Post 7

In “Sponsors of Literacy” Deborah Brandt describes those who teach others how to become literate are more like sponsors than teachers.  Brandt claims that like the sponsors on TV or in magazines, those who teach literacy always stand to gain something from sharing their expertise.  Similarly, Brandt also states that many times, this relationship can be mutually beneficial for both sponsor and student.  To support these claims, Brandt uses teachers as one example of a sponsor.  Although a teacher may sponsor a student’s literacy to help the student, the teacher is also benefiting from the student’s knowledge through employment.  Another example Brandt gives in the school system involves a school’s sponsorship of literacy.  Schools often promote literacy because it generally translates to higher standardized test scores, which earn a school more money.  While in both of these examples the sponsor profits financially, Brandt does note that sponsors can be motivated by a desire to see others succeed as well. 

Just as sponsors provide literacy for their own benefit, Brandt also discusses how some people in positions of power in churches or governments can benefit from preventing literacy.  For example, a government may prevent its citizens from learning to read and write in order to keep them from being able to read about the freedoms that other nations enjoy. 

In my experience some sponsors of literacy profit more than others.  For example, my parents may have taught me to read so that I could become independent, while teachers may have been more interested in monetary gain.  I think the most obvious sign of the educational system’s benefit in sponsoring literacy is through standardized tests. I certainly did not receive as much support from the school in high school as those who struggled to read because I would be able to achieve on standardized tests.