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Here in political convention season we are inundated with talk. The candidates talk, their supporters talk, the pundits talk and the reporters talk about all the talk.

Here in political convention season we are inundated with talk. The candidates talk, their supporters talk, the pundits talk and the reporters talk about all the talk. Great speeches can really be a Wow! experience of course and I have no intention of downplaying the use of language and how we all use it to express our humanity. Speeches are carefully crafted documents, delivered with gusto and grace by candidates trained in public presentations. Sadly, not everyone pays as much attention to thoughtful prose (even when read aloud) as they do to casual interactions and spirited spur of the moment debates, where what is said that makes so much sense at the time may not make sense later on, especially when lifted from context.

Elections are a time for thinking deeply, not for reflection on “sound bites.” As a nation, we are being asked to make one of our most important political decisions in an event that comes around only every four years. Basing such decisions on talk alone is irresponsible in my view. Talk, while being the most animated and entertaining of media, is just too “here and gone.”
“Now, what did she just say?” not only means that the listener has missed what was just said, but it also means that what she is saying during that thought is being missed as well. On top of that, its NOT that every word counts in an election, but that there are so many of them, coming at us from every direction, sometimes uttered in haste, by harried and distracted candidates. These off-the-cuff words, written down by commentators and analysts then become just words “stuck” in print. As such they become capable of distracting those in the media to ponder and opine over what may in the end be minutia, better fit for the bottom of the bird-cage than the book shelf.

Reading of well composed texts on the other hand invites thoughtful consideration by everyone involved. The candidate who writes a speech pores over every word, authoring experiences, feelings and ideas into a document from which the audience can listen and then read, analyze, understand and share the visions and plans that frame the candidacy. THAT kind of careful formulation of words by a “hopeful” and careful analysis of these words by constituents takes focus and energy and skill and strategy.

Now, given that this is a blog around teaching those new to reading and writing, I hope that you can stretch the above to appreciate just what teaching beginning literacy is to voting. The road is long that stretches between the love of picture books read in the parents lap and the critical reading and thoughtful analysis of political texts read late at night at the kitchen table.

This time of the political calendar reminds me that anything we can do to move kids (and perhaps more importantly in this context, adults new to literacy) in the direction of understanding how to productively participate in our electoral process should be a chief concern of parents and educators working in this the world’s greatest democracy. Anything we can avoid that, passing for literacy instruction, does anything to convince children that reading is NOT about approaching texts with thoughtfulness and a strategic self-interest, we should avoid.

How do we do that? Well, here are my ideas:

ALWAYS talk about what you read to and with new readers and writers.

ALWAYS consider who the author and artists and photographers are and why they went to such trouble in creating this reading experience for us.

ALWAYS ensure that when children write they write expressing their OWN agendas for readers they care DEEPLY about.

With the kind of foundation in place that comes from these learning experiences, along with an eagerness not to read just what they are handed, but to research and pursue the “full” story, I think we will be able to trust our democracy to the next generation…and the next. Without it, we are going to be left with words, words, words and politics as usual.