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Book and school: On literacy and general education

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Abstract

In this article it is argued that an internal relationship exists between literacy (being able to read and write) and general education. The concrete meaning of general education and of (cultural) literacy is, however, subject to cultural and historical change. In the light of our context of cultural diversity, a plea is held to underline the liberative powers of general education, and in doing so to pay homage to pluriformity as a value. School and book serve this liberation in the sense that horizons are widened by learning about worlds of thought other than one's own. Such a general education is in keeping with an envisioned Europe predisposed to tolerance of difference and pluriformity.

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Meijer, W.A.J. Book and school: On literacy and general education. Interchange 26, 1–17 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01439268

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