Alternative Literacy Quotes

“The evidence that the gap is to some extent "built in" is certainly consistent with some of these observations. However, advocating alternative forms of literacy seems like poor advice given that print remains an essential medium, and reading skill (the traditional kind) continues to be a prerequisite for engagement with major institutions that greatly affect quality of life. Are alternative literacies a means to empower a minority population or to ensure their disenfranchisement? A bleeding-edge theory that creates additional barriers to print literacy or encourages opting out does not look like progress to me, a higher-SES white person who has benefitted from the traditional concept of literacy. Perhaps these options would be judged differently by parents for whom it has been an obstacle. More likely, they would not have a say in the matter because they would be unaware that this educational theory was being tried out on their children.”
― Mark Seidenberg, Language at the Speed of Sight