Answer:
Step-by-step explanation:
It turned out to be a very good question. While I had a clear belief in the absolute importance of literacy, I did not have anything that clearly and succinctly outlined why it was so important. In this insight article, I provide exploration of the question.
Reading and writing are human inventions, which have enabled us to create, store and make available to others across time and space a physical record of information and knowledge. In doing so, they have enabled successive generations to build upon the learning of those before them, and have enabled participation in political and social discourse in a way not previously imaginable. As James Murphy explains, in a recently published book entitled Literacy; An evidence-informed guide for teachers: Written information has become the foundation on which the information revolution is built. Without access to this foundation, full participation in our society is impossible. Indeed poor literacy is so strongly correlated with poor life outcomes that it should be impossible to ignore. And yet data from New Zealand suggests that over the past decade or so, the literacy achievement of 15 year olds has declined.