21st Century Teacher of Literacy

21st-century teaching means teaching as you have always taught but with today's tools and technology. It means utilizing everything important in today's world so that students will be able to live and prosper in today's economy, as well as having the ability to guide students and to prepare them for the future.

      We are now living in a world where advanced technology paves the way for a more comfortable and convenient life. Technology is everywhere and entwined in our daily lives so when technology in the classroom is used correctly, it opens up possibilities for more student learning especially so that our students nowadays are mostly digital natives. However, we have to instill in our students’ minds that still, the best way to learn is through the support of a human teacher. Thus, we have to cope with the ever-changing educational system, especially in the 21st century. As a teacher, I strive to make my classroom a fun, engaging place to learn every day by integrating lessons with the acquisition of 21st-century literacy skills in a meaningful and purposeful way, I can hold and sustain students’ love for learning. Integrating 21st-century literacy skills has transformed me into a teacher a never expect to be.

      Here are some visualizations of who a 21st-century literacy teacher should be. First, a 21st-century teacher of literacy should be media literate, one who has the skill of comprehending the nature of communications, specifically concerning telecommunications and mass media. Second, a 21st-century teacher of literacy should be digitally literate, one who can use digital technology, communication devices, or networks to locate, analyze, use, and produce information. It is the ability to read, write and clarify media, to replicate data and visuals through digital manipulation, and to assess and implement new knowledge gained from digital environments. Third, a 21st-century teacher of literacy should be globally competent, one has to understand the interdependence among countries and their people, and having the ability to communicate and collaborate across cultures.  Fourth, a 21st-century teacher of literacy should be emotionally literate; one should have the ability to understand his/her emotions and the students’ emotions as well. This is the capacity to listen to others especially the students and empathize with their emotions, and the potential to demonstrate emotions effectively. Fifth, a 21st-century teacher of literacy should be information literate, one should have the ability to recognize what information is required, understand how the information is structured, distinguish the principal sources of information for a given need, find and assess those sources critically, then share that information. Sixth, a 21st-century teacher of literacy is environmentally literate, one should have the ability to demonstrate proficiency in the environment and the conditions affecting it. Lastly, a 21st-century teacher of literacy should be visually literate, one should have the ability to identify and understand ideas communicated through actions or images (decode), as well as to be able to communicate ideas or messages through imagery (encode).

            21st Century Literacy is more than just reading and writing.  It is knowing how to learn and know. Thus, it is just but proper for us, teachers, to embody all these 21st-century literacy skills to ensure effective and efficient teaching and learning process.

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