Literacy for Empowerment and Social Change

Abstract

While it may be true that the electronic age has devalued literacy, what seems more serious is the way in which certain groups have been so devalued that they are inhibited in their acquisition of literacy skills. Many poor and minority students are prevented from developing their cognitive and manipulative skills beyond a minimal level. Perhaps what needs changing is not the level of skills in literacy or functional competence butthe level of hope and expectation among bypassed people in our society. Action research might be designed to focus on competencies presently existing and valued and, at the same time, on the changes that occur when groups develop new hope for themselves and a more dynamic vision of the options available to them.