1. Literacy as a Human Right: History, Barriers, Possibilities
Jo-Anne Wilson-Keenan, Ed.D.
Language, Literacy, and Culture Community Night
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
March 8, 2017
Literacy as a Human Right: History, Barriers, Possibilities

2. Where, after all, do universal human rights begin
Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home -- so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world… Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. –Eleanor Roosevelt

3. History

4. Why a Human Rights Perspective
Some 770 million adults– about one-fifth of the world’s adult population – do not have basic literacy skills. This is not only morally indefensible but also an appalling loss of human potential and economic capacity.
Additionally, 250 million children do not read, write, or do basic mathematics, even though 130 million of them have spent at least four years in school. (UNESCO, 2013/4)
Achieving widespread literacy can only happen in the context of building literate societies that encourage individuals to acquire and use their literacy skills.

5. The Work of the Human Rights Commission
Eleanor Roosevelt, Chair
Comprised of eighteen members
Examined and distilled 200 years of rights documents
Worked on the Declaration for nearly two years
Produced a document with 30 articles
Overcame seemingly insurmountable difficulties to produce the declaration
Fifty-eight member states of the United Nations, General Assembly, containing four-fifths of the world’s population were part of the approval process of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (48 approved, 8 abstentions, 2 did not vote).

6. Article 26 Paragraph 1
Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit (UN General Assembly, 1948).

7. UN Definitions of Literacy
1958--A literate person is one who can, with understanding, both read and write a short simple statement on his or her everyday life. (UNESCO, 2005 p. 153) …literacy to be not just the process of learning the skills of reading, writing and arithmetic, but a contribution to the liberation of man and this full development. Thus conceived, literacy creates the conditions for the acquisition of a critical consciousness of the contradictions of society in which man lives and of its aims; it also stimulates initiative and his participation in the creation of projects capable of acting upon the world, of transforming it, and of defining the aims of an authentic human development. It should open the way to a mastery of techniques and human relations. Literacy is not an end in itself. It is a fundamental human right. (The Declaration of Persepolis, 1975) …international organizations acknowledge broader understandings of literacy, which encompass ‘conscientization,’ literacy practices, lifelong learning, orality, and information and communication technology literacy” (UNESCO, 2005, p. 159).

8. The Convention on the Rights of the Child
State parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to : The development of respect for the child’s parents, his or her own cultural identity, language and values, for the country in which the child is living, the country from which he or she may originate, and for civilizations different from his or her own. Article 29 Paragraph 3

9. BARRIERS

10. Reviewing assignments Giving tests Reviewing tests Assigning homework
The pedagogy of poverty is sufficiently powerful to undermine the implementation of any reform effort because it determines the way pupils spend their time, the nature of the behaviors they practice, and the basis of their self-concepts as learners. Essentially, it is a pedagogy in which learners can ‘succeed’ without becoming either involved or thoughtful (Haberman, 1991, pp ).
Giving information
Asking questions
Giving directions
Making assignments
Monitoring seatwork
Reviewing assignments
Giving tests
Reviewing tests
Assigning homework
Reviewing homework
Settling disputes
Punishing noncompliance
Marking papers
Giving grades

11. The Effects of Underestimating the Capabilities of Learners
In her research, Jean Anyon found that activities and tests for poor children were geared to lower-level thinking skills, to retention of subject matter, while activities in affluent schools tended to foster creativity and independent thought (Anyon, 1981).
Valerie Polakow describes remedial classes, children are given “endless worksheets” in place of actual reading. She questions how children can ever develop comprehension when they never encounter “an actual children’s book" (Polakow, 1993, p. 151).

12. The Effects of Underestimating the Capabilities of Learners (cont.)
Lisa Delpit cautions that when children are not allowed to “use their minds to create and interpret texts... they will focus on low-level thinking and their school-based intellect will atrophy.” She explains that children are often given these activities in reaction to low scores on standardized tests, but the activities rob children of the literacy opportunities they really need (Delpit, 2006, pp ).
Susan Neuman states that students who live in low-income neighborhoods may need more instructional time to acquire the background knowledge essential to comprehending complex materials—but that doesn’t mean more time spent doing mindless worksheets focused on basic skills…research suggests that this kind of instruction might widen achievement gaps by limiting students’ opportunities to learn (Schmidt & McKnight, 2012) in Educational Leadership
The classrooms of these children, the small places where they reside, become part of a larger culture that disempowers learners.

13. The Academicization of the Early Years
For the past three decades, the “academicization” of pre-school (4–5 years) and kindergarten (5–6 years) curricula has been slowly seeping into the early childhood classrooms in America.
Driven by new state and federal standards, school districts around the USA are rapidly replacing their traditional early childhood programs with more academically oriented ones that give over large chunks of the school day to literacy sub-skills (Cooper, 2005).
This climate of high-stakes testing makes it seem risky to set aside the scripted basal, to make room for play, and to encourage children to explore technologies in school (Wohlwend, 2010, p. 147).

14. Possibilities

15. Changes that Take Place in the Brain
Between 2 and 3 years, changes take place in the brain that strengthen connections between the neocortex, and the limbic system including the hippocampus. This strengthening enables the brain to store long-term memories. At the same time, blood flow, that has been heavier in the right hemisphere, increases in the left hemisphere, (Herschkowitz and Herschkowitz, 2006) which is associated with the “production and understanding of language” (Sprenger, 2008). The increase in blood flow to the left hemisphere of the brain “may be a sign of great strides in speech and language development” (Sprenger, 2008, p. 35).

16. Don Holdaway—New Zealand—Shared Reading
The framework for natural acquisition of language is based on the idea that young children to speak in a supportive social context in which they endeavor to convey meaning. Their goals are to be understood and to have their needs met. Holdaway and other scholars endeavored to replicate these dimensions in their literacy programs.
Don Holdaway—New Zealand—Shared Reading
Sylvia Ashton-Warner --Organic Reading
Vivian Gussin Paley—Storytelling Curriculum
Rose Duffy—Written Conversation

17. Concentrated Language Encounter-- Going to Scale
The Torres Straight English Program was written by Betty Murray for the children of the Torres Straight Islands, however, she envisioned a far broader audience. Murray was “confident that its underlying rationale and the kinds of resources, activities and techniques that it employs have much wider application. “ Her prediction has turned out to be correct (Murray, 1991, p. 65).
Similar programs have been successful in the following countries:
Thailand, Brazil, the Philippines, Nepal, India, Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Laos, Cambodia, Turkey, several countries in Africa and the Pacific Islands, and parts of the USA.

18. Molteno Institute
The Breakthrough to Literacy course does the following:
Systematizes the Language Experience Approach to foster literacy in the child’s first language
Builds upon the listening and speaking skills the child brings from home into the classroom as the basis of learning to read and write
Regards these skills as a starting point in the teaching of literacy
“Breakthrough suits local conditions and is effective in developing very early functional literacy skills. It conveys immediate benefits to pupils and teachers. …quite simply, the Molteno Project must be acknowledged as one of the most significant, realistic and radical agencies of constructive, speedy and peaceful change in southern Africa” (Molteno 2010, p. 4).

19. Community Initiatives

20. The Vision
A Last View from a Small Place From Boston to Beijing, parents are discussing what their children learn from the time of birth until the time they go to school. They share this information with others through social media and other platforms. At small gatherings in Sao Paulo, Malawi, and on Thursday Island, teachers discuss the child’s brain development and growth in language and literacy. At homes in Liberia and in early childhood centers in Nepal, children’s own words are being honored as their first reading material. Policy makers in Washington are questioning the findings of broad-stroke research studies, and they are seeking to understand the ways in which people within the small places in their communities tell and scribe the stories of their lives. A mother in the south Sudan downloads information on a mobile phone that has been charged with a solar battery. She shares the information with her daughters. Children in after-school and summer programs in Springfield relax and read Children across the world sing in churches and schools, and their songs are heard as valuable ways of expressing language. Every child’s language and literacy is viewed from a perspective of strength rather than deficit. People in small places across the world view literacy as a human right. The conversation is continuing. A global literacy community dedicated to the realization of literacy as a human right is coming into being. (Wilson-Keenan, 2015)

21. THE END

22. Works Cited
Anyon, J. (1981). Elementary schooling and distinctions of social class. Interchange on Educational Policy, v12 n2-3 ,
Ashton-Warner, S. (1963). Teacher. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Cooper, P. M. (2005). Literacy learning and pedagogical purpose in Vivian Paley's storytelling curriculum. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, v5 n3 ,
Delpit, L. (2006). Other people's children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. New York: The New Press.
Duffy, R. (1994). It's just like talking to each other: written conversation with five-year-old children. In N. &. Hall, Keeping in touch (pp ). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Google Images.
Haberman, M. (1991). The pedagogy of poverty versus good teaching. Phi Delta Kappan, v73 n4 ,
Herschkowitz, N., & Herschkowitz, E. (2006, May). Intense brain development between four & eight years and its impact on pre-school and school years. Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: Learning and the Brain Conference Presentation.
Hirst, L., & Slavik, C. (2012, February 17). Cooperative approaches to language learning. Retrieved February 17, 2012, from Effective language Molteno Programme Testimonials. (Molteno 2010). Retrieved September 13, 2012, from The Molteno Institute for Language and Literacy:
Murray, B. (1991). Talking when English is a foreign language. In J. E. Dwyer, 'a sea of talk' (pp ). Portsmouth: Heinemann.
Neuman, S. (2016). Code Red: The danger of Data-driven instruction. Educational Leadership, v.74 n3,
Polakow, V. (1993). Lives on the edge: Single mothers and their children in the other America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Roosevelt, E. (1958). Speech to UN on 10th anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights. New York, NY.
Schmidt, W., & McKnight, C. (2012). Inequality for all: The challenge of unequal opportunity in American schools. New York: Teachers College Press.
Sprenger, M. (2008). The developing brain: Birth to age eight. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.
UN General Assembly. (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights 217 A (III). Paris: United Nations.
UNESCO. (1975). The Declaration of Persepolis. Paris: UNESCO.
UNESCO. (2005). EFA Global Monitoring Report 2006: Literacy for life. Paris: UNESCO.
United Nations (2012). Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). United Nations Treaty Collection. Retrieved March 30, 2012, from Details.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV11&chapter=4&lang=en
UNESCO. (2013). EFA Global Monitoring Report 2013/14:Teaching and learning--Achieving quality for all. Paris: UNESCO.
Wilson-Keenan, J. (2015). From Small Places: Toward the Realization of Literacy as a Human Right. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.
Wohlwend, K. (2010). A is for Avatar: Young children in literacy 2.0 worlds and literacy 1.0 Schools. Language Arts, 88 (2) ,
Wolter, D. The Opportunity Gap in Literacy. Educational Leadership, v.74 n3,