A fixed point in time and pedagogy

A fixed point in time and pedagogy Bringing the ‘new’ into the primary classroom ESRC Seminar Series - 28th May 2010 Martin Waller Holy Trinity Rosehill C.E. Primary School

Context

Context ‣ Year 2 Class in the North East of England ‣ Third year of teaching ‘Orange Class’

Context ‣ Year 2 Class in the North East of England ‣ Third year of teaching ‘Orange Class’ ‣ Our work is based around: ‣ Multiliteracies ‣ Critical Literacy ‣ Web 2.0 Practices - ‘Virtual Worlds’

Context ‣ Year 2 Class in the North East of England ‣ Third year of teaching ‘Orange Class’ ‣ Our work is based around: ‣ Multiliteracies ‣ Critical Literacy ‣ Web 2.0 Practices - ‘Virtual Worlds’ ‣ MA in New Literacies

The ‘old’...

The ‘old’... ‣ Certain types of activity privileged in the curriculum

The ‘old’... ‣ Certain types of activity privileged in the curriculum ‣ Literacy conceptualised as a set of discrete skills taught in isolation, regardless of context - ‘teacher centric’ (Pahl and Rowsell, 2005; Larson and Marsh, 2005)

The ‘old’... ‣ Certain types of activity privileged in the curriculum ‣ Literacy conceptualised as a set of discrete skills taught in isolation, regardless of context - ‘teacher centric’ (Pahl and Rowsell, 2005; Larson and Marsh, 2005) ‣ Focus on print-based decoding skills and the written word (Unsworth, 2001)

The ‘old’... ‣ Certain types of activity privileged in the curriculum ‣ Literacy conceptualised as a set of discrete skills taught in isolation, regardless of context - ‘teacher centric’ (Pahl and Rowsell, 2005; Larson and Marsh, 2005) ‣ Focus on print-based decoding skills and the written word (Unsworth, 2001) ‣ ‘Autonomous’ view of literacy (Street, 1984)

The ‘recent’...

The ‘recent’... ‣ National Literacy Strategy and ‘literacy hour’ introduced to British schools

The ‘recent’... ‣ National Literacy Strategy and ‘literacy hour’ introduced to British schools ‣ Represents deeply conservative ideology of what counts as ‘literacy’ (Urquahart, 2002: 33)

The ‘recent’... ‣ National Literacy Strategy and ‘literacy hour’ introduced to British schools ‣ Represents deeply conservative ideology of what counts as ‘literacy’ (Urquahart, 2002: 33) ‣ Told teachers what to teach and how to teach it

The ‘recent’... ‣ National Literacy Strategy and ‘literacy hour’ introduced to British schools ‣ Represents deeply conservative ideology of what counts as ‘literacy’ (Urquahart, 2002: 33) ‣ Told teachers what to teach and how to teach it ‣ ‘Common language’ to describe and prescribe literacy (Urquahart, 2002)

The ‘new’...

The ‘new’... ‣ Curriculum needs to be expanded to take account of diverse communicative practices (New London Group, 1996)

The ‘new’... ‣ Curriculum needs to be expanded to take account of diverse communicative practices (New London Group, 1996) ‣ Focus on ‘designs for meaning’ and identities, cultures and contexts (New London Group, 1996)

The ‘new’... ‣ Curriculum needs to be expanded to take account of diverse communicative practices (New London Group, 1996) ‣ Focus on ‘designs for meaning’ and identities, cultures and contexts (New London Group, 1996) ‣ The digital/virtual worlds that children move within cannot be ignored (Davies and Merchant, 2009)

The ‘new’... ‣ Curriculum needs to be expanded to take account of diverse communicative practices (New London Group, 1996) ‣ Focus on ‘designs for meaning’ and identities, cultures and contexts (New London Group, 1996) ‣ The digital/virtual worlds that children move within cannot be ignored (Davies and Merchant, 2009) ‣ Multiliteracies and ‘Ideological literacy’ (Street, 1984; New London Group, 1996)

The ‘now’...

The ‘now’... ‣ ‘Awesome disconnect’ between home and school literacy practices (Genishi and Dyson, 2009: 4)

The ‘now’... ‣ ‘Awesome disconnect’ between home and school literacy practices(Genishi and Dyson, 2009: 4) ‣ Teachers have pluralist view of multiple literacies

The ‘now’... ‣ ‘Awesome disconnect’ between home and school literacy practices(Genishi and Dyson, 2009: 4) ‣ Teachers have pluralist view of multiple literacies ‣ Year 6 children’s views more consistent with narrowly conceived deﬁnition of National Literacy Strategy

The ‘now’... ‣ ‘Awesome disconnect’ between home and school literacy practices (Genishi and Dyson, 2009: 4) ‣ Teachers have pluralist view of multiple literacies ‣ Year 6 children’s views more consistent with narrowly conceived deﬁnition of National Literacy Strategy ‣ Source: Unpublished MA Research completed at the University of Shefﬁeld: Do children’s perceptions of literacy link with those of their teacher after following the National Literacy Strategy Framework for Teaching (DfEE, 1998)?

“Literacy, I think, is something to do with meaning and making meaning and getting meaning from things and that could be speaking, listening or language. It’s a way of communicating. It’s a skill, it has to be developed and it can be in several different forms” Year 1 Teacher

“I think it’s about learning about verbs and different things and stories. Erm like punctuation and different kinds of... well English” Year 6 Child

A ﬁxed point in time and pedagogy... How do we move forward?

KiKi Project

KiKi Project ‣ Project based around the text ‘KiKi’s Delivery Service’ by Eiko Kadono

KiKi Project ‣ Project based around the text ‘KiKi’s Delivery Service’ by Eiko Kadono ‣ Text of popular culture in Japan linked to curriculum objectives

KiKi Project ‣ Project based around the text ‘KiKi’s Delivery Service’ by Eiko Kadono ‣ Text of popular culture in Japan linked to curriculum objectives ‣ Situated Practice, Overt Instruction, Critical Framing and Transformed Practice (New London Group, 1996)

KiKi Project ‣ Project based around the text ‘KiKi’s Delivery Service’ by Eiko Kadono ‣ Text of popular culture in Japan linked to curriculum objectives ‣ Situated Practice, Overt Instruction, Critical Framing and Transformed Practice (New London Group, 1996) ‣ Planned and delivered with the children

Critical Literacy Project

Critical Literacy Project ‣ Exploring how texts work, have particular effects and how power is exercised (Comber, 2001)

Critical Literacy Project ‣ Exploring how texts work, have particular effects and how power is exercised (Comber, 2001) ‣ Also linked to multiliteracies pedagogy

Critical Literacy Project ‣ Exploring how texts work, have particular effects and how power is exercised (Comber, 2001) ‣ Also linked to multiliteracies pedagogy ‣ Work related to being a “text critic”

Critical Literacy Project ‣ Exploring how texts work, have particular effects and how power is exercised (Comber, 2001) ‣ Also linked to multiliteracies pedagogy ‣ Work related to being a “text critic” ‣ Subverting texts and (re)designing them for real-world use (Comber, 2001)

Brer Rabbit and Critical Literacy

Brer Rabbit and Critical Literacy ‣ Based around the ‘Uncle Remus’ stories

Brer Rabbit and Critical Literacy ‣ Based around the ‘Uncle Remus’ stories ‣ Experienced narrative through oral, written and multimodal stories

Brer Rabbit and Critical Literacy ‣ Based around the ‘Uncle Remus’ stories ‣ Experienced narrative through oral, written and multimodal stories ‣ Discussion in an open and contextually driven manner

Brer Rabbit and Critical Literacy ‣ Based around the ‘Uncle Remus’ stories ‣ Experienced narrative through oral, written and multimodal stories ‣ Discussion in an open and contextually driven manner ‣ Children reinvented texts for a modern day audience - technology not the emphasis.

A Creative Partnership

A Creative Partnership ‣ ‘Virtual meeting’ with The Wren’s Nest in Atlanta (USA)

A Creative Partnership ‣ ‘Virtual meeting’ with The Wren’s Nest in Atlanta (USA) ‣ Video conferencing

A Creative Partnership ‣ ‘Virtual meeting’ with The Wren’s Nest in Atlanta (USA) ‣ Video conferencing ‣ Experience of literacy from other culture

A Creative Partnership ‣ ‘Virtual meeting’ with The Wren’s Nest in Atlanta (USA) ‣ Video conferencing ‣ Experience of literacy from other culture ‣ Authentic engagement with the ‘old’ through the ‘new’

Twitter

Twitter ‣ Web 2.0 becoming increasingly prominent in society (Davies and Merchant, 2009)

Twitter ‣ Web 2.0 becoming increasingly prominent in society (Davies and Merchant, 2009) ‣ We use Twitter as a means of recording snapshots and reﬂections of learning

Twitter ‣ Web 2.0 becoming increasingly prominent in society (Davies and Merchant, 2009) ‣ We use Twitter as a means of recording snapshots and reﬂections of learning ‣ Reading in this context means not only simply decoding but involves taking part in the construction of social networks where knowledge is co-constructed and distributed (Marsh, 2010)

Twitter ‣ Web 2.0 becoming increasingly prominent in society (Davies and Merchant, 2009) ‣ We use Twitter as a means of recording snapshots and reﬂections of learning ‣ Reading in this context means not only simply decoding but involves taking part in the construction of social networks where knowledge is co-constructed and distributed (Marsh, 2010) ‣ Literacy for real purpose and audience

Rules and Responsibility

Rules and Responsibility 1. Children must not mention their name or their any of their friends by names in tweets under any circumstances 2. Children must not check for replies (To prevent the them from seeing any inappropriate material that may be viewable) 3. Children must not navigate away from our Twitter Stream page and look and other people’s proﬁles (in case of inappropriate language use)

Literacy Events and Practices

Literacy Events and Practices ‣ Literacy events - construction of interpretations and meaning (Health, 1983)

Literacy Events and Practices ‣ Literacy events - construction of interpretations and meaning (Health, 1983) ‣ Literacy practices - culture and context (Street, 1997)

Literacy Events and Practices ‣ Literacy events - construction of interpretations and meaning (Health, 1983) ‣ Literacy practices - culture and context (Street, 1997) ‣ Teachers accountable to statutory curricula

Literacy Events and Practices ‣ Literacy events - construction of interpretations and meaning (Health, 1983) ‣ Literacy practices - culture and context (Street, 1997) ‣ Teachers accountable to statutory curricula ‣ ‘Simulated literacy events’

Literacy Events and Practices ‣ Literacy events - construction of interpretations and meaning (Health, 1983) ‣ Literacy practices - culture and context (Street, 1997) ‣ Teachers accountable to statutory curricula ‣ ‘Simulated literacy events’ ‣ Designed and mediated by teacher

Implications

Implications ‣ All forms of literacy learning should be embedded within meaningful contexts

Implications ‣ All forms of literacy learning should be embedded within meaningful contexts ‣ Virtual worlds don’t have to be conﬁned to the ‘virtual’

Implications ‣ All forms of literacy learning should be embedded within meaningful contexts ‣ Virtual worlds don’t have to be conﬁned to the ‘virtual’ ‣ Projects can be linked to statutory curriculum documents while still providing children with the skills to succeed in the world

‣ Email: martinwaller@multiliteracies.co.uk ‣ http://www.changinghorizons.net ‣ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/MultiMartin ‣ Classroom Tweets http://www.twitter.com/ClassroomTweets

References Comber, B. (2001) ‘Critical literacies and local action: teacher knowledge and a “new” research agenda’ in Comber, B. and Simpson, A. (Eds) Negotiating critical literacies in classrooms, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Davies, J. and Merchant, G. (2009) Web 2.0 for Schools: Learning and Social Participation, New York: Peter Lang. Genishi, C. and Dyson, A. Haas. (2009) Children, Language and Literacy, New York: Teachers College Press. Heath, S.B. (1983) Ways with Words: Language, Life and Work in Communities and Classrooms, Cambridge: University Press. Larson, J. and Marsh, J. (2005) Making Literacy Real: theories and practices for learning and teaching, London: Sage. Marsh, J. (2010) ‘The ghosts of reading past, present and future: material resources for reading in homes and schools’ in Hall, K., Goswami, U., Harrison, C., Ellis, S. and Soler, J. (Eds.) Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Learning to Read: Culture, Cognition and Pedagogy, London: Routledge. New London Group (1996) ‘A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies: Designing Social Futures,’ Harvard Educational Review, Vol. 66(1), Spring 1996. Pahl, K. and Roswell, J. (2005) Literacy and Education: Understanding the New Literacy Studies in the Classroom, London: Paul Chapman. Street, B. (1984) Literacy in theory and practice, Cambridge: University Press. Street, B. (1997) ‘The implications of the New Literacy Studies? Critical approaches to literacy in theory and practice’ Current Issues in Comparative Education,Vol. 5(2), 77-91. Unsworth, L. (2001) Teaching Multiliteracies Across the Curriculum, Buckingham: Open University Press. Urquahart, I. (2002) ‘Moving forward Together’: do we need a ‘common language’? Cambridge Journal of Education, Vol. 32(1), 27-44.

A fixed point in time and pedagogy

by Martin Waller on May 27, 2010

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

1 Embed 40

Statistics

A fixed point in time and pedagogy — Presentation Transcript