About this blog
Hello,
Welcome to our blog about low literacy in Europe!
Reading this section of the blog, you will find out more about various ways in which education links to literacy levels in Europe.
Us authors of this intriguing blog are second year Bachelor European Studies students Amanda, Gabbie, Nick and Gonzalo. We all have written literature reviews on different topics relating to literacy but we all touched upon education and its effects on literacy. Therefore our main topic for this blog will be education.
The individual blog entries will enlighten you in the following topics:
Amanda will focus on how education in multilingual settings affects literacy levels, while Nick, Gonzalo and Gabbie focus on countries.
Summaries:
Amanda’s blog post starts the education and low literacy posts off by engaging in a discussion on why there are so many contradicting findings on whether multilingualism makes language and literacy acquisition easier, and why this is difficult to measure in the classroom. There is some reflection on educational policies and a conclusion on what might be lacking in the academic discussion on multilingualism and literacy in the educational field.
Gonzalo’s blog will analyze whether the decetralisation of the education system was positive or not in reducing illiteracy in Spain. First of all, he will make an analysis of education in the times of Franco’s dictatorship and how the change to democracy meant a great change in the educational system, then he will talk about a very important phenomenon such as the decentralisation of the control of education throughout Spain to the autonomous communities and he will see if this change at the end of the 20th century has been positive or if it has not brought about any change in the literacy rates.
Gabbie will discuss the historical and political effect on education in relation to literacy levels in Croatia. As Croatia is a newly independent country, its education system has been seen as new. However, as seen in the research, Croatia’s education system has been development for much longer than its independence. The discussion analyzes the impacts of kingdoms and the communist regime on the education system in relation with the functional literacy levels in adults and adolescents. Furthermore, the research also shows how the Croatian education system went through changes under different circumstances, shaping it into what it is today.
And lastly, Nick’s blog post will discuss the historical significance of education on high literacy in Sweden, The reasons for this were extensive and complicated. Firstly, the Swedish church promoted everyone to be literate so that they could read and understand religious texts. This was the first major literacy campaign in Sweden, and this was done in pre-industrial times. Secondly, the historical attitude towards literacy in Sweden has always been positive. This means that it was considered important for parents to teach their children to be literate. The Swedish school system also became a huge success due to the reasons. All these factors contributed to the high literacy rate that Sweden now enjoys. Nick will attempt to show why it is important to look at the historical context.
Language is one of the most important parts of our cultures today, creating a strong connection between education and literacy.
These will help us determine how exactly the education levels are connected with the European Unions literacy levels. It is important to also note how education is one of nine quality of life indicator dimensions, and it goes beyond just school; as education is a process in which society transmits its cultural heritage and its accumulated knowledge, values and skills to each new generation.
Feel free to comment and engage in our posts and any insights are always welcome!