The Origins of the Present-day Chasm between Adult Literacy Needs and School Literacy Instruction

Abstract

Through processes that originated in the eighteenth century — but were greatly accelerated by Brahmin academics at the end of the nineteenth — a separation has developed between literacy instruction in the schools and the literacy ends of the competent citizen. Formal reading instruction today is primarily oriented toward understanding and appreciation of fine literature. Non-fiction materials are treated as unpleasant and boorish intruders into the otherwise serene, romantic kingdom of plot, character, and author’s viewpoint. A single impotent stratagem centering on rapid skimming with rereading is usually suggested for all non-fiction, be it math story problem, cooking recipe, or biological exposition. The result of this disparity, as revealed by the more valid components of various national literacy surveys, is the ever apparent chasm between competency needs and literacy instruction, a chasm that can be crossed only through a reorientation of literacy training toward the true needs of society.