Deck 9: Liberty and Literacy Today: Contemporary Perspectives

Question 1

In your own words, explain cultural or ideological hegemony. How does cultural hegemony affect what happens in public school classrooms? Give examples from your own experiences, as appropriate.

Answer 1

No answer

Question 2

Explain the differences among functional, cultural, and critical literacy. Which kind of literacy should teachers aim for in public schools? Why? What kinds of factors might work against the achievement of any of these? How might a teacher approach the teaching of critical literacy? What groups might disapprove of such teaching, and how should a teacher respond?

Answer 2

No answer

Question 3

Discuss the notion that literacy has the power to both liberate and oppress. Give examples and explain your rationale.

Answer 3

No answer

Question 4

Explain the concept of "miseducation." How do you see this concept playing out in schools and classrooms today? What can you as a teacher do to counteract these forces?

Question 5

Which of the following statements is true of literacy in 18th- and 19th-century America?

A) In this time period, people from the lower social classes were as literate as those from the upper social classes.
B) This time period predominantly witnessed the socioeconomic marginality of the illiterate.
C) In this time period, literacy rates were the same across all the regions.
D) As societies in this time period were predominantly agrarian, literacy was not considered essential.

Question 6

Literacy rates (whether in terms of conventional, functional, cultural, or critical literacy) can be influenced by

A) access to the means of acquiring literacy.
B) social class.
C) gender.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 7

The authors indicate that the dominant culture draws its power from

A) processes of ideological hegemony.
B) the shared experiences of all social classes.
C) the informed consent of all voters.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 8

According to hegemony theorists, social order stability can be attributed in part to

A) an electorate without clear alternatives to the status quo.
B) citizen cooperation with hegemonic institutions.
C) the success of political socialization in schooling.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 9

Jefferson's views on popular literacy

A) reflected limitations in his views on the equality of civil and political rights.
B) are precisely the views that would increase literacy among all groups today.
C) demonstrate his opposition to the subordination of slaves and women.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 10

Critical literacy can be judged to be effective to the extent that it

A) equips people to effectively question unequal power relations.
B) contributes to social stability.
C) overthrows the existing government.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 11

Teaching students to think independently and analytically is based on a desire for

A) social stability.
B) social critique.
C) social mobility.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 12

In the context of literacy in the United States, E.D. Hirsch, Jr., believes that

A) language should be disentangled from the cultural knowledge that gives language meaning.
B) it is necessary to draw attention to power relations in society by focusing on oppression.
C) literacy is by its very nature conservative.
D) literacy is necessary for guarding against undemocratic abuses of power.

Question 13

Critics who view the present educational system in the United States as being hegemonic are likely to

A) similarly criticize the educational goals of the social efficiency progressives.
B) judge Freire's concept of critical literacy as hegemonic.
C) find E.D. Hirsch's idea of cultural literacy to be emancipatory.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 14

Race, income, and gender

A) do not influence literacy acquisition and development.
B) play an important role in literacy development and acquisition.
C) have unknown effects on literacy acquisition and development.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 15

The authors claim that "social differences in the meaning of literacy are crucial." An example of this concept is how

A) in a traditional, nonindustrial society, literacy typically is just as highly valued for full social participation and status as in a modern postindustrial society.
B) the concept "literacy" may be used differently in different contexts to mean very different things, from the ability to sign one's name to the ability to follow complex written instructions.
C) literacy today may mean something very different for men than for women.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 16

The authors' point in asserting that literacy is "a social construction" is that

A) the social foundations of education and social constructions are essentially the same.
B) being literate helps people construct a better social and economic life.
C) what counts as literacy is dependent on the beliefs and practices of particular cultures and cultural histories.
D) literacy does not really exist.

Question 17

An important part of E.D. Hirsch's defense of his cultural literacy perspective is that it

A) would enhance cultural pluralism in education.
B) emphasizes thinking skills over memorization of facts.
C) draws from the elements of culture shared by all groups in our society.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 18

Freire's conception of literacy would most likely view schooling as that which should

A) emphasize citizenship education.
B) aim toward minimizing cultural differences.
C) result in "thousands of one-man revolutions."
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 19

The authors indicate that economic class and functional illiteracy are related. An important causal factor for this relationship suggested in the text is that

A) students from lower socioeconomic groups lack parental support for education.
B) students from middle- and upper-class families value education more than do students from lower-class families.
C) different socioeconomic groups have different degrees of access to educational resources.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 20

The authors' comparisons between contemporary literacy issues and Thomas Jefferson's ideas are intended to illustrate

A) how far democracy has progressed since Jefferson's time.
B) the enduring significance of literacy in education for democratic life.
C) Jefferson's basic misunderstanding of how literacy and democracy are related.
D) that since Jefferson's time, four basic kinds of literacy have developed.

Question 21

Which of the following is a limitation of the functional literacy perspective?

A) It implies that the illiterate person need only be trained to the minimum work levels that industry needs.
B) It fails to show how our society educates different social groups to different degrees.
C) It fails to consider the ability of an individual to use reading, writing, and computational skills in everyday life situations.
D) It suggests that there is one culture, one language, and one set of knowledge and understanding needed for a person to become functionally literate.

Question 22

Hirsch's remark that literacy is itself fundamentally conservative means

A) that becoming literate requires acceptance of the dominant ideology.
B) that most of what counts as literacy remains unchanged over generations.
C) literacy is basically a means for the power elite to control the masses.
D) literacy is a classical liberal ideal that has limited relevance today.

Question 23

In the context of hegemony theory, the kind of political socialization in which school textbooks praise the existing economic and political system of the country is referred to as

A) conventional literacy.
B) critical literacy.
C) selective omission.
D) positive inculcation.

Question 24

In the context of literacy in the United States, Thomas Jefferson believed that

A) in modern capitalist society, what knowledge is of most worth is determined by those who dominate the culture's institutions.
B) it should be illegal for a slave to learn to read and write, because a literate slave would not be an obedient slave.
C) the skills of reading and writing would equip people to stay informed about social, economic, and political events and thus help them recognize and protect their interests.
D) children of African American or Native American descent were as entitled to literacy as their White counterparts.

Question 25

The authors' purpose in presenting four perspectives on literacy appears to be

A) to help students see that different views of literacy reveal insights about how education and schooling serve different populations in different ways.
B) to show how the definition of literacy has gone through four historical phases corresponding to different phases of American school reform.
C) to allow students to choose whatever meaning of literacy makes the most sense to them.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 26

A problem with conceptualizing literacy only as "functional literacy" is

A) that most people cannot be expected to rise to that level of literacy.
B) that it insufficiently attends to the literacy requirements of democratic life.
C) that functional literacy is very difficult to measure.
D) None of these answers is correct.

Question 27

The authors' basic point in discussing classroom methods and critical literacy might be described as follows:

A) Teaching for critical literacy is challenging in both theory and practice, but there are teachers who provide models from which we can learn.
B) Unlike functional literacy or cultural literacy, there are no agreed upon ways to teach for critical literacy.
C) Critical literacy sounds very promising in theory, but it does not seem to work in practice.
D) Methods of critical literacy instruction are widely in use throughout colleges and universities, but less so in schools.

Question 28

One limitation of the conventional literacy perspective is

A) that it lumps together in one concept of literacy many individuals and groups with very different literacy levels.
B) that this perspective has never been used by official government agencies.
C) that very few people can live up to this high standard of literacy.
D) None of these answers is correct.

Question 29

An example of educational programming based on the functional literacy perspective might be

A) SAT scores used as a basis for college admission.
B) pass/fail grading standards.
C) minimum competency testing.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 30

With respect to the dominant ideology of the United States today, the mass media

A) are among the few institutions to question that ideology systematically.
B) do very little to challenge, but instead actively support, the belief system of the dominant classes.
C) are not particularly relevant to ideology.
D) have significantly altered that ideology in the postindustrial era.

Question 31

Which of the following is true according to the critical literacy perspective?

A) Other forms of literacy miss the essential value of literacy.
B) Literacy has the potential for human liberation.
C) Literacy as a construct can empower or disempower people.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 32

One key point of the section on schooling and cultural hegemony may be characterized as follows:

A) Schools are products of a society's dominant ideology, and they serve to inculcate that ideology in young people.
B) Schools are one of the few agencies that routinely challenge the dominant ideology of the greater society.
C) Schools neither promote nor challenge the dominant ideology, but instead they create "safe zones" where children can develop their own ideas.
D) American schools have not done nearly enough to promote the dominant ideology, leading to a great deal of the social chaos we experience today.

Question 33

Which of the following perspectives on literacy is valuable if the goal is to emphasize the relationship between literacy and empowerment?

A) The conventional literacy perspective
B) The cultural literacy perspective
C) The functional literacy perspective
D) The critical literacy perspective

Question 34

Dictionaries of cultural literacy

A) naturally contain all the same material.
B) are committed to a notion of literacy that goes beyond technical skill sets.
C) embody the best aims of literacy.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 35

The authors appear to believe that the new Dictionary of Global Culture

A) is probably too idealistic to be of any use in the field of education.
B) should be used in schools instead of Hirsch's Cultural Literacy.
C) is instructive for illustrating the limits of Hirsch's view of cultural literacy.
D) is a prime example of critical pedagogy.

Question 36

It can be argued that schools strengthen cultural hegemony through

A) the uncritical use of popular textbooks.
B) social stratification within the school structure.
C) hierarchical distributions of power within schools.
D) All of these answers are correct.