Since birth I have been immersed in literacy, encouraged to read, write and to this day my favourite pastime is burying my head in a book. One of my earliest memories is actually of my literacy being encouraged (and I’m not just saying that for the purpose of this assignment). I remember driving around town with my parents in the back seat of the car reading out loud the signs as we passed. My parents were always encouraging me on this journey; they were patient and helpful on my road to becoming a successful reader and as such acted as the instigators of my journey and for this I am eternally thankful to them for opening up a world for me which might have not been otherwise.
My personal literacy has always been something I have taken for granted, until now. I grew up in a small middle class town, with middle class parents who instilled middle class ideals in my brother and I from a young age. I believe that my emphasis on my ‘middle class’ upbringing is important in my analysis of my own literacy development as it explains in some part my exposure to literacy from a young age and my initial steps onto the mountain. Economists Levitt and Dubner, in one of my favourite books ‘Freakonomics’ (2005) analyse a U.S Department of Education study looking at the academic progress of more than twenty thousand children from kindergarten to the fifth grade. The actual results of this study are unimportant to my own literacy but the analysis of the factors contributing to these result are vital. Levitt and Dubner found that when looking at correlating factors leading to successful test scores in the students tested were A) having parents with a high socioeconomic status and, more interestingly, that B) the child has many books in his/her home. What was concluded was that while books in one’s home does not equal high literacy, that the books themselves represent the socio-economic status of the parents and their inclination to value education and literacy. I can therefore somewhat thank my parents disposition to education and reading for my literacy, at least in the early stages of my life. from here though I believe these foundations were built upon by my teachers throughout my schooling who aided me in progressing further up the mountain and who eventually enabled me to continue by myself.
