The Problem of Non-Comprehension in Literacy Classrooms: An Exploration in Indian Context

Abstract

The role of literacy is very significant in any person’s life and so is for the development of any nation. It is assumed that learning literacy would bring positive changes in person’s life. The literacy reports and documents inform a very grim picture of literacy in India. Children in primary schools are not able to read with comprehension and write meaningfully. Despite spending huge amount of money we still lag way behind to attain literacy. Reading and writing abilities of students are confined to gaining mastery over decoding skills and copying the text in the notebook. Study reports inform that such pedagogy pushes children to drop out from schools even without completing the primary schooling. The situation compels us to question the issue of development in such scenario. There is also an urgent need to challenge the existing definition and pedagogy of literacy. The present paper explores the definition of literacy from socio-cultural and critical literacy framework. The following section will critically discuss the pedagogy of literacy in classrooms and the final section will discuss about an alternative pedagogy for literacy teaching.