21 CENTURY

ST

LITERACY
 WHAT IS 21ST CENTURY
LITERACY?
While traditional literacy and a liberal education are still
important (Nussbaum, 1997; Delbanco, 2012; Ferrall, 2011), in
the 21st century students need to know more and be able to do
more than they did in the past.  Students need 21st century
literacy.  This new literacy includes traditional literacy skills, such
as reading, writing, and arguing.  But more importantly, it
includes new literacy skills, such as critical thinking, scientific
reasoning, and multi-cultural awareness (NCTE, 2008; Wagner,
2008; Grubb, 2003, p. 3; Sagan, 1996, p. 325). 
 WHAT IS 21ST CENTURY
LITERACY?
Like older forms of literacy, the new literacy requires
both the "effective use" of language and "large amounts
of specific information" about the world (Hirsch, 1988,
pp. 2-3).  In addition to traditional literacy, students also
need to learn about how knowledge is created, especially
how the most reliable knowledge is made through
scientific methods.
 WHAT IS 21ST CENTURY
LITERACY?
 Science has become the primary tool of the 21st
century knowledge economy; therefore, students should
be exposed to all major scientific methodologies. 
Students need an understanding of both qualitative
(Cushman, Kintgen, Kroll, & Rose, 2001) and
quantitative literacy (Paulos, 2001; Steen, 2001; Steen,
2004).
 WHAT IS 21ST CENTURY
LITERACY?
 And while knowledge of most scientific methodology
does require advanced mathematical literacy, students
with only minimal mathematical knowledge can still be
introduced to both qualitative and quantitative scientific
methods through an understanding of key concepts,
theories, and data (Wilson, 2013).
 WHAT IS 21ST CENTURY
LITERACY?
  To fully understand scientific methodology, students
need to know about the research university,  academic
disciplines, and the specific work that scientists do within
their disciplines.  Only then will students be able to
concretely grasp how knowledge is created, debated, and
refined through the scientific process. 
 WHAT IS 21ST CENTURY
LITERACY?
  21st Century Literacy is more than just reading and
writing.  It is knowing how to learn and know.  Utilizing
scientific research on cognition and meta-cognition,
students need to understand how the brain creates and
uses subjective knowledge, and the different processes
that create objective knowledge.
 WHAT IS 21ST CENTURY
LITERACY?
    Students need to know how concepts work to define
and categorize knowledge, and how concepts can be
organized into conceptual frameworks that interconnect
facts into larger fields of knowledge (Barber, 2012). 
Students need to be able to understand concepts as tools,
which can be used to solve real-world problems (Fish,
2011, p. 15, 29).
 WHAT IS 21ST CENTURY
LITERACY?
     Most importantly, students need to recognize threshold
concepts (Land, Meyer, & Smith, 2008), which enable new ways
to see and know the world.  Two of the most important threshold
concepts involve learning to see writing as two separate tools: It
is both a tool for thinking and knowing, and it is a tool for
communicating knowledge and persuading people to see the
truth.
 WHAT IS 21ST CENTURY
LITERACY?
Students need to understand the theoretical purposes and the
concrete practices of research, thinking, and writing. 
Psychologists call this holistic understanding “meta-cognition,”
which means "thinking-about-thinking" and "thinking-about-
doing."  Such higher order thinking enables us to better
understand ourselves ( both our strengths and limitations), which
then enables us to know better and perform better (Dunn, Saville,
Baker, & Marek, 2013).  Students need to be able to do, not
just know (Wenger, 1999). 
 WHAT IS 21ST CENTURY
LITERACY?
   21st century literacy is a collection of many higher
order skills.  Students need to be able to critically evaluate
the reliability of diverse sources of knowledge in order to
construct knowledge with scientific methods.  It also
entails openly arguing with diverse groups of people in
order to explain and prove the truth. 
 WHAT IS 21ST CENTURY
LITERACY?
  But we cannot forget that these 21st century skills are built on
the foundation of traditional literacy: reading, writing, and basic
mathematics.  Knowledge is the essential first step to good
communication and effective action.  Truth has to be actively
constructed by critical thinkers through meticulous and
rigorous scientific methods.  And this truth needs to be effectively
communicated to diverse audiences through arguments in order to
direct collective action to solve real-world problems.
 WHAT IS 21ST CENTURY LITERACY
ASSIGNMENT
 Enumerate the type of 21st Century Literacies and their
meaning.
 REFERENCES
http://21centurylit.org/introduction