Literacy is the foundation stone of education; its raison d'etre. A recent article authored by Salena Zito addressed a little-discussed topic -- outside-the-classroom literacy.
In the Main Street Project, a course developed by Zito with the Harvard Institute of Politics, Harvard students are introduced to the world outside their day-to-day experience. In the process they gain literacy regarding the world that makes Harvard, the student’s lifestyle, and post-graduate opportunities possible. It was terra incognita for many of them. Literacy gaps pertaining outside the classroom realities were revealed.
If students were shown a picture of a McDonald’s cheeseburger and, asked what do you see? They’d of course answer "a cheeseburger," and they’d be right, from one perspective. But there is more than meets the eye to a McDonald’s cheeseburger. It is the result of a number of industries, subsidiary production, original equipment manufacturers, engineers, maintenance specialists, builders, skilled trades, logistics coordinators, distribution, and employees. Is not introducing students what to lies behind everything that is part of their everyday life education? How many understand what it takes to have their home cool in the summer and warm in the winter? How does food, clothing, shelter, transportation, communication, electricity, etc., get to them for their use?
Modern culture is an environment. Is one better off understanding and being prepared for living in that environment or just showing up? Schools are an important part of that preparation, but so is the cultural environment outside the classroom. Our consumer culture is astonishingly sophisticated -- it employs the latest in technology, neurology, and psychology to influence and frankly manipulate.
The consequences of ignorance regarding the cultural environment and life-altering behaviors have been monetized. For example, think of the revenue streams derived from promiscuity/sexual ignorance: abortion, medical services for STDs, pharmaceuticals, social services, foster care, legal services, protective custody, and counseling.
Harvard is not alone in this effort. Pennsylvania, along with 25 other states, has deemed financial literacy a requirement for graduating high school students. The transmission of productive behaviors is not reinforced by the popular/consumer culture. There are other factors at work too; collapse/fragmentation of families, cultural degradation, recreational sex and drug industries.
The former combined with the latter is a one-two punch that young people are not prepared for and as a result many young lives are derailed. Understanding the science that created the environment and surviving in it are not the same issue. The consequences of being ignorant regarding the cultural environment are severe and we all pay the tab.
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