Expanding Notions of Literacy: Creative Commons Resources Cultivating 21st Century Literacies

Abstract

“Literacy liberates. Literate children become critical and creative thinkers, meaning makers, problem finders and problem solvers. Literate children become change-makers in an increasingly complex world,” (Veldhoen & Crichton, 2017).

This paper shares the case study of Niteo Africa Society (http://www.niteoafrica.org/), an NGO and registered Canadian Charity working with in-country partners to establish literacy centers in East Africa and serving children and their families since 2008. As a support to improve school readiness and literacy, these centers offer reading materials freely to the community, specifically serving school-children, mothers, grandmothers, the disabled, and children unable to attend school. The overarching question guiding this paper is how can a reading culture be fostered when many adults in these challenging contexts do not understand literacy development and may not have held or shared a picture book with a child? // Paper ID 102