Skip to content
Skip to main content

About this free course

Download this course

Share this free course

Literacy, social justice and inclusive practice
Literacy, social justice and inclusive practice

Start this free course now. Just create an account and sign in. Enrol and complete the course for a free statement of participation or digital badge if available.

3 Literacy and economic growth

As you have seen by examining global literacy and the drive to deliver literacy for all, literacy is widely viewed as empowering, and a contributor to economic success, not only for individuals and groups but also for whole countries, regions and for all humankind as a collective entity. The identification of the terrible personal and social consequences of non-literacy is not just a contemporary concern; it has been stressed historically, particularly in relation to supporting increased participation in education at all levels. For example, the need to enable all to become literate was particularly emphasised in the 19th and 20th centuries, because literacy was equated with civilisation at both the individual and societal level.

However, there is currently no common agreement on how to achieve literacy for all. It has also been argued that it is only since the 1990s that we have begun to understand the impacts and consequences of literacy for individuals and for groups of individuals (Graff, 1991). These newly acquired insights are, in turn, leading to a revision and correction of strongly held beliefs and presumptions about the role that literacy plays in our lives and futures. Harvey Graff, whose work has become internationally recognised both among literacy historians and other social scientists, points out that our normative assumptions and expectations about the effects of increased literacy arise from particular liberal enlightenment-based theories. These theories have promoted the role of literacy and schooling in increasing socioeconomic development, social order and individual progress. Graff refers to this as the ‘literacy myth’ (Graff, 1979, 1981, 1987, 1991). In his work, Graff uses the concept of the ‘literacy myth’ to argue that we need to ask new questions about the role and impact of literacy and the often-made assumptions that we are facing a ‘literacy crisis’ and a ‘decline in literacy’. He notes that the debates over literacy standards do not tend to include discussions over how literacy is being interpreted (Graff, 1991, p. 3) and that it is not always clear what is being measured and assessed when evidence about a decline in literacy standards is being considered.

Activity 3

Timing: Approx. 2 hours

Using a search engine of your choice, search online for information on Harvey Graff and work connected with his concept of the ‘literacy myth’. Make notes on this search.

You should be able to find details and information about his published articles and his seminal 1987 book The Labyrinths of Literacy. There are also a number of videos of Graff speaking and updates on his work on the ‘literacy myth’ available online (e.g. on YouTube).

Consider the following questions:

  1. What does Graff mean by the ‘literacy myth’?
  2. Where did the concept of the ‘literacy myth’ come from?
  3. What research approaches and methodologies do you think have underpinned Graff’s research and development of the concept of the ‘literacy myth’?
  4. How do you think Graff’s research methodology differs from the approaches of economists interested in the relationship between literacy and economic growth?
  5. How could Graff’s research methodology explain the different views on the links between literacy and the economy?
  6. What do critics say about the literacy myth?
  7. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the critiques they make?
  8. To what extent do you think the literacy myth needs to be revised given the time that has elapsed since Graff first coined this term?

Discussion

In your search on Graff and his work on the ‘literacy myth’, you may have noted that he uses this concept to point to the problems with the belief that economic development is dependent on the acquisition of literacy. He questions the assumption that literacy will necessarily lead to economic development and an ‘onwards and upwards’ progressive improvement in social mobility, as well as an enhancement of other social and individual aspects, such as democratic practice and cognitive improvement. The phrase the ‘literacy myth’ dates from 1979; however, it has come into prominence again with the current tendency to stress the links between literacy and the economy in numerous educational and curricular policies and in the work of economists interested in investigating aspects of human capital and economic growth.

You may have noted when reflecting on the questions above that while Graff drew on a historical analysis in his work, he drew on quantitative rather than qualitative data. You may also have been interested in his argument that if he were undertaking this analysis today, he would use both quantitative and qualitative data to explore the historical resources. In our reading of this article,we, the authors of this course were struck by Graff’s comments that implied that his initial conceptualisation of the literacy myth may have overemphasised the limits of literacy’s relationship to the economy. Graff (2010) now argues for a greater balance in viewing this relationship. He calls for recognition of ‘literacies’ rather than a single literacy. Furthermore, he also points out the need to consider dimensions beyond alphabetic and text-based literacy with the advent of the literature related to new literacies and digital literacy. This need to recognise the multifaceted, dynamic and changing nature of literacy, especially in the contemporary contexts related to the ‘information age’, will also emerge in other sections of this course.