International Literacy Day, September 8, 2008
Since 1966, International Literacy Day has been celebrated every September 8. Yet there are still millions who cannot read and write well enough to make well-informed decisions. What does it mean for democracy when half the electorate cannot read their daily paper?
Literacy matters, says Adama Ouane of the UNESCO Institute for Education, “because it’s the key to the toolbox that contains empowerment, a better livelihood, smaller and healthier families, and participation in democratic life.”* Those of us who read well seldom think of the hurdles encountered by people who cannot. But, with 800 million illiterate people in a world of 6.5 billion, it’s something people who value democracy must consider.
In North America 93% have some literacy, but this statistic can be misleading. A quarter cannot read more than the minimum required for daily living, and another quarter cannot read information as it is typically presented. They need it to be clear, concise, simply stated and clearly laid-out on the page.
Basic literacy, the ability to function in everyday life, requires reading, writing, arithmetic, and problem solving. Technology and social developments now require new skills. Think about “proximate literacy”—the ability to persuade available people to help you with the literacy task.
In both Canada and the U.S., this is an election year. Illiteracy can be both an election issue and an individual impediment to participating in choosing our politicians by their policies.
While it is better to solve the root causes of a problem than to simply treat symptoms, we are not all politicians who control budgets, nor educators and volunteers who teach adult literacy courses. We don’t have the power to eliminate illiteracy today, so what can we do to give democracy a fighting chance?
According to communications consultant Cheryl Stephens, communicators are in a good position to help people participate in civic affairs and live fuller, healthier lives. “Using the tools available to the literate,” she said, “we can facilitate better communication with those who have literacy challenges.” For someone working in any communication field, Stephens recommends that they first unlearn their static approach, and relearn how people process and use information. “Practice the beginner’s mind,” she admonishes. “Remember what it was like to not understand.”
Stephens recommends that communicators use the principles of plain language, good information design, visual language, and other developing resources.
Even when we meet face-to-face or communicate orally using modern technologies, the communicator must recognize the different learning and thinking styles of those who don’t read or write, and the differing life perspectives of people from oral cultures.
“By failing to include all levels of literacy in the democratic process,” Stephens says, “we deprive people of being fully human, and we betray the democratic principles we hold dear.”
For more information about plain language and how it can help, visit
plainlanguage.com.
*http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=5711&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
