My dad was born in a small town in Greece that was by the sea. Although I have had the chance to go back and visit a few times and it is absolutely amazing, he grew up in a much different time. As Greece was in the middle of a civil war, my dad joined the Greek governmental army at a young age. This was something that affected him in several ways, including the loss of his brother George (my namesake) and the loss of the opportunity to go to school. My dad’s education went no further than grade two as he was needed to serve his country.
At a young age, my dad who spoke no English, packed his bags and was sponsored to move and start a life in a very cold climate in Canada. Packing what he had, getting on a boat with many others from his country and town, he left his family behind and did everything he could to find a better life in a new country. Starting as a dishwasher, my dad eventually met my mom, and together, they eventually owned and operated their own restaurant. From my father, I learned the importance of hard work and discipline to create the environment that you want for yourself.
Although my dad never had the opportunity to go past grade two, he always emphasized the importance of school to myself and my siblings. He never wanted us to go through the same things that he did and he truly believed that with an education, life would and could be better. This is something that has driven me as an educator as I know the belief my mom and dad had in education to create a better life, and as an institution, I believe that schools are something that can create better lives for our students.
As my brother and I used social media more often in both our personal and professional lives, my dad (who is now 81), signed up for different accounts. Currently he has his own email and Facebook account. The amazing thing about this is not that he has these accounts, but that he never formally learned to read or write english. What was amazing was that it never stopped him from trying and creating.
Recently when I was appointed to a new position in our school division, I was so happy to see an email from my dad:
Now obviously my dad does not write perfectly, and to many, this may be hard to breakdown. But for myself, I can understand the majority of this email and the effort that my dad made to write he loves me and that he wants to celebrate (salad Brade) was pretty powerful. To see someone who has little formal education in reading or writing (in Greek let alone English), it is amazing to see him use technology to communicate to his son his excitement. This means the world to me.
What my dad has shown me is that literacy can improve tremendously not necessarily because you write, but more importantly why you write. He understands to connect with his son(s), using the tools technology affords us can be very powerful. It is not that we never got to talk on the phone, but he just wanted to put in the effort to connect in another way. Often many are bothered when so many young people are constantly texting (although a lot of research shows that it improves literacy) yet it is the connection that many yearn for, not the technology. This is not true in 100% of cases, but it is often. Even looking at my own literacy, I have written more because of the audience that I know reads this blog; it is a great way to share and connect your ideas with others. If there was no connection, would I write as often, if ever? Probably not.
If we really want to improve the literacy of our students, we need to look just as much (if not more) at the purpose, at why they are writing, as to simply the strategies and process. I have seen the evidence within my own family, that the why of writing means more than anything.
