note: When this article was posted in Reading Online in March 2000, readers were invited to comment on it through a bulletin board feature that was discontinued when the journal was redesigned in July 2000. Following are the comments posted to that bulletin board.

Readers who would like the opportunity to comment on this or other articles in the journal are invited to contact the author directly or to post messages through ROL's Online Communities.

Post 1

Author: Ahna_Nelson
Date: 03-25-2000 00:23

As a college student, we have talked a lot about literacy in some of my classes. I have come to a realization that culture has a substantial affect on literacy level. In fact, it is my belief that culture actually dictates literacy level. Each culture has its own literacy expectations for each of its members. Unfortunately, it is hard for individuals to exceed these expectations. In fact, many cultural members do not see the need to go beyond these expectations. As mentioned in the article, cultural members of what is considered to be the lower classes see literacy as a chore and not a necessity. Their culture does not require them to utilize a high literacy level. The members who do wish to exceed their culture's designated literacy level view literacy as a way to better themselves. Before someone can make progress in raising his literacy level, he must adopt a new concept of literacy. He must think of literacy as a life skill, as a way to gain a greater self appreciation for himself. It is my understanding that a literacy animator wishes to reach these individuals. This is a huge undertaking since the cultural affect on these individuals may be too great for the literacy students to handle. Their culture may discourage them from trying to raise their literacy level. After all, knowledge is power. A literacy animator is someone who is willing to overlook these inevitable hardships and try to stress the importance of making literacy a lifelong growth process. A literacy animator tries to bring literacy alive to people who otherwise thought it was dead.

Reply 1a

Author: Jennifer_Jarvis4
Date: 04-11-2000 19:48

Culture and literacy is a subject that has recently been brought to my attention. A friend of mine interviewed at a school on the Bering Strait. The interviewer tried to explain to my friend what the environment was like and the lifestyle of the people who lived there. My friend asked about what the students did with the education they received. He told her that some worked in the village store, and others became teachers in the school. Most of the students sustained life as hunters and gatherers. His resonse left my friend thinking what are they going to do with what I teach them? Why do they need to read Shakespeare, Emerson, or Dickinson? This article about becoming a literacy animator sheds a little light on the subject. Discovering an individual culture's literacy is the key to their education. The Eskimos on the Bering Strait have a unique culture which needs a unique type of literacy. Special teachers are needed to understand what they need and how to involve thinking and exploring into their lifestyle of hunting and gathering.

Reply 1b

Author: Barbara Stuart
Date: 04-15-2000 14:57

I agree that there are enough resources in the world to take care of all the needs of all the children and adults too who daily die from lack of help. I too wonder about the losses that will follow Hollywood films that encourage people to live selfish lives and neglect their families. I also agree that some educated people are often competitive instead of co-operative and selfish instead of caring. People need to be cautious about forgetting that the purpose of an education is to be better able to serve others.

Reply 1c

Author: Wendy_Hamilton
Date: 06-18-2000 21:43

As an elementary teacher finishing up a master's degree in reading education, I found this article quite interesting. The concept of literacy animator is one I had not heard of before. I think it is wonderful that there is a "new field" out there for people who want to help preserve all people's languages and cultures - people that want to encourage "a positive value - love." Though literacy animator and literacy educator were compared in the article, I see them being quite different. From what I understand from the article, a literacy animator is someone who is concerned with and believes in "sharing, solidartiy, love, equity, co-operation with and respect of nature and other human beings." While all of these these ideas are important and worthwhile to teach, none address literacy in regards to reading and writing. Yes, I agree literacies can vary from culture to culture (i.e., reading animal tracks to hunt is a kind of literacy), but many cultures DO refer to literacy as being able to read and write. In many cultures being literate enables people to better understand and thrive in the world around them. It is quite a generalization to say that literacy and education promote negative ambition and competition. If that were true, knowing I will soon become a literacy educator, one who teaches children/adults to be literate, would be terribly disheartening. Yes, some of the problems in today's world may be in part "the creation of literate, educated men from developed nations." But I also believe many unbelievable advances, cures, and solutions were also created by the literate and educated.

This article links a negative view to literacy educators because of ONE person's view of new literacy, Gough. Gough states literacy is "separate from social and political considerations, influences, and dimensions." I am not familiar with this person's work, but I disagree with this statement and believe many other literacy eduators would as well. Literacy is a very social act and literacy educators should strive to make learning literacy social and relevant to the learner's life. Rhodes and Dudley-Marling (1996) state in their book on literacy, Readers and Writers with a Difference, "The primary goal of literacy instruction is to provide students with the literacy experiences, the support, and the direction they need to learn to use reading and writing to fulfill a range of personal intentions in a variety of social settings" (p. 1). I believe there is a need for BOTH literacy animators and literacy educators. Both can play important roles in creating well-rounded children who can effectively read and write while maintaining their diverse and existing literacies.

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