This weeks readings have a lot to due with how perspectives on literacy have changed historically. I am interested in the more recent changes literacy has had in your personal backgrounds. How does your perspective of literacy compare to your parents’, grandparents’, younger relatives’? Why do you think this change has occurred?
For example, my grandparents could care less what who I read, or how I write, they only care about what I am doing to help me get into the occupation of my choice. Their focus is getting a job, because when they grew up you got a job as soon as possible, whatever it took. They do not value the acts of reading or writing, but when they were in school they learned to do both to the extent that the available jobs in the town required. Personally, I love having the ability to have intelligent conversations while referencing nationally respected writers. I value the knowledge one can gain from reading and writing, while my grandparents could care less.
Do the generations in your family have the same amount of disconnect? What part of history explains your differences or similarities?
We have a very similar disconnect. My grandmother grew up on a farm and never was really taught how to read/write, outside of the religious texts. My mother and father grew up in India and they worked very hard to educate themselves, reading everything they could find, and working through a lot of struggle to get to where they are today. In my case, I was privileged enough to have anything I really wanted for my education readily available to me. I think it goes along with a lot of the immigration stories, grandparents working hard to give their children the access to more education, and so on. The education has gotten me to the point where it is hard to communicate with my parents in an intelligent conversation, and the same can be said for them to my grandparents.