art as mediating tool for literacy identity transformation: pedagogy for literacy-rich and equitable...

Art as Mediating Tool for Literacy Identity Transformation: Pedagogy for Literacy-Rich and Equitable Access Classrooms

Ellen Spitler, Ph.D.University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

Louise Shaw, M.Ed.Central Connecticut State University

Literacy Research Association ConferenceDecember 5, 2013

Welcome and Aloha!Please pick up a piece of large paper, art materials that intrigue

you, and copies of the session handouts.

“Art is the social technique of emotion, a tool of society which brings the most intimate and personal aspects of our being into the circle of social

life” (Vygotsky, as cited in Moran & John-Steiner, 2003 p. 62). [email protected] [email protected]

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Multimodal texts (multiple forms of representation) are cultural artifacts produced by a society to make sense of and illustrate the world (Dewey, 1934; Gee, 2003; Eisner, 2002; Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006).

Art as a tool for literacy identity transformation can be a deliberate attempt “to broaden [the] understanding of literacy and literacy teaching and learning to include negotiating a multiplicity of discourses…to extend the idea and scope of literacy pedagogy to account for our culturally and linguistically diverse and increasingly globalized societies…[and to] account for the burgeoning variety of text forms associated with information” (The New London Group, 2000, p. 9).

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My battle with anorexia and bulimia changed the course of my life. This autobiography made me realize that the very fears that plunged me into this way of thinking were still hindering me today. I realize now what a major influence my disease has had on my literacy. Julianna (pseudonym; preservice math teacher during study)



Literacy Autobiography & Self-Portrait Project: Re-presentation of self to transform knowledge of

literacy

An “instructional engagement” is an “open-ended (opportunity) so learners

can provide a variety of responses based on their own experiences (and allow)

each student to see him or herself as a valuable member of the learning

community” (Short, Harste & Burke, 1996, p. 319).

You will render your “literacy” experiences in:

(1) a written autobiography and(2) a multimodal re-presentation of your

“literacy” self [using various art materials to represent each literacy experience written about in the autobiography].

“…meaning-makers remake themselves. They reconstruct and renegotiate their identities” (The New London Group, 2000, p.

23).

Literacy Autobiography

Think over your literacy experiences ~ moments when reading [print, visual, multimodal texts], writing/composing, speaking, thinking, visualizing, representing, have been powerful for you in some way. Here are some prompts that might assist your memory:

Describe a time when reading, writing, speaking, representing and/or visualizing were really good/bad for you.

What are the kinds of reading, writing, speaking, thinking, representing, and visualizing do you do inside and outside of school? [What are your literate practices?]

What is important to you in your life? How do literate practices connect with what is important?

An “instructional engagement” is an “open-ended (opportunity) so learners can provide a variety of responses based on their own experiences (and allow) each student to see him or herself as a valuable member of the

learning community” (Short, Harste & Burke, 1996, p. 319).

Please write on one side of the large paper for 10 minutes ~ try to write about a few literacy experiences.

Literacy Self-Portrait

Review the literacy experiences you just wrote about and choose 2-3 that you believe to be most important/powerful.

On the other side of the large paper, please create a literacy self-portrait, re-presenting those literacy experiences using the provided art materials.



Literacy Self-Portrait

Review the literacy experiences you just wrote about and choose 2-3 that you believe to be most important/powerful.

On the other side of the large paper, please create a literacy self-portrait, re-presenting those literacy experiences using the provided art materials.

How does each chosen art material represent the literacy moment/experience about which you have written? How are those connected?

Please strive to compose a self-portrait that illustrates your face or entire body…feel very free to be creative in the re-presentation process.



Please create for 10 minutes.

Literacy Autobiography & Self-Portrait

In your small groups, please:

Find out who in your group traveled the farthest to attend LRA = that person will share first

Share the literacy experiences written about in your autobiography and how you re-presented them in your self-portrait

As you listen to each presenter, note ideas for one of the following guiding questions of visual discourse analysis (Albers, 2013):

1. How is language used to communicate (use of technique, design, color, etc.)

2. How do (or might) viewers respond to the context of the text (composition)?

3. What is revealed about the textmaker through the image (attention to discourses and systems of meaning that underpin the visual text)?

4. How does art act as a force on viewers to encourage particular actions or beliefs (use and organization of image; discourses that underpin the text)?

Time to share:Please arrange yourselves in small groups of FOUR.

Please discuss as a group for 10 minutes.

We will prompt you to switch speakers.

Autobiography & Self-Portrait

Project: students explore &

compose “literacy self” in written and multimodal

forms

Oral Presentation & Listener’s

Sheet: Next dimension of complexity –

Verbal opportunity to share “self”; Comprehension

strategy to guide note-taking

transactions with language

Comparative Analysis &

Comprehension and Discussion

Instructional Strategies:

Academic language situated in explorations of

“self” – complexity intensifies

Art as Mediating Tool for Literacy Identity Transformation:Pedagogy for Literacy-Rich and Equitable Access ClassroomsEllen Spitler, PhDUniversity of Hawai‘i at Manoa

[email protected]

Each literacy engagement asks students [youth,

preservice and inservice teachers] to produce artifacts of language

[written, visual, verbal] that increase in linguistic

complexity with each task, honoring their voices,

building community for equity, and supporting literacy and academic

language transformation.


Autobiography & Self-Portrait Project Presentations

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After the oral presentations:

• Students choose one peer whose presentation resonated most powerfully for them and write a note to that person.

• Students share their notes, or some content of the notes, with the whole class.

• Students pass the notes to each other.

Curriculum:

• Analysis: Students write a comparative analysis [comparing their life to a peer’s based on the presentations], construct a thesis statement, use textual evidence from the presentations, etc.

• Practical implications: Preservice teachers write a reflection of the experience, connecting it to theory and exploring how they can incorporate the work into their future classrooms.

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Research Questions

1. What are preservice teachers’ perceptions of the influential power of an artistic multimodal self-portrait project designed to support literacy identity transformation and conscious membership in a literacy learning community of practice?

2. How do preservice teachers utilize their own experiences with art instructional engagements when designing future literacy curriculum?

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Perspectives:Theoretical Framework

Sociocultural and constructivist psychology theoretical assumptions, particularly in connection with literacy/literacy instruction and multiple

forms of representation [multimodality], and teacher education literature focused on teacher identity transformation (Alsup, 2006; Alvermann & Heron, 2001; Danielewicz, 2001; Dewey, 1934; Eisner, 2002; Freire, 2003; Freire & Macedo, 1987; Gee, 2003,

2008; Kress, 2003, 2006; Kress & van Leeuwen, 2007; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Moje, 2000; Moll & Greenberg, 1990; Moran & John-Steiner, 2003;

New London Group, 2000; Sanders & Albers, 2010; Short, Harste & Burke, 1996; Stake, 1995; Vygotsky, 1978).

Methodology and Data Sources

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Methodology

Qualitative phenomenological approach (Merriam, 1998; Purcell-Gates, 2004)Descriptive case study (Merriam, 1998)Constant comparative method for analysis (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007)

Data Sources

Comprehension strategy pre- and post-assessmentsLiteracy autobiography reflectionLesson planning coaching sessionsWritten communication [email]

Teacher Literacy Identity

Transformation

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Results, Conclusions, Interpretations

Definition of teacher literacy identity: A confident view of self as responsible for and in control of improving the literacy learning of self, and the confidence and competency to enact engagements to guide the literacy learning of students (Spitler, 2009).

Three dimensions of teacher literacy identity: (1) Construct of literacy – embracing an extended notion of literacy as

more than the ability to read and write print-based text(2) Construct of literacy in practice – a conscious decision to put into

action the construct of literacy [in extended notion](3) Quality of the literacy enactment – metacognitive contemplation of

the literacy engagements designed and faciliated


Transformation

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Results, Conclusions, Interpretations: Influence of art on construct of literacy

When I first received this assignment, I did not want to do the drawing (art). I think I lacked the self-confidence in my drawing, just as a typical student might. The drawing evolved and grew to be more complex and attached (Bella, preservice science).

I can’t say I really considered how much my literacy has impacted my life until now, but the journey has been amazing (Christy, preservice social studies).



Transformation



The most surprising thing about writing this autobiography was how literacy has been such an integral part of my life. When I first read the assignment for this project I had no idea what I was going to write. Since I stopped reading for fun for the most part when I was about 12, I did not feel like I had much to draw from. Then I started to think about the more extended definition of literacy and how it could apply to my experiences as a musician and a human being (Lisa, preservice music teacher).

Lisa later designed and facilitated a modified autobiography and self-portrait project in her 5-8 grade classroom: Album of My Life.



Transformation



Lisa later designed and facilitated a modified autobiography and self-portrait project in her 5-8 grade classroom: Album of My Life.

This makes me rethink all kids because I started to wonder more about them. It’s easy to forget that they’re human when it seems like the kid does something that makes you really mad or when they seem to be doing everything possible to make your life horrible. You stop trying to see the human being inside them (Lisa, inservice music teacher).



Transformation



At this point in my journey I know for certain that every assignment has been crucial to my content area literacy growth. All of the strategies, and the literacy autobiography have been catalysts serving to transform my academic identity from student to content area literacy teacher (Julianna, preservice math teacher).

It was through the introduction of an unfamiliar term, literacy, that I was able to look at my role as a future teacher differently. It made me redefine literacy…I was completely ignorant of the definition of the word (Bob, preservice math teacher).



Transformation



These autobiographies are like therapy. I think I had a lot of these thoughts running around in my head, but they grew more powerful as I articulated them in my written autobiography and self-portrait project (Bob, preservice math teacher).

Bob later designed and facilitated modified autobiography and self-portrait projects in his algebra classroom: My Prime Factors [algebra]; Graphing Myself [algebra 1].



Transformation



This project affected me on many levels – personally, intellectually, spiritually, and professionally. It is the most community/trust-building endeavor I have ever experienced. I am convinced that this is the only genuine way to accomplish any serious work in the classroom (Julianna, preservice math teacher).

In my future classroom I will introduce this type of project at the beginning of the year. We will use our literacy and cultural background information to think and I’ll ask the students how they view literacy and cultures. Literacy is not just in my lessons. I take this into my own life and everything I process. There’s more of an analysis into what I do (Roxanne, preservice Spanish teacher).


Autobiography & Self-Portrait Project

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Multiple Versions of autobiography & self-portrait:

• “Author” autobiography for preservice English teachers in university methods course.

• “Literacy” autobiography for pre- and inservice teachers in university disciplinary literacy course.

• “Life” autobiography for high school students = powerful moments that transformed students in some way.

• Modified autobiography & self-portrait: math, music, social studies, Spanish, chemistry, ELA.

• “Personal Legend” autobiography & self-portrait to support a thematic lit study of The Alchemist ~ “journey through the soul of the world” and “universal language” [ELA secondary classroom].

• In support of CCSS personal narrative [expository unit]: 3 successful moments in your life and 3 challenging moments in your life – self-portraits created before writing narrative [ELA secondary classroom] – informational/argumentative.


Implications:Play in the mess

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“Vygotsky’s notion of play refers to experimental activity designed to create possibilities and not to the idea that learning should involve (fun or) merriment” (Smagorinsky, 2009, p. 86).

“One reason I think identity concerns are rarely addressed in teacher education courses is that they are difficult to tackle, and are often uncomfortable for the instructor or mentor to talk about…the process of identity development is difficult, messy, and complex, and must be exactly this way to be successful” (Alsup, 2006, pp. 4-5).
