Pluralist perspectives of a literacy policy in the Western Cape Province

[摘要] This thesis explores pluralist perspectives on literacy in the context of the Literacyand Numeracy (LITNUM) Strategy of the Western Cape Education Department. Myargument is that we need to move beyond functional or technical conceptions ofliteracy towards a recognition of its transformative potential. That is, the concept ofliteracy needs to be stretched to incorporate pluralist perspectives in order to achievedevelopmental aspirations. Following a literature review approach, I construct threeconstitutive meanings of literacy, namely 'cognitive skills, 'social context and'development, and I investigate how the LITNUM Strategy conforms to theseconstitutive meanings of literacy. My finding is that LITNUM is based on aconstructivist learning theory. I caution that when understandings of learning theoriesare viewed exclusively from one perspective, literacy becomes 'compacted, and wemiss out on important considerations of literacy and its transformative potential. Ishow that LITNUM discusses several social contextual factors related to literacy; arecognition of the impact of social issues on literacy. Regarding LITNUM's concernwith development, I conclude that both functional and critical literacy as importantaspects of development are not sufficiently addressed. In a nutshell: LITNUM focuseson technical skills, which need to be balanced with the notion that literacy is a socialact, and that it has the potential to transform societies. I propose a 'literacy ofthoughtfulness, based on compassion, love and care. This proposition forms the basisfor possible future research.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University