My TikTok feed is full of American teachers complaining about how their kids can’t read or write. Like high schoolers who can’t write a short paragraph or can’t comprehend simple directions.
I was talking about this with a friend of mine who teaches at the literacy program for a local college and they had two comments:
- Those TikTok teachers almost universally blame the students for their deficits rather than seeing the trend and blaming the systems. Specifically, my friend blames the curriculum being written by textbook corporations and the decision to make the kids stop learning to read in 3rd grade.
- My friend is seeing similar, though less drastic similarities in their college students. Mind you, they mainly teach graduate courses, so they are teaching people who are usually already in the field teaching.
And I’m just left thinking… at what point do the illiterate students become illiterate teachers?
Its not just amerika, its all western countries. 89% of western adults are not considered Literate. “Functional literacy” is where the majority fall, and the rest are even lower.
89% of western adults can’t score 65% or higher on a literacy test.
89% of western adults cannot read books written for adults, literature, scientific literature, philosophy, political economy etc etc.
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/241210/dq241210a-eng.htm
Imagine scoring below 65% (not even a passing grade in trade schools or most university programs) and thinking that you are literate.
Hey, don’t lump in the rest of the west with Canada’s 89% illiteracy rates!
Here in Aus I believe it is closer to 95% (though that may just be some states)
Did you click the link cause 89% is the OECD countries, (comprising most western countries) averaged together. I dont think Aus is an OECD country so i don’t know your actual data. But if its like the rest of the west, it cant be good.
And canada is 86% at level 3 or lower. Which is considered “good” for western countries.
Get his ass!
I swear we had a version of an even bigger fire for Australia. Anyone remember what that one is called?
guessing it was :australia-cool: since that is the convention most of the burning flag emoji use
I feel like I have good diversity of people in my social circle, though leaning towards more educated. I do not know anyone else IRL who regularly reads even one book per year that isn’t the Bible or some Prayer of Jabez type book their church group is reading together.