Taxonomies of Literacies
Defining Literacy
Literacy is a human process of making sense of our world, binding our understanding and relationships to each other and our contexts. Literacy is found in the “relationship between human practices and the production, distribution, exchange, refinement, negotiation and contestation of meaning” (Lankshear & Knobel, 2007, p. 2). Within this process, as Lankshear and Knobel (2007) suggest, there is “no practice without meaning, just as there is no meaning outside of practice. Within contexts of human practice, language (words, literacy, texts) gives meaning to contexts and, dialectically, contexts give meaning to language. Hence, there is no reading or writing in any meaningful sense of each term outside of social practice” (p. 2).Stordy (2015) examines literacy/literacies to create a taxonomy that encompasses a multitude of definitions and variations of relevant terms. This taxonomy includes both an autonomous perspective outlining psychological cognitive definitions and an ideological perspective relating to socio-cultural approaches that define literacy/literacies. Stordy (2015) differentiates these into those literacies that integrate no-or-few digital technologies (conventional), those that incorporate new technical elements (peripheral), and those literacies that assimilate new technical stuff with new ‘ethos stuff’ (paradigm), further described in Image 1.
Image 1: Taxonomies of Literacies (Stordy, 2015) |
Luke (2012) submits that critical literacies “entails a process of naming and renaming the world, seeing its patterns, designs, and complexities, and developing the capacity to redesign and reshape it” (p. 9). From this we can deduce that definitions and practices of critical media and digital literacies (MDL) are continually in flux, since contexts dictate the core and critical elements. In teacher education programs, MDL is shaped by, and adapts to, current cultural, social, political, and technological climates.
Literacy terminology is frequently confused with notions of fluency and competency but these should be regarded as different conceptions. Fluencies is the ability to speak, read, and write in a given language quickly and easily, while competency is defined by having skills and abilities to do a job (Cambridge dictionary, n.d.). These definitions are not the same thing, but can be considered to be subsumed within the broader term ‘literacy’. This clarification is made here since some research for this review apply these terms interchangeably.
Defining Media Literacy
Media literacy, from an autonomous stance, is defined as “the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create, and act using all forms of communication.” (Baker, 2012; Hobbs, 2011; Media Smarts Canada, n.d.; National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE), n.d.; Rogow, 2019). The process of critical inquiry and reflection are central to being media literate (UNESCO, 2013) since “media literate people apply their skills to all symbol-based communication, irrespective of message” (Rogow, 2019 p. 122). These messages are bound by the types of media texts (print, visual, audio, digital) used to create and communicate (Baker, 2012; Hobbs, 2011). Media literacy involves examining the semiotics and symbolism of text messages as part of a meaning-making inquiry (Gee, 2015).Media literacy from an ideological stance shifts beyond encoding and decoding media texts to engage in meaning making within socially, politically, and culturally contextualized media consumption and production spaces (Baker, 2012; Hobbs, 2011, Hoechsmann & Poyntz, 2012; Hoechsmann & DeWaard, 2015; UNESCO, 2017). Media literacy is a process of becoming (Gee, 2017), networked (Ito, Gutierrez, Livingstone, Penuel, Rhodes, Salen, Schor, Sefton-Green, & Watkins, 2012), participatory (Jenkins, Puroshotma, Weigel, Clinton, & Robinson, 2009), (D)discursive (Gee, 2015), and complicated (boyd, 2014). Within teacher education, these media literacy processes should be evident in the MDL learning that occurs with preservice teachers.
UNESCO combines media and information literacies (MIL) into a singular concept that encompasses and subsumes other literacies such as computer, internet, digital, library, news, media and information literacies (UNESCO, n.d.). This MIL framework outlines five laws of MIL (Grizzle & Singh, n.d.) that are presented in a matrix with three components (access, evaluate, create) and includes competencies and performance indicators that can be applied to individual teachers and preservice education at the organizational level (UNESCO, 2013).
Defining Digital Literacy
When considering digital literacies as autonomous, conceptions relate to skills, proficiencies, fluencies, and competencies. Competencies broadly cover knowledge, skills, attitudes and values (OECD, 2005). Skills and fluencies focus on the mechanics of how to use digital technologies, and knowledge relates to the information required and used when manipulating digital resources. Competencies subsume skills, fluencies and knowledge into a fuller conception that includes attitudes and values (Spante, Hashemi, Lundin, & Algers, 2018). Competencies and literacies are frequently interchanged in the literature, depending on geographic contexts (Spante et al., 2018). Accordingly, some research views digital literacy originating from a “skill-based understanding of the concept and thus relates to the functional use of technology and skills adaptation” (Spante et al., 2018, p. 7).Ideologically, digital literacy is a “complex and socio-culturally sensitive issue” (Lemos & Nascimbeni, 2016, p. 2). Digital literacy shifts into social, collaborative, communication and sense-making actions and interactions using a variety of digital devices (Belshaw, 2011; Lemos & Nascimbeni, 2016; Sharpe & Beetham, 2011). Digital literacy is therefore defined as a dynamic process wherein the “creative use of diverse digital devices to achieve goals related to work, employability, learning, leisure, inclusion and/or participation in society” (Lemos & Nascimbeni, 2016, p. 2) and are integrated into everyday life (Belshaw, 2015). Digital behaviors, practices, identities and citizenship, as well as wellbeing, are incorporated into this definition (Belshaw, 2011; Hoechsmann & DeWaard, 2015; Lankshear & Knobel, 2008; Spante et al., 2018).
The term critical literacy refers to the use of print and other media technologies to “analyze, critique and transform the norms, rule systems and practices governing the social fields of everyday life” (Luke, 2012, p. 5). Critical digital literacies (CDL) acknowledge power differentials, strive for equitable access to diverse resources, and the reconstruction of transformative potentials (Spante et al., 2018). This definition requires that those within a field of study examine how, why, and where norms, rules, ways of doing, ways of being in relationship to topics, processes, procedures, and each other, are critiqued with a social justice view, examining the spaces and places where those who are marginalized and disenfranchised can find intentionally equitable hospitality (Bali, Caines, Hogue, DeWaard, & Friedrich, in press). Luke (2012) further explores how education utilizes “community study, and the analysis of social movements, service learning, and political activism, …. popular cultural texts including advertising, news, broadcast media, and the Internet” (p. 7). CDL are important considerations in course development and the design of learning experiences when infusing MDL into methods and core course requirements in teacher education programs.
The overarching conception of digital citizenship subsumes all layers of skills, fluencies, competencies, literacies, and criticality when using, creating, and communicating with digital technologies and resources (Choi, Cristol, & Gimbert, 2018; Hoechsmann & DeWaard, 2015). Additionally, citizenship infers activism, engagement, and cosmopolitanism (Zaidi & Rowsell, 2017). When focusing on digital citizenship and the responsible use of technology, Ribble (2015) proposes nine elements categorized under three principles of behaviour – respect, educate and protect. Although citizenship is a worthy area of investigation and needs to be recognized for future attention, it is beyond the scope of this literature review.