Unit 3

BUILDING AND ENHANCING NEW LITERACIES ACROSS

CURRICULUM
Module 3. Social Literacy
Lesson 1. The Nature of Social Literacy
Lesson 2. The Role of Parents and Teachers in
Teaching Social Skills to Children
Lesson 3. Issues in Teaching Social Literacy

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LESSON 1

 NATURE OF SOCIAL LITERACY

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 settings. 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. These descriptions will be explained below.
Peers and schools play a formative role on the social skills
development of children. Social skills are often expressed as consisting
of three inter-related components: social perception, social cognition
and social performance (Arthur, Davison, & Stow, 2000). Increasing the
emphasis has been placed on the last component, particularly in terms
of outcomes. Social skill is defined in literature as the ability to interact
with others given social context in specific ways that are socially
acceptable or valued and at the same time personally beneficial,
mutually beneficial, or primary beneficial to others.
Children with social skills deficits can be taught these skills directly
by parents, teachers, and/or professionals using the strategies of
modeling, role-playing, rehearsal, and practice. 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 such as solving problems and
resolving conflict (Lawson, 2003).
 Greeting- Children develop relationships with peers by
interacting with them. The first step in a social interaction is

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 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 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.
 Initiating Conversation- In order to carry on the
conversation, a child must be able to initiate, maintain,
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
interest in what 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.
 Understanding the listener- Once the 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, i.e.,
think the way they think. To do this, a child must pretend that

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 he/she is the listener and think about what he/she needs to
hear to understand what is being said.
 Empathizing- Empathy is more than perspective taking; it
means that one is able to feel what the other person feels.
Empathy allows to really connect with other people. Other
children often think of children who lack empathy as mean,
unkind, or self-centered.
 Reading Social Cues- 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 the words that the other
person is saying. Tone of voice is an important part of verbal
cues. Good detectives pay very close attention to
nonverbal cues.
 Previewing or Planning- Conversations also require that one
previews or thinks about what effect the words or actions
may on the listener before she says or does them. If the
impact will be negative, one can adjust what she might say
or do.
 Problem Solving- Problems and conflict are often a part of
the 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” 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.
 Apologizing- Everyone makes social mistakes at one time or
another. A person with good social skills is confident enough

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 to make a sincere apology for her error. This is courageous
act and is the quickest and easiest way to correct a social
blunder. In reality, other people usually have a higher
opinion on someone who apologizes for making a mistake.
Apologizing is a sign of humble and mature character when
one commits mistakes.

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LESSON 2

 THE OF PARENTS AND TEACHERS IN

TEACHING SOCIAL SKILLS TO
CHILDREN

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

Let us now discuss the role of parents and teachers in teaching
social literacy to children. Parents typically play the major 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 work to school and other
personal social situations.
School is the 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 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

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children’s social abilities, sense of belongingness, and self-esteem, not
just in the classroom but in life as well.

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LESSON 3

 Issues in Teaching Social Literacy

How children develop their social literacy is intrinsically a

contextual matter and is not something which can be easily traced in a
linear or developmental fashion. The acquisition of social literacy is a
complex process which 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 question 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 minimize conflict.
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 (Arthur, Davison, & Stow, 2000). In this last view, social order is
dependent on sanctions and formal agreements. Rules are obeyed
because they confer personal advantage on a child. In the normative
view, 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, for example,
through membership of a church or club. The child in this 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.
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.

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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 standard 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
wrongdoing, 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.

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Enhance
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. This 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
on 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 (or future
employers) to readily respond. In addition, text-speak has reduced
students’ 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

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 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
illustrates 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.

INITIAL TASK

On your own, read the questions and instructions carefully. Write your
answers on the space provided.

1. How do computer technology and social media affect your social

skills and that of your peers? Cite positive and negative impacts of digital
technology to communication?
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2. If you were an employer, what would you look for in aspirants or
applicants to you company?
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3. How do teachers educate children of social literacy nowadays? What

specific content and learning experiences are there in the curriculum
that develop social literacy?
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 FINAL TASK
Make a list of DOs and DON’Ts in the school and/or the workplace
in relation to social literacy. Present it creatively through an infograph.
(20 pts)

Rubrics for Infograph

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