Megan Zara, M. Ed.

Near the end of my first graduate course in Literacy theory, after learning the dimensions of literacy; development, sociocultural, linguistic, and cognitive (Kucer 2001), I was asked to reflect on my own current teaching practices and connect them to the dimensions. Within that paper (figure 1), I specifically mentioned authenticity as something that I worked to consistently provide my students.

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Looking back, my initial understanding of authenticity revolved around the idea of literacy experiences being social. Through my classes and my own critical inquiry into current research, I have developed the new understanding that,  while the social dimension of literacy is an important part of making literacy instruction authentic, there are other ways to make literacy authentic for my student.