The significance of literacy can never be overstated. Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General, in his message to the world on International Literacy Day on September 8th 1997, eloquently highlighted the sheer importance of literacy on our rapidly changing contemporary society: “Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark against poverty, and a building block of development, an essential complement to investments in roads, dams, clinics and factories. Literacy is a platform for democratization, and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and national identity. Especially for girls and women, it is an agent of family health and nutrition. For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with education in general, a basic human right.... Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential.”
Teaching literacy in the most enlightening and engaging manner includes a fine balance of listening, reading, writing, speaking, critical and analytical thinking skills within the broader socio-economic, political and cultural contexts of the students’ world. At Oxbridge Prep, our approach to teaching literacy is based on the following tenets:
Passion, zeal and enthusiasm – students actively respond to and engage with teachers who are dedicated and passionate about their vocation and subject. They absolutely mirror their teachers’ passion and enthusiasm which accelerates and motivates the learning process. At Oxbridge Prep, we light the spark and fan the flames of literacy so that each student can illuminate their minds with their thoughts, ideas and information of the world that surrounds them.
Diverse and multiple instructional strategies – we employ many different tools, activities and techniques to capture and sustain our students’ interests and foster their learning. Dianne Nettles in Comprehensive Literacy Instruction in Today’s Classroom: The Whole, the Parts, and the Heart (Pearson, 2006), states that literacy instruction needs to include the “whole,” the “parts” and the “heart.” Teaching the whole means understanding that literacy is rooted in our society, our politics, our economy and our culture. Students must read and write not only for didactic purposes but for sheer enjoyment and that these activities are reciprocal in nature. Reading leads to writing and vice versa. Teaching the “parts” signifies the emphasis on all the building blocks of literacy which include phonics, syntax and semantics, vocabulary, comprehension, analysis and writing. Students require the “parts”, the building blocks with which to construct the “whole”. Teaching the “heart” means involving the students in the process by tapping into their interests, experiences, values, family and culture to motivate them to read, write and express themselves more frequently and freely.
Differentiated pacing and instruction – Recognizing and catering to each student’s individual needs and interests is the norm and not the exception. At Oxbridge Prep, we take into account each student’s learning needs, styles and background and we tailor our instruction and pace to enable each student to maximize his/her potential and experience.
Modeling– We understand the importance of our roles as not only resources but also models and motivators. When students see their teachers reading, writing and “thinking aloud” in guided and shared reading and writing activities, they acquire appropriate literacy habits and strategies. Novice learners tend to rely on imitation initially but with the help of encouraging and confidence building activities they progress to thinking, understanding and doing independently.
Critical and analytical strategies – At Oxbridge Prep we understand that literacy involves decoding and deriving “meaning” from texts we read and processing this information in order to speak and write effectively. In cognitive psychology learning is best described as an overlapping process of organizing, synthesizing, and integrating old and new information to develop new ideas, information and structures. During the learning process, the brain makes links between known information and new ideas which is not a passive process but requires active engagement. At Oxbridge Prep, we offer explicit instruction and lots of practice in decoding and encoding, creating mental images, asking questions, making inferences, determining and evaluating importance, synthesizing information and using “binding” strategies to strengthen writing. We focus on reading comprehension, vocabulary, spelling, grammar, punctuation, writing, speaking and listening skills and strategies.
Practice and more practice– At Oxbridge Prep, we engage in many and multiple activities focusing on reading, writing and speaking strategies. Students are expected to actively participate in class and group activities as well as independently practice their reading and writing.
