An advertisement by a bank sparks a letter to an editor which is published in a newspaper, released on social media and stirs and sparks a virtual racial war.
The fingers point now to a cycle of blame: Who’s at fault? Is it that the advertising agency and the bank were insensitive to the deeply entrenched racism and other historical hurts festering in the society? Was the media fuelling racism to sell a few to a gullible public who is sure to jump at the ongoing race-baiting, consciously or subconsciously perpetrated on a society that cannot rise out of the scars of the past? Each may have very sound and solid justifications on its actions, but the reality is that media, culture and gender sensitive literacy have moved to the forefront of the challenge for social literacy, virtually replacing the traditional three R’s with a new one – Respect!
There is a fourth dimension to the evolving notion of the 3 R’s – Respect!
Dr Kris Rampersad, Message, World Literacy Day, 2022
And we are way past the time to begin to unravel and rethread the flaying and flawed social fabric.
And that in itself calls for reeducating an entire society that has so far to a large extent functioned oblivious to the many disrespects it minutely and by-the-minute perpetrates, habitually now internalised entrenched and institutionalised into the social, cultural and educational fabric.
The Fourth Dimension to evolving notion of 3 R’s – Respect
Celebrating World Literacy Day gives cause for reflection on the evolving notion of literacy. It certainly has assumed larger than life proportions as the Pandemic forced a refocus on the basic building blocks of our societies and communities. With that has come the realisation of how far we have travelled from the time when notion of literacy revolved around the three R’s – Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic.
Read on Below on futuring holistic literacy in the Post Pandemic World. The video is an excerpt of my presentation International Women’s Day Women in Tech Summit …
Lifelong learning and holistic Education
Contemporary development goals for lifelong learning accommodate the notion of literacy in the context of holistic education. It includes social and cultural literacy, financial literacy, digital and media literacy, information and communication literacy, environmental and ecological literacy, technological literacy, as part of an infinite list. Literacy effectively enables greater participation in today’s society, facilitating access to work, health, even entertainment and recreation. It is linked to other esoteric notions as identity, self expression, creativity and communication.
These are all requisite functional literacies in today’s world which education and other systems are struggling to accommodate to remain viable and relevant for future generations, even as nearly one billion still lack access to the basic opportunities to access and develop skills in the three R’s.
The changes have been rapid and staggering, especially in societies with slow-to-respond sluggish systems that are rendering even the providers of education obsolete.
Education-Media Dynamic
With concerns about the planet, Environmental/Ecological literacy has grown in stature from when I was using media as a journalist to educate on our interconnectedness and the importance of the planet through and breathing life into the then just embryonic notion of sustainable development in my television series Cross Country and thence newspaper column Environment Friendly.
Even then, although the definition of media was to inform, entertain and educate, journalism was seen as an entirely different and somewhat alien discipline to education. Media focussed on its roles to inform and entertain, at the expense of the latter, to educate, while academic arenas were fast constructing and solidifying walls of demarcations between itself and the lesser mortals as the media fields and disciplines, rather than trying to accommodate and bridge the divides.
Bridging two worlds
In my short biopic film, One Night To Bloom which launched the new creative genre, The MultiMedia Micro Epic, I capture such challenges of my attempts to break the silos and straddle the worlds of media and education, in the journey that led me to be the first sitting journalist/editor in the Caribbean to earn a doctorate.
Pioneering and presenting the genre at the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission’s (CSC’s) annual Commonwealth Day Scholars’ event, Interchange 21, hosted by the British Council, was deliberate and in keeping with my presentation theme, Globalisation in Reverse, as the educational focus on the three R’s is a legacy of the colonial-styled education system and processes that were implanted and are still entrenched in our landscape as with other systems and processes.
Development Deficit
The Pandemic has spotlighted the augmented reality of the degree of dependency on other-world systems and technologies as well as the underdeveloped basic systems that characterise the digital divide, augmenting, too, the development deficit.
It is not only education systems that are stricken by this new wave of illiteracy.
The digital divide manifests itself in not just in the ability to engage with technology, but in the state of readiness of the support mechanisms, systems and services – connectivity, infrastructure. Disparities in other services such as access to electricity, proximity to cell towers also impact and limit learning options, for instance. And then there are the affordability and costs issues.
Technological Lag
The Pandemic panic set the digital revolution in education high gear, forcing archaic and sluggish education systems to take stock of their technological lag. It virtually paralysed the education sector with its sudden imperatives for digital and technological-based education. With the focus on meeting the basic needs of equipment and facilities the qualitative dimension suffers.
It was clear from the knee jerk reactions of interpreting digital education as cartoonistic representations – a mirror reflection of what education has become – a caricature of itself.
Utilising new media in education is not bombarding students with a plethora of PDFs and some floating mascots, as was how most of our academic sectors’ interpret the delivery of digital education.
Tour de force of culture & unconscious bias
Beyond just being a tool to convey information, media as a cultural tour de force augments the complexity of the challenge in digital literacy. The use of new media brings with it a new Pandora’s box of cultural imps – the burden of bias, prejudices, discriminatory practice that are may be subconsciously embedded within not just the content, of which educators and other users are barely conscious.
Educators, for instance, may be trained to recognise in a classroom, but not in a seemingly harmless video which plays on a recipient in myriad ways.
The clear and present danger is that more than just being taught how to use new media tools, educators must be conscious about the uses, misuses and abuses of media as an education tool.
And that is a whole new school of literacy that must be opened, if we are to fully utilise the potential of new media.
Pushing the Limits
That was the impetus to developing the new creative genre, the MultiMedia MicroEpic – as a response to the dumbing down of education in the Pandemic panic – to show that new media can push the limits of seemingly academically static classical forms, as the epic and to challenge educators and others in the arena of professional development to expand the notion of uses of new media in whatever their endeavour.
New media may not be able to replace the teacher-student dynamics of face-to-face learning and the dynamism of peer-to-peer encounter in a physical classroom, but conscious – not vik-e-vik, knee jerk responses are required to take advantage of its potential to advance the challenges of advancing the many types of literacies that face us today.
Some random thoughts on World Literacy Day.
Edutainment – a Coconut Branch of Conciliation
In commemoration of the 6oth anniversary of Independence and 46th Anniversary as a Republic we offer a breathe of fresh air to the Nation through a number of Edutainment initiatives.
Get inspirational insights into developing the creative economy and other sectors, resuscitating communities and villages, inspiring youth, engaging elders. Whatever your occasion, all activities can be customised to give your customers – local or foreign a unique taste of the flavours of our region. Make contact to discuss your needs.
Explore mindscapes and landscapes with LiTTscapes
Trinidad and Tobago through the eyes of its famous, and not-so-famous thinkers and characters of fiction who represent the everyday folks, heroes and villains of in T&T.
Inspired by the highly acclaimed LiTTscapes – Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad and Tobago which was launched in commemoration of the Jubilee (50th) Anniversary of Independence by Heritage Educator, Dr Kris Rampersad, we will explore the natural and cultural fabric of the islands and the sum total of “Trinbago” from our primordial and prehistoric origins through indigeneous settlement, multiple migrations, industrial, social, cultural, political and economic development, through novel lenses
These interactive novel excursions and events will meander from South through Central, North, East, and West to rediscover landmarks and lifestyles pivotal to the making and character of Trinidad and Tobago and who and what we are. They will highlight the unique heritage of our islands in many dimensions – geophysical, industrial, agricultural, cultural, historical, educational, culinary, festival, spiritual, institutional, while digging into participants’ own memories and experiences, family lore and legends to enhance appreciation of what makes up the NaTTion.
Many RouTTes One DestiNaTTion
LiTTours and LiTTributes inspired by the highly acclaimed book by Dr Kris Rampersad, LiTTscapes – Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad &Tobago, aim to:
- Breathe Fresh Air Into Understanding of PatrioTTism
- Enhance appreciation of the inspired physical and metaphysical real and imagined landscapes
- Encourage exploration of Trinidad and Tobago’s in its many dimensions through its rich oral cultures, literary heritage and intellectual traditions
- Deepen appreciation & and re-envision development paths.
- Inspire ecological, environmental and cultural appreciation in the context of and in relation to rural-urban evolution
- Cultivate and strengthen confidence in home grown initiatives counter/alternative to crime, scepticism, historical mistrust;
- Celebrate heroism & resilience of the Caribbean spirit,
- Strengthen the socio-economic and cultural fabric: identifying with, promoting and enhancing appreciation of literacy and synergies with the homegrown cultural heritage and artistic sectors with other sectors and systems of Trinidad and Tobago
Many RouTTes, One DestiNaTTion will explore:
- The rural-urban landscapes and multicultural lifestyles of T&T
- The evolving oral-& literary fesTTivals and tradiTTions
- The intellectual and grassroots appreciation of our heriTTage
- Potential synergies between the creative sectors with corporate culture,, architecture and construction, education, engineering, science, ecology and the natural environment, agriculture, the culinary arts etc…
Who Can Benefit?
Anyone ages 3 to 103 in any sector or from any field, discipline or interests: families, public officials, decision makers, diplomats, politicians, industry leaders, educators…
Look out for our exciting package of offerings this year.
A new phenomenon in CEIBA-EDUtainment is coming your way soon…
About Dr Kris Rampersad
Dr Kris Rampersad is a Culture & Gender Sensitive Global Development Consultant/Strategist/Educator/Facilitator prepping for the post pandemic planet with novel Sustainable Creative Edutainment Initiatives with blended media education and cultural tools, techniques. She is a UNESCO-trained educator/facilitator, National Geographic certified educator, global Woman Techmakers’ Ambassador and Google Digital Skills Ambassador. To support, collaborate, sponsor or adopt a community, find out more in this link. Make contact to join an initiative. or develop one unique to your identity.