Mobilising and Modalising Poetry in a Soweto Classroom

Plotting pedagogy in a rural South African English classroom: A Legitimation Code Theory analysis

“…There is need for further research into the multiple layers influencing poetry selection criteria, along with what forms of intervention will generate sustainable means of growing teacher capacities for creative EAL poetry pedagogies producing meaningful engagement for learners. Inspiring case studies of innovative teaching, such as those of Camangian (2008), Newfield and Maungedzo (2006) and Kajee (2011), along with Newfield and D'Abdon's eloquent case for reconceiving poetry as inherently multi-modal, provide vital visions of what is possible when poetry is embraced and taught as a dynamic genre expressing contemporary concerns. The remaining challenge is to establish sufficient detailed knowledge of existing poetry pedagogies in EAL classrooms.…”

“…Reid (1982) and Paton and Janks (1985) investigated literary text selections for the secondary school EAL curriculum, concluding that it was dominated by canonical Western texts. Newfield and Maungedzo (2006) documented Maungedzo's action research study, tracking the positive effects of his implementation of a multi-modal, learner-centred, project-based approach to teaching the poetry curriculum to his deeply alienated Sowetan high school students.…”

“…In many EAL classrooms, it is simply avoided (Benton, 2000;Dymoke, 2012;Epperly, 2009;Kumah, 2009;Newfield & Maungedzo, 2006). Yet, in addition to arguments for the intrinsic aesthetic value of studying poetry, engaging with poems' complex, condensed, figurative ecosystems can contribute to developing high-level reading competencies in learners (Barry, 1999;Lockett, 2010).…”

“…While performed poetry is widely created and eagerly listened to locally and internationally (D'Abdon, 2014(D'Abdon, , 2016, the study of English literature, particularly poetry, within EAL curricula is declining due to perceptions of difficulty, elitism and mechanistic pedagogies, generating negative attitudes in learners (Fialho, Zyngier & Miall, 2011;Newfield & Maungedzo, 2006). Consequently, many educators minimise poetry in EAL classrooms, despite strong earlier motivations for its inclusion, and with little empirical knowledge of the nature and effects of poetry instruction within school classrooms.…”

Through the lens of B.Ed. students’ self-narratives: The motivational roles of significant others in literacy acquisition

“…The theoretical foundation also embraces the notion of multiliteracies, as established by the New London Group (2000), which accommodates the multiplicity of communication channels used in present-day communication, as well as linguistic and cultural diversity. Similar to the new literacies, multiliteracies challenge the autonomous view of literacy (Stein and Newfield 2006), recognise the multiplicity of ways in which students make meaning, and promote pedagogies that afford traditional as well as nontraditional students equal opportunities to learn in ways that allow them to participate in public, private, community and economic life (Newfield and Maungedzo 2006), use a repertoire of linguistic practices appropriate to different settings, and handle the social meanings and identities that each evokes (Devereux and Wilson 2008). In turn, these multiple ways of learning promote multimodality -an approach that acknowledges and theorises the combination of semiotic modes (image, gesture, oral performance, artistic, linguistic, digital, electronic and graphic) to make meaning (Kress and Van Leeuwen 2006).…”