I agree with Ricardo that there is no obvious connection between literacy
and critical thinking (or any high level thinking skills). Actually Cole
and Scribner's famous research in Africa suggests that such connection is
absent.
There is also some evidence that it is much more difficult to control,
manipulate, and manage illiterate than literate people by totalitarian
regimes.
What do you think?
Eugene
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ricardo Ottoni [mailto:rjapias@ibm.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 1999 3:56 PM
> To: xmca who-is-at weber.ucsd.edu
> Subject: Re: Campaign Against Public Schools
>
>
> You wrote:
> "An illiterate society will be no more well equipped to protect itself
> from the violence of ideologues than will a literate one. To argue to
> the contrary is crazy."
>
> Well,
> Recently I give a look in a book published under Valsiner and Oliveira
> responsability in with there are very interesting articles on Literacy.
> The book name is LITERACY IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, by Ablex Publishing
> Corp., Stamford, Connecticut and London, England, 1998.
>
> The articles "Schooling, Literacy, and Social Change: Elements for a
> Critical Approach to the Study of Literacy" by Angela Kleiman (pgs.
> 183-225)and "Conceptual Organization and Schooling" by Marta Kohl de
> Oliveira (pgs. 227-245)sign "larger and more complex structures, and
> cultural differences" - and not so stable relations between Literacy and
> one's awareness/consciousness of ideologies violence action.
>
>
> Ricardo.
>