I chose to link Task 1 with Chelan’s blog space for my first link. I think, for my first linking assignment, I am really looking for obvious links that I found myself personally relating to. When I first accessed her blog, I immediately was drawn to Chelan’s cover photo of a mossy cliff and a waterfall. I felt she already had a similar vibe. Upon accessing her Task 1 “What’s in your bag” assignment, my initial thought was “wow! I love her purse!” 😀

After taking the time to read her post, I related to nearly every point she made. So many changes have happened over the last year and this exercise reflects it in many ways. As many of us spend our days at home (or just from home to work and back again) we don’t need to carry very much. Only the essentials. Since all unessential activities, which are usually the activities we choose to do, are no longer a part of our lives, it can feel like we’ve lost parts of ourselves. I think both Chelan and I (and many many others) have expressed this in this particular activity. When the contents of our bags usually say so much about us, it seems that most peoples bags now look more alike than they ever have (essentials: mask, sanitiser, wallet, keys, chapstick). I feel like it also creates an under-representation of our actual literacies. As Chelan points out that her current contents do “not indicate much engagement in language and communication” as opposed to her pre-pandemic bag and therefore might make it seem like we are not engaging in the same literacies as we were pre-pandemic. Is this actually true?

Forbes published an article this March examining, through a commerce lens, how the pandemic has exposed our hierarchy of needs and how they’ve evolved over the last year. It makes me wonder how essential certain literacies are when it comes to survival. Being in a pandemic, you could say that there is a more intense focus on basic survival: don’t get sick, have enough food and water, keep your loved ones safe, maintain a secure income. There is a greater focus on basics than on higher-level fulfilment, which I think has created a shift in our general societal literacies. Certain types of literacies have had a more critical focus in the last year. For example, health and media literacy. While knowledge of viruses, immunity and vaccines have become more important, knowing how to navigate the wealth of contradicting information being reported online has become crucial. In addition, students are having to learn and teachers have been forced to teach through different mediums. Digital literacy has also been a highlight of the last year. Our modes of communication have shifted from in-person conversations to text and virtual meetings, which has great impacts on how we speak with each other. Waiting for students to join a zoom call creates a noticeably more awkward silence than waiting for students to enter a classroom where there are a dozen mini conversations happening at once.

All of that to say, I related to Chelan’s focus on pre-pandemic and mid-pandemic items in her bag. I think the difference can be seen physically but is also noticeable on a grander scale when considering literacy. I often wonder how things will shift when the pandemic is over. I have a sense that certain things will never really return to how they were. Education being one of those things.