In my Literacy, Technology, and Instruction class we have been talking about literacy. Literacy in this context has been referred to as a person's knowledge in any given field or subject, which could include english, history, videogames, etc (practically anything). We had to answer some questions about literacy and I wanted to ask one of the questions are this message board:

Is there one literacy that you think is most important for all human beings? What is it and why do you think this?

I think language literacy is probably the most important literacy, because communication is basic to functioning in a society. Language literacy, in my opinion, is made up of reading, writing, and speaking, and the comprehension of these areas. Without being proficient in at least one or two of these, someone could not interact very effectively with others, thereby limiting their teaching or learning ability of other literacies - especially if you believe that education is socially constructed. They would be very isolated.

I agree that communication is the most important literacy for all people. This literacy is vital for all other literacies. Communication spans beyond speaking and understanding language to writing, reading, body language, and unspoken forms of communication. This literacy not only affects how one functions independently within a society it also affects how one interacts with others within that society. This is a literacy we should stress more in our schools.

This might just be a redundant post, but I feel the same. I feel that one of the most important literacies is communication, which I believe involves reading and being able to express yourself through speaking and writing, because it is the basis for most all other literacies. If you are at school, you have to be able to communicate to learn new things. If you are at work, you might have learn a whole new "language", that applies to your job. When you start kindergarten, one of the first things you learn is how to read and how to interact with others. These are the foundations for all literacy.

I think the most important literacy for human beings to have (besides language, communication, and social literacy) is a literacy that will find them a good job. For example, some people are literate in the automotive realm where they can fix cars, in the artistic realm where they can be a musician, artist, or dancer, or someone may be literate in medicine and they are a doctor. However, to be literate in any of these categories you still must first be literate in language, communication, and socialization.

What a great class that is, Kollin! It was definitely interesting making those videos and finding out what other people considered 'literacies' and which ones were superior to others.

I'm going to have to agree and say that communication would be the literacy that is most important for human beings. This could include reading and writing, but I'm thinking more simply along the lines of interaction with other people. It is so important in our society today to be able to make a good impression on others. It is the key to friendships, job opportunities, schooling, etc. Without being proficient in your communication skills with others, it would be very hard to succeed in anything you might aspire to do.

Just to say something other than communication which I will agree is probably one of the most important literacies, I would say that Cultural literacy is the most important. With in a persons culture there are many norms and taboos. The ability to interact with others in a culture is very important. Even if someone can not speak or sign if they know what is culturally appropriate the ability to interact is boosted.

I do not think that any one literacy holds any importance over another. They are all important and necessary to make a person a well-rounded, society interacting person. A person should possess knowledge of them all.

Agreed. Communication/Language literacy in the most important type of literacy. There is not a whole lot you can do without being literate in the language- speaking (most importantly) and reading. You can not interact in society and probably could not find a job without being literate. Literacy is a basis for survival.