What is Literacy?
In my years as an educator I’ve come across many formal definitions of literacy; however, it's in my personal interactions with family and friends that I have formalised my own definition of this complex term. There are three seminal experiences I want to transport you to before I present you with the ‘dictionary definition’ you probably came here for. It is my first year of university in my bachelor’s degree in secondary education and we are in a tutorial writing a letter to ourselves as a graduate teacher. I am passionate beyond my caffeination and vow to give every student an equal opportunity to read and write competently by the time they leave school. Fast forward to the moment I reopen this letter and realise how narrow minded I was. It is my second year in the classroom and I am marking draft creative writing pieces from my standard* English students. My most disengaged student has finally produced a piece of work which I personally find brilliant. I am immediately dishear