Multiliteracies in Education

Learning FocusThe development of critical literacy skills in

modern society challenges teachers to help shape and direct our learners to become multi skilled, well-balanced individuals.

Annotations

Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2000). A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies. In B. Cope., & M. Kalantzis (eds.). Multiliteracies:

Literacy learning and the design of social futures, (pp. 9-37). London: Taylor & Francis Group According to Cope and Kalantzis, educations’ fundamental purpose

is to ensure that all students benefit from learning that allows them

to participate in public, community and economic life. This creates

learners with a wide range of skills. These learners use multiple

text types everyday, which assists in the creation of new literacies.

This action changes how people integrate with each other within

today’s society. The way literacy is taught has changed, and we no

longer merely test a student’s competence in literacy, but rather

desire to mould students into open-minded citizens, capable of

displaying their knowledge of literacy on a daily basis within

society.

Cope, B. & Kalantzis, M. (2009). Multiliteracies: new literacies, new learning. Pedagogies: An International Journal

4(3), 164-195. doi:10.1080/15544800903076044

This article emphasizes important ideas from the New London

Group’s ‘Multiliteracies pedagogy’. The four ‘knowledge

processes’ of experiencing, conceputalising, analyzing and

applying were perceived to give students insight and the

opportunity into real life situations both at school and outside

the school environment. This was influenced by social, cultural

and technological changes to teaching literacy. These changes

in society were seen by the London Group to be very important,

as this inevitably meant adjustments were necessary on how

literacy is taught in schools.

Anstey, M. & Bull, G. (2006). Developing Pedagogies for Multiliteracies. In M. Anstey, & G. Bull (eds.) Teaching and

learning multiliteracies: changing times changing literacies (pp. 56-81). Newark, DEL: International Reading Association Anstey and Bull believed that there are six phases of learning.

These include focusing, identifying, practicing, reviewing and

reporting. These six phases of learning give students the chance

to explore literacy. It was described as important for students to

involve themselves in classroom activities, which are seen to be of

paramount importance in the development of higher order

thinking skills. The Author’s believe that the learning environment

should be vibrant and supportive with ‘teacher talk’ encouraged.

This environment allows students to improve their literacy skills

with the assistance of the teacher who acts as a mentor.

Santoro, N. (2004). Using the four resources model across the curriculum. In A. Healy, & E. Honan (Eds.), Text next :

new resources for literacy learning (pp. 51-67). Newtown, NSW: Primary English Teaching Association

Santoro illustrates the four rescources model as an invaluable

resource for all teachers in classroom learning environments. It

allows the teacher to locate the key areas of learning in the area of

literacy. The expectations of what needs to be taught become

apparent, which enables the teacher to prepare successfully for

the lesson requirements. Literacy can be very complex, and there

are a variety multimodal texts covered including written, spoken,

auditory and visual methods. The use of the four resources model

helps the teacher assemble a lesson which enables the teaching

and development of these key multiliteracy skills.

Strong, G. (2007). Has txt kild the rtn wd? Retrieved 1 Augusts, 2013 from

https://usqdirect.usq.edu.au/usq/file/a1c3bc7d-1efd-7ee7-b074-45181d6627bf/1/Has_2007_1.pdf

Geoff Strong’s article ‘Has txt kild the rtn wd?’ depicts

society as it appears today. We live in a rapidly developing

generation filled with new technologies, and multiple

methods of communication. Strong states that our

generation is becoming ‘emotionally stunted’. We no longer

use speech as our most commonly used form of

communication, but we send a text message, which takes

away voice interaction. Literacy relationships are changing

with our evolution, and the trend is set to continue.

Levasseur, A. (2011). The Literacy of Gaming: What Kids Learn From Playing. Media Shift.

Retrieved August 1, 2013 from

http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2011/08/the-literacy-of-gaming-what-kids-learn-from-playin

g215

Levasseur explains in his article that playing video games is a new form

of literacy. This new literacy is an interactive learning environment filled

with the opportunity for children to engage in meaningful challenges,

which are “congruent with the nature and trajectory of today’s world”.

This new literacy teaches children problem solving skills through trial

and error, in a gaming environment where the emotional stakes of losing

are much lower then in the ‘real world’. Levasseur explains that children

aren’t naturally great at gaming early on, but improve greatly over time

through discipline and practice. This trial and error learning in a non-

threatening environment allows children to learn through their actions,

without consequence when they make an error.

Frey, T. (2010). Next Generation Literacy. World Future Society. Retrieved August 1,

2013 from http://www.wfs.org/content/next-generation-literacy

Thomas Frey explains that literacy is no longer simply the

ability to read and write. Literacy is rapidly evolving, and our

ability to read and write on paper in its conventional form is

being replaced by countless digital forms of communication.

With this trend set to continue, Frey asks the question,

“What really is literacy?”. The list of literacy types is endless,

and each form of communication comes with a unique style

and format for conveying our thoughts. Learning the basic

forms of literacy will no longer be sufficient in the workplace

in the future.

Chattanooga Times Free Press. (2011). Literacy and the Future. Retrieved

August 1, 2013 from

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2011/sep/04/literacy-and-the-future/

The author of this article relates back to a book written by Dr Seuss

in 1978. Dr Seuss was quoted in the article saying “the more you

read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the

more places you will go”. This quote depicts the message of the

article intelligently. The integral and complex link between literacy,

and one’s capacity to lead a meaningful and productive life still has a

great purpose in today’s society. Those who are illiterate will find it

almost impossible to find fulfilling employment. We are increasingly

gauged by how well we interact within a knowledge driven world.

The benefits of acquiring knowledge in multiliteracies has never been

more important.

Open Technology. (2012). The ABC’s of Tech Education. Retrieved August 1, 2013 from

http://opentec.org/the-abcs-of-digital-education/

This article asks the question, “what does digital literacy really mean

today?”. In the author’s view, technological education should centre

around three concepts. These concepts include understanding, creation

and critique. In the understanding component, the author explains that

students must be capable of understanding the building blocks of

technology, as well as the larger systems in which technologies operate.

They must be able to use these skills to become competent in using all the

available technologies. The last component is the ability to critique the

communications they use. Teaching critique is as important as teaching

literature as it teaches the student to analyze the range of multiliteracies

they use on a daily basis. This aids the literacy learning process.

Chiose, S. (2013). Native literacy camps can change communities future. Retrieved August 1 from

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/changing-native-futures-one-summer-camp-at-a-time/article13331334/ In Simona Chiose’s article, she writes about the importance and

need for ‘literacy camps’ in remote native communities in Canada.

In the community she visited, only 1 in 4 residents held a job. This

is a great example of the lack of literacy skills which can lead to a

life without purpose, which breeds uninformed choices and

mistakes. Some of these choices mentioned in the article refer to

substance abuse, something which easily be avoided from

obtaining the appropriate educational services. Reading and

writing skills are widely proven to improve lifestyle choices, and

employment prospects, which bridges the gap between the rich

and the poor.

Overview/SynthesisThe range of multiliteracies in modern society challenges teachers to help shape and direct our learners to become multi skilled, well-balanced individuals. The following synthesis summarises the ten annotations in relation to the importance of multi literacy learning environments, and the teaching of these multiple multiliteracies in schools and communities to create the opportunity to become well rounded, and abundantly skilled literacy learners.

 

In agreement with Cope and Kalantzis, I believe the concept of ‘design’ has become central to school reforms in the modern world. Teachers are now seen as the designers of the learning environment, rather then the boss of their students. The concept of design connects to the reality that learning and productivity are the results of the designs of complex systems of people, environments, technology, beliefs and texts (Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. 2000).

 

The New London Group’s ‘Multiliteracies Pedagogy’ explores literacy by the four knowledge process which demonstrates how literacy learning aids the design of fulfilled futures for students by giving them a vast literacy knowledge base. By gaining insights during lessons into real life scenarios influenced by the social, cultural and technological changes, students are able to design and create their own meanings and understandings through sense-making processes such as reading, listening, writing and speaking. Through the act of designing, a person’s world and personality can be transformed (Cope, B. & Kalantzis, M. 2009).

 

Anstey and Bull investigated further into this concept with the six phases of learning allowing students to explore literacy in an environment where the teacher and student can design and communicate meanings of a lesson through ‘Teacher Talk’ (Anstey, M. & Bull, G. 2006). Santoro believed teachers could reduce the difficulty of designing and implementing great literacy learning environments by implementing the Four Resources Model. The complex range of multiliteracies in modern day society could be broken down by using this model to redirect focus to the teaching and development of key multi literacy skills in the classroom. The rapid changing of our literacy relationships means teachers are required to plan lessons which access a wide range of meaningful multiliteracies (Strong, G. 2007).

 

Dr Seuss once stated that “the more you read, the more you will know”. This statement still has great relevance today, although as Thomas Frey described, literacy is no longer simply the ability to read and write (Frey, T. 2010). The building blocks of literacy have been transformed by the arrival of a large number of digital technologies. These digital literacies have forced a change in how we view literacy learning (Open Technology. 2012). The literacy-learning environment will continue to evolve and develop, but the basic learning rules apply. Immersing yourself in literacy will improve your knowledge of the world around you, and doing so will give you endless opportunities to fulfil your purpose in life (Chiose, S. 2013)

References Anstey, M. & Bull, G. (2006). Defining Multiliteracies. In Teaching and learning multiliteracies: changing times, changing literacies (pp. 19-55). Newark, DE: International

Reading Association.

 

Chattanooga Times Free Press. (2011). Literacy and the Future. Retrieved August 1, 2013 from http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2011/sep/04/literacy-and-the-future/

 

Chiose, S. (2013). Native literacy camps can change communities future. Retrieved August 1 from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/changing-native-futures-one-summer-camp-at-a-time/article13331334/

 

Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2000). A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies. In B. Cope., & M. Kalantzis (eds.). Multiliteracies: Literacy learning and the design of social futures, (pp. 9-37). London: Taylor & Francis Group

 

Cope, B. & Kalantzis, M. (2010). New media, new learning. In D. R. Cole & D. L. Pullen (eds.) Multiliteracies in motion: current theory and practice (pp 87-104). New York, NY: Routledge.

 

Frey, T. (2010). Next Generation Literacy. World Future Society. Retrieved August 1, 2013 from http://www.wfs.org/content/next-generation-literacy

 

Levasseur, A. (2011). The Literacy of Gaming: What Kids Learn From Playing. Media Shift. Retrieved August 1, 2013 from http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2011/08/the-literacy-of-gaming-what-kids-learn-from-playing215

 

Open Technology. (2013). The ABC’s of Tech Education. Retrieved August 1, 2013 from http://opentec.org/the-abcs-of-digital-education/

 

Santoro, N. (2004). Using the four resources model across the curriculum. In A. Healy, & E. Honan (Eds.), Text next : new resources for literacy learning (pp. 51-67). Newtown, NSW: Primary English Teaching Association

 

 

Strong, G. (2007). Has txt kild the rtn wd? Retrieved 1 Augusts, 2013 from https://usqdirect.usq.edu.au/usq/file/a1c3bc7d-1efd-7ee7-b074-45181d6627bf/1/Has_2007_1.pdf