PRESIDENT’S
MESSAGE
The Power of Literacy
6
September/October 2016 | LITERACY TODAY
fter listening to Kwame Alexander and Adora
Svitak speak at the Opening General Session
of the ILA 2016 Conference & Exhibits in
Boston in July, I heard that some people wondered
if ILA was becoming more political. In different but
complementary ways, both speakers talked about the
role of literacy in building just societies for all and in
helping individuals achieve insight into their lives and
the lives of others.
For everyone who heard Laurie Halse Anderson
speak at the Closing General Session about her
work and the issues it addresses for today’s youth in
societies struggling to achieve social justice, a similar
question might have arisen.
Is ILA “being political”? I hope so, and I hope you
think this is a good idea because literacy is inherently
political.
Who can and cannot read and write is intimately
related to power in any society or cultural grouping.
Literacy has always frightened totalitarian regimes
because it helps us think and gives us insight into the
world outside of our immediate situations. We are what
we read and write as much as we are what we eat.
Literacy literally means freedom. Literacy opens
doors—to educational and career choices, but,
even more important, to personal enlightenment
and satisfaction. Of course, what literacy is now is
significantly different from what literacy was in the
18th or 12th centuries, in 800 BCE, and even in
the 1990s. What we have as reading materials and
what adults and children can now author has both
expanded and evolved in unprecedented ways over
a short period of time. The impact on literacy is
nothing short of revolutionary.
As you will read in the following pages, ILA is
committed to setting the standard for how literacy
is defined, taught, and evaluated. This is a tall order,
especially when what it means to join or belong in a
professional sense is also being redefined. In addition,
these are not the easiest times to be a teacher. We all
regularly face challenges, whether it is
Struggling against the negative impacts of
overtesting and mindless testing that our
colleagues in the United States face
Developing appropriate educational
opportunities for children who have been
displaced from their homelands by war and
devastation, as our colleagues in so many
countries around the world are experiencing
Protesting against governmental policies that
threaten children’s education, as is the case for
our fellow educators in Oaxaca, Mexico
Figuring out what Brexit may mean for schools,
universities, and students in the United Kingdom
Simply trying to get good books—both print and
digital—into children’s hands
We have always faced challenges—and they won’t
be going away in the near future.
This edition of Literacy Today tells you about a
number of initiatives ILA is leading around the world
to set those standards for how literacy is defined,
taught, and evaluated. In fact, the following two
pages—called ILA Update—will be a regular feature to
help keep members informed about ILA, where it is
now, and where it is headed.
I think the keys to making our literacy initiatives
succeed are communication and collegial work.
Implementing high-quality literacy instruction
becomes more easily realized when we connect with
colleagues who are next door to us, down the hall,
in the school principal’s office, at the local university,
or from another province, state, or country online or
face-to-face at an ILA conference.
With such connections, we make it possible to
advance literacy for all. ILA is home to more than
300,000 educators across the globe who can serve
as literacy leaders to the world. Seeking to transform
our students’ lives through the power of literacy is a
political act—one that we should all aspire to and be
proud of.
William Teale
ILA President of the Board