Literacy: A 30-year journey 

The purpose of this article is to introduce the reader into the world and exploration of literacy over the previous 30 years and how the developments and theories over the years frame the way that we understand literacy.  The authors take us on a journey through the assorted disciplines that have tried to make sense of what we know to be literacy. They explain how the different disciplines built from previous theories and also contradicted previously established norms. The thought that reading started out as a straightforward perceptual progress and worked its way from the linguists to psychology to sociology to combinations of the three to the politicians and critical theorists is explored in great detail as well. The authors end their exploration of this topic by posing a wide ranging series of questions on how we follow through today in our everyday practice of teaching. After reading the article and reflecting on what I have read I think that I can now take the perspective that reading and literacy is not a simple solution or one that allows application of one simple theory or philosophy. I think that I will be more aware of incorporating a multidisciplinary approach to teaching reading. I believe that I sometimes fall into a comfort zone focusing on associating reading with comprehension of the spoken language but realize that I should be more aware of the sociological and psychological components that determine the success in acquisition of literacy.