Social Literacy Skills PDF

# Chapter 3: Social Literacy ## Objectives At the end of this chapter, you should be able to: - develop understanding of the working definition of social literacy; - explain the roles of parents and teachers in teaching social skills to children; and - discuss and examine issues in social liter...

# Chapter 3: Social Literacy ## Objectives At the end of this chapter, you should be able to: - develop understanding of the working definition of social literacy; - explain the roles of parents and teachers in teaching social skills to children; and - discuss and examine issues in social literacy. ## Explore Social literacy concerns itself with the development of social skills, knowledge and positive human values that enable human beings to act positively and responsibly in a range of complex social settings. It is the knowledge of how to behave and treat other people in a way that is morally upright, just, and equitable, with a view of promoting positive and productive relations that are free from unfair prejudices, hate, and discrimination. These three descriptions will be explained below. By morally upright, we refer to thoughts, speech, actions, and motivations that adhere to a standard of right and wrong. On the other hand, just refers to speech, actions, and behaviors that are in-line with a fixed standard of justice—a system that promotes and rewards good and at the same time punishes wrongdoing. Any system of justice, whether national, regional, or local, requires a body of rules or laws by which to measure and administer rewards and punishment. Equitable are the speech, actions, behaviors, and decisions that treat others fairly, regardless of background or circumstances. Not to be confused with equality, which connotes a fixed standard of treatment for all people, equity seeks the good of others, and labors to find means by which everyone gets "what they need" rather than simply “everyone gets the same thing in the same amount." Peers and schools play a formative role on the social skills development of children. These social skills are often expressed as consisting of three inter-related components: social perception, social cognition and social performance (Arthur, Davison, & Stow, 2000). Increasing emphasis has been placed on the last component, particularly in terms of outcomes. Social skill is defined in literature as 'the ability to interact with others in a given social context in specific ways that are socially acceptable or valued and at the same time personally beneficial, mutually beneficial, or primarily beneficial to others.' There are several types of social skills that must be mastered for a child to be socially adept. These range from the ability to initiate, maintain, and end a conversation to reading social signals to more complex skills such as solving problems and resolving conflict (Lawson, 2003). The following examples represent some of the fundamental principles of relating well to others. Children with social skill deficits can be taught these skills directly by parents, teachers, and/or professionals using the strategies of modeling, role-playing, rehearsal, and practice. - **Greeting** - Children develop relationships with peers by interacting with them. The first step in a social interaction is greeting someone. Greeting others is done not only with words like "Hi!" or "How are you?" but with facial expressions, tone of voice, and gestures such as a nod or a wave. The nonverbal part of greeting someone is just as important as the words. It is not so much what one says but how he/ she says it that lets people know he/she is glad to see them. - **Initiating Conversation**-In order to carry on a conversation, a child must be able to initiate, maintain and close conversation appropriately. This requires good listening and attention skills, as well as the ability to take turns and probe for missing information. Being a good conversationalist requires tum-taking and reciprocity. Children have to listen as well as talk. If they do not show an interest in what the other person has to say, they probably will not be interested in talking. Impulsive children often have trouble knowing when to talk and when to listen. - **Understanding the listener** - Once a conversation is initiated, it has to be maintained. In order to do that, it is important to understand the audience one is talking to. A socially adept child quickly and unconsciously identifies and categorizes his listener, measures what he/she has planned to say against the anticipated response of the listener, and then proceeds, alters, or avoids what she has planned to say. He/She knows that talking to authority figures is not done in the same way when talking to peers. A misread of the listener often leads to a misunderstood message and potential social rejection. To converse in a socially appropriate manner, children must be able to take the perspective or point of view of the other person, i.e., think the way they think. To do this a child must pretend that he/she is the listener and think about what he/she needs to hear to understand what is being said. - **Empathizing** - Empathy is more than perspective taking; it means that one is able to feel what the other person feels. Empathy allows one to really connect with other people. Other children often think of children who lack empathy as mean, unkind, or self-centered. - **Reading Social Cues** - It is very important to read social cues in a conversation. Cues are the hints and signals that guide us to the next thing to say or do. Social cues can be verbal or nonverbal. Verbal cues are the words that the other person is saying. Tone of voice is an important part of verbal cues. Good detectives pay very close attention to nonverbal cues. - **Previewing or Planning** - Conversations also require that one previews or thinks about what effect the words or actions may have on the listener before she says or does them. If the impact will be negative, one can adjust what she might say or do. - **Problem-Solving** - Problems and conflict are often a part of social interactions. Someone may not agree, get angry, insult, or become aggressive at something that one says. How one reacts to these conflicts depends on how good her problem solving skills are. Conflicts cannot be avoided and are often necessary to "clear the air." Turning a conflict from a "win-lose" situation to a "win-win" situation is the best way to resolve conflict. This requires negotiation and compromise, give and take that results in a situation where all parties can live with and help maintain friendships. - **Apologizing** - Everyone makes social mistakes at one time or another. A person with good social skills is confident enough to make a sincere apology for her error. This is a courageous act and is the quickest and easiest way to correct a social blunder. In reality, other people usually have a higher opinion of someone who apologizes for making a mistake. Apologizing is a sign of humble and mature character when one commits mistakes. ## The Role of Parents and Teachers in Teaching Social Skills to Children Parents typically play the major role in teaching children social skills. Parents can directly teach social skills by modeling, role-playing, and providing opportunities for their child to rehearse and practice new skills. They should encourage and praise the child for successfully using a new skill. Professionals typically intervene only when children are having substantial social difficulty with peers. These individuals can implement structured, guided, and effective programs that often involve group work with peers. Children must then generalize the skills they learn in the group to school and other personal social situations. School is the place where children spend the majority of their time with peers. It is, therefore, a natural and perfect setting for children to learn and practice social skills. While teachers do not have to teach a class in social skills, they can take advantage of every opportunity to help children improve their social skills. They should be alert to teasing and bullying and aware of children that are rejected or ignored by their peers. They should work cooperatively with the children's parents to prevent the humiliation, embarrassment, and distress that befall these children. Pairing a socially inept child with a socially adept one, involving children in cooperative instead of competitive learning exercises, identifying and acknowledging the strengths of all children, understanding social weaknesses, and creating an environment in which diversity is accepted and celebrated can greatly enhance all children's social abilities, sense of belongingness, and self-esteem, not just in the classroom but in life as well. ## Issues in Teaching Social Literacy How children develop their social literacy is intrinsically a contextual matter and is not something that can be easily traced in a linear or developmental fashion. The acquisition of social literacy is a complex process that is historically and culturally conditioned and context-specific. Children learn through social practices, both explicit and implicit, and become human through social interaction. Nevertheless, it is also the case that children engage in social activity before they are taught it; in other words, children are disposed to be social before they learn what sociability is all about. There are two distinct ways of answering the question on how children learn to live socially with each other and with adults. The first view is normative and communal. From their culture, children learn customs that provide them with a guide to act in ways that minimize conflict. The second view is pragmatic and individualistic. The social order of children is created by explicit and implicit agreements entered into by self-seeking individuals to avert the worst consequences of their selfish instincts (Arthur, Davison, & Stow, 2000). In this last view, social order is dependent on sanctions and formal agreements. Rules are obeyed because they confer personal advantage on a child. In the normative view, children are persuaded of the moral force of acting socially through their voluntary associations with others, both in their immediate circle, such as the family, and in the wider community, for example, through membership of a church or club. The child in this normative view will not only know the correct behavior but will perform the role without any need for regular, conscious reference to the rules governing it. Teaching social literacy in schools is not as easy as it appears to be due to subjective standards of morality and inherent human capacity to judge and make excuses. ## Subjective Standards of Morality The natural outcome of postmodern philosophies is that truth and morality are considered subjective and open to individual interpretation. This can be seen in the current culture, where actions and behavioral patterns that were once considered bad have now become acceptable—so much so that many now consider them to be even good. When the standard of measure between good and bad changes, this gives us license to change as well and opens the gates to all kinds of abuse. This, in effect, pulls the rug out from under any and all attempts at true justice and equitability, since they themselves rely on a fixed moral standard. Interestingly, many of those who insist on a subjective moral standard will be the first to demand for a fixed moral standard when they themselves fall victim to a subjective morality's inevitable outcome. ## Human Nature While we would all like to believe that people are inherently good. experience has taught us that the inherent goodness of humanity is, at best, unreliable: Sometimes it is there, often it is not. We are quick to champion the cause of moral uprightness, justice, and equity, but balk when our words and actions come under their scrutiny. In other words, we insist that others be judged according to a fixed moral standard, but invoke a subjective one when our own behavior is questioned. We demand justice when we perceive ourselves to be victims of wrongdoing, but we surround ourselves with excuses when we do wrong. We insist that others treat us equitably, but are reluctant when treating others with equity costs more than we expected. ## Enhance Today's students have grown up with the Internet that they have become inseparable from their gadgets. Blake (2017) offers helpful reminders to young professionals in terms of social skills in the modern age. This situation underscores the importance of educating students in what could be called social literacy to ensure their academic and career success. ## Situational Awareness in the Workplace While casual office attire has become the norm in many offices, job interviews typically require more formal dress and behavior to demonstrate a level of respect. Stories prevail of young adults showing up to interviews in casual clothing, texting, or using phones during job interviews or even bringing their parents with them. Such behavior demonstrates a lack of situational awareness about what is appropriate to do in different social circumstances. While college classrooms or the actual office atmosphere may allow for a more casual dress code, students need to be taught what is socially acceptable in terms of dress or behavior for them to stand out to employers—quickly picking up on a client's mood or expectations in various business or cross-cultural situations can be the difference between success and failure. ## Social Intelligence in Technological Communication Text-speak and technology use have affected many young people's ability to communicate. While email has deformalized much of the communication process, students still need to ensure their writing denotes respect and provides enough context for professors (or future employers) to readily respond. In addition, text-speak has reduced students' ability to communicate using correct grammar. Through studying particular communication genres and what they demand, students can learn more about what individual situations demand in terms of the formality of communication. For example, if a professor signs an email with "Dr. Smith," this is a fairly good indication that he expects to be addressed as such and not informally by his first name. ## Social Intelligence in Traditional Communication While email has taken over as the primary method of communication, traditional modes of discourse still exist. For example, many employers still expect cover letters in addition to resumes, and the lack of a thank-you note for a gift is often perceived as more than a simple social oversight. An ability to craft these types of documents illustrates an understanding of social expectations and denotes a level of respect or appreciation. While not related to the traditional educational canon, learning to properly write a cover letter or business letter or a thank-you card not only teaches students that these documents exist and are often necessary but also shows them how to craft such documents, saving them time and energy in the future. ## Reflect ### Wrap Up - Social literacy concerns itself with the development of social skills, knowledge, and positive human values that enable human beings to act positively and responsibly in a range of complex social settings. - Social skills range from the ability to initiate, maintain, and end a conversation to reading social signals to more complex skills such as solving problems and resolving conflict.