Pedagogies for Change
Exploring the Pedagogisation of Multimodality Studies for the Teaching of Multiliteracies
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Fei Victor Lim
The field of multimodality studies has made notable advances in recent years to the analysis of multimodal discourse developed (see for example, compilations by Jewitt, Bezemer, & O’Halloran, 2016; and Bateman, Wildfeuer & Hiippala (2017). While many of the extant theories are meant for graduate and post-graduate research work, it can be worthwhile to explore how some of these understandings can be extended to inform the teaching of multiliteracies in the classroom context. I present a pedagogical approach developed to teach multiliteracies for high school students. The instructional content and meta-language in the approach is organised and informed by the work in systemic functional theory oriented multimodality studies by O’Toole (1994/2010) and Kress & van Leeuwen (1996/2006), which is translated and pedagogised for classroom instruction by Tan, Marissa and O’Halloran (2012), Lim & Tan (2017), and Lim & Tan (2018). The pedagogy for the enactment of the approach in the classroom is based on the principles and knowledge processes of experiencing, Conceptualising, Analyzing and Applying in the Learning by Design Framework (Cope & Kalantzis, 2015). The approach is situated within translational multimodal research, where theories of multimodality inform the design of instructional practices in education. This translational research trajectory follows the work of Cowey (2005) in ‘accelerated literacy’ and Rose & Martin (2012) in "reading to learn" approaches which applies systemic functional theory to reading and writing instruction predominantly in the UK and Australia.
Strengthening the Teaching Profession for Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Practice : A Case Study of a State Mandate for Making a Social Difference in Teacher Education
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jingzi Huang
In the U.S., K-12 classrooms are experiencing dramatic increase of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students who face the dual tasks of developing their academic English while simultaneously learning the school curriculum content. Effective integration of language development and content learning has been a focus of CLD teacher development for a long time. However, these CLD students interact most often with the majority of K-12 teachers who do not have the CLD education preparation. Thus, equipping all K-12 teachers with the knowledge and skills to work with CLD students has become a priority across the nation. This priority calls for actions at all levels to make a social difference in teacher education. This paper, reporting on a recent state effort to have all K-12 classroom teachers become capable of working with CLD students in schools, intends to examine the process, the success, and the challenges during the development and the initial implementation of the initiative with potential for making a social difference in teacher preparation and development. The guiding questions include: How did the state manage to launch the initiative in the form of legislation? How is the mandate taken by the regulated agencies? What are the success and challenges during the initial implementation? Data sources include public documents, meeting notes, participation observations, and informal interviews. The initiative is one of its kind in the Unites States. Considering teacher development for CLD education is a global phenomenon, the findings of the study provides implications at the national and international levels.
Student Teacher Literacy Practices: Connections to Professional Identity
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Laurie Hill
Teacher preparation is a complex undertaking, with many competing subjects and disciplinary voices competing to develop the skills and understanding that are required by the pre-service teacher. One of the pre-service teacher’s tasks is to integrate new knowledge and understanding with their developing sense of professional identity. Their focus in this task to reflect on what it means for them to teach in a particular way, in a particular subject area, with a particular group of students. This qualitative study highlights the development of pre-service teacher professional identity as that identity relates to literacy instruction in the classroom. Professional identity and literacy practices are explored through 1) accounts of how pre-service teachers’ literacy identity developed over the course of their life; 2) how their literacy identities further developed through their study in the Bachelor of Education (B. Ed.) program and; 3) the way in which their literacy identity influences their pedagogical literacy practices in classroom instruction. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions worded to provide a similar context for exploring an understanding of professional identity and teaching practice related to language and literacy. Pre-service teachers also shared artifacts such as a literacy lesson plan and a favourite book that allowed them to reflect on their personal connection to literacy and educational goals for teaching. This research suggests ways in which B. Ed. courses can highlight and foster a range of approaches to teaching literacy and also offer opportunities for exploring professional identity.
