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The traditional definition of literacy is the ability to use language, i.e. to read, write, listen and speak. In modern contexts, the word means reading and writing in a level adequate for written communication and generally a level that enables one to successfully function at certain levels of a society if that society is one in which literacy plays a role in providing access to power.
The standards for what level constitutes "literacy" vary among societies. Other skills such as computer skills or basic numeracy may also be included, as there are many people who cannot read letters but can read numbers, and even learn to use a computer (in a limited way) while remaining unable to read text. These and the increasing inclusion of sound, still and moving images and graphical elements in digitally based communication call for an even broader concept of literacy. (see: Literacy in the Information Age: Final Report of the International Adult Literacy Survey, OECD 2000. PDF). In Scotland for example, literacy has been defined as: "The ability to read and write and use numeracy, to handle information, to express ideas and opinions, to make decisions and solve problems, as family members, workers, citizens and lifelong learners." This definition embraces the Social Practice approach to literacies education and its impact on the "four areas of life" - personal life, family life, work life, community life and engages the "five core skills" - communication, numeracy, problem solving, working with others and ICT (Information and Communications Technology). Recently the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association have added "visually representing" to the list of communicative competences that are considered to constitute literacy.
Many policy analysts consider literacy rates a crucial measure of a region's human capital. This claim is made on the grounds that literate people can be trained less expensively than illiterate people. Policy makers also argue that literacy increases job opportunities and access to higher education. In Kerala, India, for example, female and child mortality rates declined dramatically in the 1960s, when girls schooled to literacy in the education reforms after 1948 began to raise families. Recent researchers, however, argue that correlations such as the one listed above may have more to do with the effects of schooling rather than literacy in general.
More on [ Literacy ]
Meditation and the story
sanunit@iowatelecom.net Wed, 03 Sep 2008 19:00:00 +0100
I have a question about story. When you’re in meditation, the process of story—does it come to you visually? When I watch your films, they are like a meditation to me. And you use colors, and you use rhythm, and you use timing, and you also—your stories are surprising and always revealing. And I wonder how your meditation influences you in that way, and how you convey that on the set to the actors—how do you all work together to bring that to light? [...]
What is the field of consciousness?
sanunit@iowatelecom.net Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:00:00 +0100
Can you explain about consciousness? The field of consciousness, the field of pure consciousness, as explained by Dr. John Hagelin, is also known as the Unified Field—the Unified Field found at the base of all matter. And it’s found at the base of all mind, at the source of thought. And this Unified Field is also beyond space and time. It’s unbounded and eternal; it’s beyond duality. It’s oneness; it’s unity. An [...]
Drugs or meditation
sanunit@iowatelecom.net Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:00:00 +0100
Have you ever used hallucinogenic drugs for inspiration, or have you done it entirely through meditation? I have smoked marijuana. But I don’t smoke it any more. And I was pretty lucky—and it’s a true thing. You know, I went to art school in the ’60s. So you can imagine what was going on. And yet my friends were the ones: they said, “No, no, no, David: don’t you take those drugs.” How do ideas become a script?
sanunit@iowatelecom.net Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:00:00 +0100
How do you find your ideas, and how do you form them into a script? That’s a beautiful question. I think a desire for an idea is like a bait. And I say it’s like fishing. You desire an idea. And when you go fishing, you know you have to have patience. And you bait your hook, and then you just kind of wait. But the desire is that bait that pulls those fish in—those ideas. And the beautiful thing is: when you catch one fish that yo [...]
Music and consciousness
sanunit@iowatelecom.net Sun, 10 Aug 2008 19:00:00 +0100
Can you explain how you use music to transform consciousness within your story? But it doesn’t expand—music doesn’t expand consciousness. The only thing that expands consciousness… You know, they have these so-called “consciousness raising” groups. What they’re doing is sharing information, or giving information. It doesn’t raise consciousness. Consciousness can be raised only by experiencing that d [...]
Does meditation protect you?
sanunit@iowatelecom.net Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:00:00 +0100
How can you just so fully commit to the violent, dark nature of life—mostly in Twin Peaks, I think, and all of them—how can you be so committed to that darkness without being harmed by it? And how does meditation help you with that? In a way—this is a strange thing, but it’s a true thing in my experience–bliss is like a flack jacket. Bliss is like a protecting thing. If you have so much bliss, they say it’s [...]
Education: News & Videos about Education - CNN.com
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Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:00:00 -0400
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UN News Centre - Culture, Education
UN organizes campaign to help Georgia's children return to school
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0500
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UN agencies launch bid to include restored Iraqi marshlands on heritage list
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0500
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UNESCO backs plan to build underwater museum in Alexandria, Egypt
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0500
The United Nations cultural agency announced today it will help Egypt build an innovative underwater museum in the Bay of Alexandria on the site of archaeological remains thousands of years old.
U.S. Department of Education
Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week (Sep 7-13)
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:00:00 -0000
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Higher Ed Grants to Help Students with Disabilities
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:45:00 -0000
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Grant to Utah to Help Create More Charter Schools
Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:14:00 -0000
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BBC News | Education | UK Edition
Holiday key to school standards?
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 01:00:57 -0000
Mike Baker wonders if having school holidays earlier might make pupils do better.
Teachers to hold ballot on strike
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:38:39 -0000
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Team sports blamed for health gap
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:37:37 -0000
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More state pupils enter Cambridge
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:58 -0000
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Threatened schools decision delay
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:29:16 -0000
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Heads say teens' tests not needed
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:41:44 -0000
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Plan to cut targets for schools
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:28:48 -0000
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School meal guidelines tightened
Wed, 03 Sep 2008 22:59:29 -0000
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Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:05:59 -0000
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Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:27:57 -0000
Cambridge University is no longer going to use the full LNat admissions test from next year.
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E-mail us
Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:22:01 -0000
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Wed, 03 Sep 2008 10:02:48 -0000
An exam board asks schools to destroy a GCSE poetry anthology because one poem refers to knife violence.
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Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:48:30 -0000
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Tue, 02 Sep 2008 11:38:33 -0000
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When pupils are too shy to learn
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Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) Hawai`i - A US federal program with a mission to significantly increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education. News and events, participating schools, tutor recruiting details, and contact information.
ABC Learn - Non-profit agency providing supplemental literacy instruction to at-risk students and recent juvenile releases.
Meta Description: [ We are proud to say we are a State Approved Provider of NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND Supplemental Educational Services ]
Alabama Reading Association - Events, projects, newsletter, pictures, and membership and contact details.
Canadian Organization for Development through Education (CODE) - Promoting self-sufficiency through literacy in the developing world.
Meta Description: [ CODE - Self-sufficiency through literacy in the developing world. ]
Center for Academic and Reading Skills - Research facility that studies how reading and other academic skills develop in normal and academically disabled children, and children who are underachievers.
Meta Description: [ Center for Academic & Reading Skill, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston ]
Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement - Resources pertaining to early literacy, including Power Point presentations, hot lists for reading teachers and tutors, and a searchable database.
Meta Description: [ CIERA's mission is to improve the reading achievement of America's youth by generating and disseminating theoretical, empirical, and practical solutions to the learning and teaching of beginning reading ]
Centre for Family Literacy - Located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The Centre offers a variety of family and adult literacy programs.
Meta Description: [ The Centre for Family Literacy is dedicated to helping families grow and prosper. Our programs, training and research help Alberta families achieve what they imagine - improved education, jobs and health. ]
Cooperation for Advancement, Rehabilitation and Education (CARE) - A non-governmental organisation working to promote education in Pakistan. CARE aims to provide basic education to as many children as it can reach, thus filling the void left by the inadequacy of government policy/plans for education. Mission, history, projects, news and press, contact information, and ways to support the group.
Delaware Valley Reading Association - A local council of the International Reading Association, DVRA provides professional development and additional leadership in promoting literacy in the Delaware Valley of Southeastern Pennsylvania.
Feed the Minds - A charity which supports literacy, publishing and education in developing countries through grants. It also publishes a theological book review and is a source of literature for theological colleges. Find details about projects and grants, news, literacy, events, contact information, and opportunities to get involved.
Meta Description: [ Education makes a world of difference. We believe that education saves lives, reduces poverty and builds community.
So Feed the Minds works in partnership with local groups around the world. ]
First Book - U.S. nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide disadvantaged children with new books.
Global Literacy Project, Inc. - A non-profit organization which collects and ships donated books to Africa and the Caribbean where they are used to create libraries in rural schools and communities. Community literacy projects are also established. List of programs and related links.
Meta Description: [ We collect donated books and charitable gifts to establish libraries and literacy support programs in developing countries ]
Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council - Nonprofit agency that provides reading, writing, math, English language, and computer skills to adults and out of school young adults.
Meta Description: [ Nonprofit Literacy agency providing reading, writing, English, math, computer skills and workplace skills to adults and their families ]
Hollywood Education Literacy Program (HELP) - Literacy program for adults and children in Hollywood, California.
Indiana Literacy Foundation - A non-profit organization which works with and through volunteer literacy programs across Indiana. List of programs and related links.
International Reading Association - Seeks to improve quality of reading instruction through studying the reading processes and teaching techniques; serving as a clearinghouse for the dissemination of reading research.
Meta Description: [ the home page of the International Reading Association, a professional organization for those involved in teaching reading and promoting literacy ]
Kingston Literacy - Kingston Literacy furthers the development and growth of adult and family literacy in Kingston and neighbouring communities. We also create and market literacy resources.
Literacy Empowerment Foundation - Distribution of free and reduced cost books to schools, literacy groups and distance learners.
Literacy Matters - Literacy training and resources, lesson plans, advice, and news.
National Children's Literacy Project (NCLP) - A not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing the literacy skills of children; promoting literacy as an integral factor in the growth of society and in an individual's ability to lead a productive and fulfilling life.
National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) - An independent federal organization leading the national effort toward a fully literate United States in the 21st century.
Meta Description: [ The National Institute for Literacy serves as a national resource for adult education and literacy programs, coordinates literacy services and policy, and provides leadership for literacy in the United States. The Institute disseminates information on scientifically based reading research pertain... ]
Operation Read - Operation Read teaches Adult Literacy and English as a Second language. Farm Outreach Video sales in English and Spanish.
READ Foundation - Reading Excellence and Discovery Foundation's mission is to enable at-risk children to achieve grade level reading proficiency, by using empirically supported educational methods.
Meta Description: [ READ Foundation (Reading Excellence and Discovery Foundation) - READ's mission is to enable at-risk children to achieve grade level reading proficiency, by using empirically supported educational methods., FW 8 DW 8 XHTML ]
San Jose Area Writing Project - Dedicated to improving the teaching of writing in kindergarten through high school classrooms. News and details about past and future events, registration information for those events, and contact and project information.
StoryPlus Foundation - A non-profit organization dedicated to improving children's literacy. Background of the group, newsletter, activities and events, and contribution details. In English and in French.
Student Coalition for Action in Literacy Education - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill based network of college students, adult learners, administrators, literacy practitioners and community partners to implement and support participatory education and social change work in campus-based literacy programs.
Teton Literacy Program - The Teton Literacy Program provides tutoring services for Teton residents who seek to improve their literacy in reading, writing, and speaking English. This site has information for visitors, tutors, students, and supporters.
Meta Description: [ Teton Literacy Program in Jackson Hole Wyoming provides resources so Teton County may achieve functional literacy by reading, writing, and speaking English. ]
The Center for Literacy Studies - Provides research and professional development services that strengthen adult literacy education thru local, regional, national, and international efforts. News, events, statistics, resources and research.
The National Literacy Trust - British nonprofit devoted to promoting literacy and literacy educators. Issues, statistics, research, events, publications, resources, other related organizations, discussion boards, and contact details.
Meta Description: [ The National Literacy Trust is a charity set up in 1993 to work in partnership with others to enhance literacy standards in the UK through reading promotion, research, campaigns and online resources. ]
Western New York Professional Development Consortium - Providing staff development to teachers and practitioners in the field of Adult Literacy and Education. This site lists resources, workshops, and conferences covering NY State Education initiatives, GED 2002, workforce development themes, and proactive adult education topics.
Meta Description: [ The Western New York Professional Development Consortium (WNYPDC) is one of ten regional staff development consortia established by the NY State Department of Education's Adult, Family and Alternative Education Team ]
World Literacy Crusade - Seeks to eliminate social ills through literacy education for children.
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