MODULE 3 – LECTURE - CHAPTER 3 – BENLAC

Objectives:
1. Develop understanding of the working definition of social literacy.
2. Explain the roles of parents and teachers in teaching social skills to children
3. Discuss and examine issues in social literacy.

Unlocking of Unfamiliar Words

1. balk – hesitate or be unwilling to accept an idea or undertaking.

2. prejudice – cause harm to; give rise to prejudice in; make biased
3. inept – having or showing no skill; clumsy
4. genre – a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature
5. canon – an established or basic rule or principle
6. humiliation – the action of humiliating someone or the state of being humiliated

EXPLORE

Social literacy concerns itself with the development of social skills, knowledge and
positive human values that enable human beings to act positively and responsibly in range of
complex social setting. It is the knowledge of how to behave and treat other people in a way
that is morally upright, just and equitable, with a view of promoting positive and productive
relations that are free from unfair prejudices, hate and discrimination.

By MORALLY UPRIGHT, we refer to thoughts, speech, actions and motivations that

adhere to a standard of right and wrong. On the other hand, JUST refers to speech, actions,
and behaviors that are in-line with a fixed standard of justice – a system that promotes and
rewards good and at the same time punishes wrongdoing. Any system of justice, whether
national, regional or local requires a body of rules or laws by which to measure and
administer rewards and punishment. EQUITABLE are the speech, actions, behaviors, and
decisions that treat others fairly, regardless of background or circumstances. Not to be
confused with EQUALITY, which connotes a fixed standard of treatment for all people. equity
seeks the good of others, and labors to find means by which everyone gets “what they need”
rather than simply “everyone gets the same thing in the same amount”.

Peers and schools play a formative role on the social skills development of children.
These social skills are often expressed as consisting of three inter-related components:
SOCIAL PERCEPTION, SOCIAL COGNITION, SOCIAL PERFORMANCE.
 SOCIAL SKILLS is defined as “the ability to interact with others in a given social context
in specific ways that are socially acceptable or valued and at the same time personally
beneficial, mutually beneficial, or primarily beneficial to others”.

There are several types of social skills that must be mastered for a child to be socially
adept. These range from the ability to initiate, maintain and end a conversation to reading
social signals to more complex skills such as solving problems and resolving conflict. Children
with social skill deficits can be taught these skills directly by parents, teachers, and/or
professionals using the strategies of modelling, role-playing, rehearsal and practice.
The following examples represent some of the fundamental principles of relating well to
others.

1. Greeting - Children develop relationships with peers by interacting with them. The first
step in a social interaction is greeting someone. Greeting others is done not
only with words like “Hi” or “How are you?” but with facial expressions, tone of
voice, and gestures such as a nod or a wave. The nonverbal part of greeting
someone is just as important as the words. It is not so much what one says but
how he/she says it that lets people know he/she is glad to see them.
2. Initiating Conversation – In order to carry on a conversation, a child must be able to
initiate, maintain and close conversation appropriately. This requires good
listening and attention skills, as well as the ability to take turns and probe for
missing information. Being a good conversationalist requires turn-taking and
reciprocity. Children have to listen as well as talk. If they do not show an
interest in what the other person has to say, they probably will not be
interested in talking. Impulsive children often have trouble knowing when to
talk and when to listen.
3. Understanding the listener – Once a conversation is initiated, it has to be maintained. In
order to do that, it is important to understand the audience one is talking to. A
socially adept child quickly and unconsciously identifies and categorizes his
listener, measures what he/she has planned to say against the anticipated
response of the listener, and then proceeds, alters, or avoids what she has
planned to say. He/She knows that talking to authority figures is not done in the
same way when talking to peers. A misread of the listener often leads to a
misunderstood message and potential social rejection. To converse in a socially
appropriate manner, children must be able to take the perspective or point of
view of the other person. To do this, a child must pretend that he/she is the
listener and think about what he/she needs to hear to understand what is being
said.
4. Empathizing – Empathy is more than perspective taking; it means that one is able to feel
what the other person feels. Empathy allows one to really connect with other
people. Other children often think of children who lack empathy as mean,
unkind, or self-centered.
5. Reading Social Clues – It is very important to read social cues in a conversation. Cues are
the hints and signals that guide us to the next thing to say or do. Social cues can
 be verbal or nonverbal. Verbal cues are words that the other person is saying.
Tone or voice is an important part of verbal cues. Good detectives pay very close
attention to nonverbal cues.
6. Previewing or Planning – Conversation also require that one previews or thinks about what
effect the words or actions may have on the listener before she says or does
them. If the impact will be negative, one can adjust what she might say or do.
7. Problem-solving – Problems and conflict are often a part of social interactions. Someone
may not agree, get angry, insult or become aggressive at something that one
says. How one reacts to these conflicts depends on how good her problem
solving skills are. Conflicts cannot be avoided and are often necessary to “clear
the air”. Turning a conflict from a “win-lose” situation to a “win-win” situation is
the best way to resolve conflict. This requires negotiation and compromise, give
and take that results in a situation where all parties can live with and help
maintain friendships.
8. Apologizing – Everyone makes social mistakes at one time or another. A person with good
social skills is confident enough to make a sincere apology for her error. This is a courageous
act and is the quickest and easiest way to correct a social blunder. In reality, other people
usually have a higher opinion of someone who apologizes for making a mistake. Apologizing
is a sign of humble and mature character when one commits mistakes.

The Role of Parents and Teachers in Teaching Social Skills to Children

Parents typically play the role in teaching children social skills. Parents can directly
teach social skills by modelling, role-playing, and providing opportunities for their child to
rehearse and practice new skills. They should encourage and praise the child for successfully
using a new skill. Professionals typically intervene only when children are having substantial
social difficulty with peers. These individuals can implement structured, guided, and effective
programs that often involve group work with peers. Children must then generalize the skills
they learn in the group to school and other personal social situations.

School is a place where children spend the majority of their time with peers, it is
therefore, a natural and perfect setting for children to learn and practice social skills. While
teachers do not have to teach a class in social skills, they can take advantage of every
opportunity to help children improve their social skills. They should be alert to teasing and
bullying and aware of children that are rejected or ignored by their peers. They should work
cooperatively with the children’s parents to prevent the humiliation, embarrassment, and
distress that befall these children. Pairing a socially inept child with a socially adept one,
involving children in cooperative instead of competitive learning exercises, identifying and
acknowledging the strengths of all children, understanding social weaknesses, and creating
an environment in which diversity is accepted and celebrated can greatly enhance all
children’s social abilities, sense of belongingness, and self-esteem, not just in the classroom
but in life as well.
Issues in Teaching Social Literacy

The acquisition of social literacy is a complex process that is historically and culturally
conditioned and context-specific. Children learn through social practices, both explicit and
implicit, and become human through social interaction. Nevertheless, it is also the case that
children engage in social activity before they are taught it; in other words, children are
disposed to be social before they learn what sociability is all about.
There are two distinct ways of answering the questions on how children learn to live
socially with each other and with adults.
The first view is normative and communal. From their culture, children learn customs
that provide them with a guide to act in ways that minimize conflict. Children are persuaded
of the moral force of acting socially through their voluntary associations with others, both in
their immediate circle, such as the family, and in the wider community. The child in the
normative view will not only know the correct behavior but will perform the role without any
need for regular, conscious reference to the rules governing it. For example, through
membership of a church or club.
The second view is pragmatic and individualistic. The social order of children is created
by explicit and implicit agreements entered into by self-seeking individuals to avert the worst
consequences of their selfish instincts. Social order is dependent on sanctions and formal
agreements. Rules are obeyed because they confer personal advantage on a child.

Teaching social literacy in schools is not as easy as it appears to be due to subjective

standards of morality and inherent human capacity to judge and make excuses.

`Subjective Standards of Morality

The natural outcome of postmodern philosophies is that truth and morality are
considered subjective and open to individual interpretation. This can be seen in the current
culture, where actions and behavioral patterns that were once considered BAD have now
become ACCEPTABLE - so much so that many now consider them to be even good. When the
standards of measure between good and bad changes, this gives us license to change as well
and opens the gates to all kinds of abuse. This, in effect, pulls the rug out from under any and
all attempts at true justice and equitability, since they themselves rely on a fixed moral
standard.
Interestingly, many of those who insist on a subjective moral standard will be
the first to demand for a fixed moral standard when they themselves fall victim to a
subjective morality’s inevitable outcome.

Human Nature
While we would all like to believe that people are inherently good, experience
has taught us that the inherent goodness of humanity is, at best, unreliable. Sometimes it is
there, often it is not. We are quick to champion the cause of moral uprightness, justice and
equity, but balk when our words and actions come under their scrutiny. In other words, we
insist that others be judged according to a fixed moral standard, but invoke a subjective one
when our own behavior is questioned. We demand justice when we perceive ourselves to be
victims of wrong doing, but we surround ourselves with excuses when we do wrong. We
insist that others treat us equitably, but are reluctant when treating others with equity costs
more than we expected.

ENHANCEMENT

Today’s students have grown up with the internet that they have become inseparable
from their gadgets. Blake (2017) offers helpful reminders to young professionals in terms of
social skills in the modern age. The situation underscores the importance of educating
students in what could be called social literacy to ensure their academic and career success.

Situational Awareness in the Workplace

While casual office attire has become the norm in many offices, job interviews
typically require more formal dress and behavior to demonstrate a level of respect. Stories
prevail of young adults showing up to interviews in casual clothing, texting or using phones
during job interviews or even bringing their parents with them. Such behavior demonstrates
a lack of situational awareness about what is appropriate to do in different social
circumstances. While college classrooms or the actual office atmosphere may allow for a
more casual dress code, students need to be taught what is socially acceptable in terms of
dress or behavior for them to stand out above their colleagues. An ability to read social
situations illustrates strength to employers – quickly picking up a client’s mood or
expectations in various business or cross-cultural situations can be the difference between
success and failure.

Social Intelligence in Technological Communication

Text-speak and technology use have affected many young people’s ability to
communicate. While email has deformalized much of the communication process, students
still need to ensure their writing denotes respect and provides enough context for professors
to readily respond, in addition, text-speak has reduced student’s ability to communicate
using correct grammar. Through studying particular communication genres and what they
demand, students can learn more about what individual situations demand in terms of the
formality of communication. For example, if a professor signs an email with “Dr. Smith,” this
is a fairly good indication that he expects to be addressed as such and not informally by his
first name.

Social Intelligence in Traditional Communication

While email has taken over as the primary method of communication,

traditional modes of discourse still exist. For example, many employers still expect cover
letters in addition to resumes, and the lack of a thank-you note for a gift is often perceived as
more than a simple social oversight. An ability to craft these types of documents illustrate an
understanding of social expectations and denotes a level of respect or appreciation. While
not related to the traditional educational canon, learning to properly write a cover letter or
business letter or a thank-you card not only teaches students that these documents exist and
are often necessary but also shows them how to craft such documents, saving them time and
energy in the future.