Aboriginal Students Engaging and Struggling With Critical Multiliteracies

Abstract

This article reports on findings from a school‐based action research project with aboriginal adolescent students attending an alternative school in Canada. As a Freirean response to these marginalized students' school failures, the researcher engaged students in a critical multiliteracies approach to language and literacy learning. Based on participant observation, video recordings, teacher journals, and field notes, key findings from this study indicated that (a) students were more likely to engage in school literacy projects when rules about how to speak in school and what topics could be discussed in school were suspended, (b) students' literacy levels benefited from a critical multiliteracies project that asked to them to draw on their own cultural funds of knowledge and use and develop the computer technologies skills they were interested in, and (c) students were more likely to engage in critical discussion of social issues when they chose the topic for study.

Honouring ESL students' lived experiences in school learning with multiliteracies pedagogy

“…It must be noted that not all multiliteracies projects are effective (Zammit, 2011), but the stories of success (Ajayi, 2011;Giampapa, 2010;Levy, 2008;PirbhaiIllich, Turner, & Austin, 2009;Walters, 2010) far outnumber the stories of failure. Much like traditional forms of learning, multiliteracies pedagogy has been known to improve the academic achievement of non-dominant groups (Cope & Kalantzis, 2013;Ntelioglou, 2011;Pirbhai-Illich, 2010). Additionally, it offers minority students more points of reference since it uses their lifeworlds as teaching resources considerably more than traditional forms.…”

Power and Agency in Education

“…Five studies (Fraser-Abder, Doria, Yang, & De Jesus, 2010;Henderson & Zipin, 2010;Pirbhai-Illich, 2010;Riojas-Cortez, 2001;Upadhyay, 2006) reflect well the first theme of the co-construction of knowledge with students to enhance their academic preparation and school-valued knowledge. The pedagogies emerging within this theme can be viewed in terms of pedagogy as perspective and relevance across social/ cultural/historical contexts.…”

“…This illuminates the need for addressing the power relations that exist among teachers and students, as well as with respect to students' families and home communities. A variety of tandem theories are represented amid these studies, including third space theories that point to the hybridity of knowledge production processes that are neither exclusively school-nor community-based but recontextualized by students as a result of more inclusive learning opportunities provided via the FoK approach (Calabrese Barton & Tan, 2009;Fitts, 2009;Hammond, 2001;Moje et al, 2004;Smythe & Toohey, 2009); critical literacy theories that combine with FoK approaches to increase the consciousness of teachers (and students) toward multiple forms of literacy and facilitate students' ability to "read the world" (Camangian, 2010;Fisher, 2006;Freire, 1970Freire, /1993Keis, 2006;Pirbhai-Illich, 2010;Rogers et al, 2004;Street, 2005); sociocultural theories that are linked to the potency of FoK approaches to bring situated and socially mediated learning into relief, particularly for preservice or novice teachers and parents of preschool-age children (Dantas, 2007;Monzo & Rueda, 2003;Nathenson-Mejia & Escamilla, 2003;Riojas-Cortez, 2001;Riojas-Cortez & Flores Bustos, 2009;Riojas-Cortez et al, 2008;Wang, Bernas, & Eberhard, 2005); and social justice and community empowerment theories that link FoK practices to broader critical consciousness imperatives involving the reformulation of social arrangements and the fostering of interdependence among community members (Henderson & Zipin, 2010;Kurtyka, 2010;Sugarman, 2010;Upadhyay, 2009;Zipin & Reid, 2008;Zipin et al, 2012).…”

Using a Graphic Novel Project to Engage Indigenous Youth in Critical Literacies

“…In British Columbia, provincial statistics continue to demonstrate that Indigenous adolescents have a lower high-school graduation rate (64%) than their nonIndigenous peers (86%) (British Columbia Ministry of Education, 2016). Previous research indicates that a lack of culturally appropriate curriculum, explicit teaching, and high expectations of Indigenous students has created disengagement and resistance among Indigenous youth (Battiste, 2013;Hare & Pidgeon, 2011;Pirbhai-Illich, 2010). Despite scholars calling for researchers, educators and curriculum writers to decolonize educational practices, little attention has been given to ways in which classrooms might better address the needs of Indigenous adolescents (Hare & Pidgeon, 2011).…”