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Written off? How literacy affects opportunity

18 Nov 2009

Downloadable version of this paper: Written off How literacy affects opportunity [pdf].

On 6 October 2009 think-tank Demos[i] and the National Literacy Trust hosted an event at the Conservative party conference on the key role literacy plays in allowing individuals to maximise their life chances.

The event was led by a panel consisting of:

Richard Reeves, Demos (Chair)
Jonathan Douglas, National Literacy Trust
Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, Conservative Party, Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion and Social Action
Julie Jarman, Oxfam
Professor Tanya Byron, Chartered clinical psychologist

The panel each spoke at the beginning of the event, before a plenary discussion, chaired by Richard Reeves. The content of the discussion is outlined below.

Literacy and opportunity

Literacy is an issue affecting societies around the globe. At an international level poor literacy disproportionately affects women and children and there are a range of agencies working in this area.

In the UK poor literacy affects the life chances of millions of people; it is related to people’s health, wealth and personal satisfaction. The negative impact is not just at a personal level as research from the KPMG foundation estimates that poor literacy costs the UK economy between £198m and £2.5bn every year.[1]

Poor literacy skills can be the result of a number of factors. The impact of dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties on the skills and confidence of many individuals is a significant issue. The attendees discussed some examples of the difficulties that dyslexia can cause, including low confidence and struggling to fill in application forms.

The home learning environment is also a key factor affecting the acquisition of literacy skills. At the event, concerns were expressed about a ‘crisis’ of education, health and social care which is leaving some older children behaving in an emotionally regressive way. Often young people grow up with excellent minds, but without the literacy skills needed to translate their abilities into success.

After discussing some of the many reasons for poor literacy, the attendees moved on to potential solutions. For some who have a condition such as dyslexia, modern technology can provide opportunities that would previously have been unavailable. Adult learning courses, including English as a Secondary or Other Language (ESOL), can offer some the chance to participate, however college based courses may not be appropriate for some communities for whom opportunities to learn at home may be better suited.

Within this plethora of problems and potential solutions the area which caused the most debate was the extent to which literacy needs to embrace new technology.

Technology and literacy acquisition

The use of computers and other technology in educational settings is currently a major issue. The Government has recently accepted all the recommendations from Sir Jim Rose’s Independent review of the primary curriculum,[2] which has called for ICT to be embedded across the primary curriculum While other settings, both informal and formal are increasingly using screen rather than print.

Much of the discussion at the event focused on this trend. Some felt that increasing the use of digital media could open up new doors for individuals disengaged from learning, while others were concerned about ‘new fads’ in education negatively affecting pupils.

One of the key arguments for the use of technology stemmed from the disengagement many younger learners feel towards literacy. As one attendee said, ‘A lot of people switch off when they are told to read something’. This, of course, does not mean that they are totally disinterested, but for whatever reason they do not enjoy reading books. Technology, screen based reading and other literacy developments increase the opportunities for reading beyond books.Those who agreed with this sentiment believed that the false divide between ‘digital literacy’ and other forms of literacy is unhelpful. A survey by the National Literacy Trust found that most children who considered themselves non-readers were actually reading often outside of school, but they did not believe the reading they were doing was ‘proper’ reading.

There were concerns among some attendees, who felt that the rush to introduce technological advancements, particularly to school settings, could be to the detriment of the four core literacy skills. The issue of breaking down the false divide was discussed, but some attendees believed that the independent schools would stick to a traditional curriculum and it would be children in comprehensives that would lose out.

Many attendees believed there was an increased incidence of ‘text speak’ in young people’s writing. While there has been research to show that texting can actually be beneficial to the literacy skills of young people if they understand the appropriate time to use different forms of writing, many attendees stated that often young people do not understand this and this causes problems.

Conclusion

Despite different opinions on the role of technology in raising literacy levels across the UK, there was a strong consensus that literacy is a key social issue. The National Literacy Trust was delighted to see the high level of awareness, across a variety of sectors, of the wide range of factors literacy impacts upon.

George Dugdale, Policy Adviser

National Literacy Trust (November 2009)

[1] KPMG foundation, The long term costs of literacy difficulties

[2] DCSF (2009), Independent review of the primary curriculum

[i] Demos is a think-tank focused on power and politics. Demos' vision is a democracy of free citizens, with an equal stake in society. Demos jointly hosted the event as part of their Capabilities programme which looked at the impact of personal resources on people’s ability to shape their own lives. For more information on Demos see http://www.demos.org

Tags: Policy