Literacy learner differences!

Throughout my schooling I have always been taught that each individual learns in a different style. One person may learn best through visual means, whereas the person sitting next to them may learn the same concept with a more hands on learning technique.These differences can be recognised as a range of different skills (Phillips, 2013).  However, there are three main demographic dimensions of learner differences which impact upon literacies learning, these are material, corporeal and symbolic.

Lifeworlds reflect the type of learner a person has become as a result of the different influences they have experienced throughout their life. The key attributes to lifeworlds are narrative, persona, affinity and orientation (Kalantzis & Cope, 2012). It's the things you know, without having to think how you came to know them (Phillips, 2013). Sounds a little confusing, right? Well actually, it's very simplistic! Every individual has experienced different lifeworlds, such as the influence of their family, culture, language, friends/peers, political views, religion etc (the list goes on). These different lifeworlds shape our differences in learning literacies. My personal lifeworlds include being catholic, coming from a close and big family, friends, my interest in visual art, sport and also music such as piano. These all reflect my personal background and my literacy learning differences. As a preservice teacher, it is vital that I understand the backgrounds of different children within the classroom to ensure I am able to teach them literacy effectively.

It is evident also that the 21st century has an increase in diversity within the student population. The Queensland government argues that students bring with them to the classroom diverse languages, dialects and literacy skills. The combination of poverty with diversity creates some of the most significant challenges for literacy teaching (Queensland Government, 2008). Another excellent source argues that poor pedagogies and a focus on English literacy within classrooms have lead to a replacement of Aboriginal students' existing multiliterate capacities (Martin, 2008)

Therefore it is becoming increasingly important as future teachers to recognize the different styles each child within the classroom uses to learn literacy, and understand their lifeworlds and already existing literacy capacities.



References:

Kalantzis, M., & Cope, B. (2012). Literacies. Melbourne: Cambridge
University Press. Chapter 14: Literacies and learner differences pp.
374-400.

Martin, K. (2008). The intersection of Aboriginal knowledges,
Aboriginal literacies, and new learning pedagogy for Aboriginal
students. In Healy, A. (Ed.) Multiliteracies and diversity in education:
New pedagogies for expanding landscapes (pp. 58-81). South
Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press.

Queensland Government of Australia, Department of Education and the Arts (2008) Literacy the key to learning, Retrieved from: https://learn.uq.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-346110-dt-content-rid-1459738_1/courses/EDUC1707S_6360_62707/Literacy%20Resources/New%20Literacy%20Strategy/literacy_framework%5B1%5D.pdf