Tagging as a Social Literacy Practice

MacGillivray, Laurie; Curwen, Margaret Sauceda

doi:10.1598/jaal.50.5.3

Cited by 36 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The literacies that helped to construct them as cool were also about style, for example, the writing on shoes-which was much like tagging (MacGillivray & Curwen, 2007) or the inscription of "claimed" spaces. There literacy practices were about posturing, showing how cool they were-a kind of ritual performance that for decades has incubated in the posthumous underground of black male speech communities.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Critical Analysis of Research on Reading Teacher Education

Risko

Roller

Cummins

et al. 2008

Reading Research Quarterly

133

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This article reports findings from an ethnographic study of the literacy practices of a group of 11-to 14-year-old black males who called themselves "the cool kids." The study is framed using theories that view literacy as a social and cultural practice involving multiple sign-and-symbol systems. Two research questions guided the study: How did coolness relate to literacy among "the cool kids," and what symbolic patterns helped to shape these relations? The findings describe how race, gender, and pop culture marked the group's use of language and style and reveal how coolness, as a pop-cultural artifact of black manhood, contributed to the literacy practices of the young men and to the construction of their symbolic selves. These findings contribute to building a theory of black masculine literacies. F or the young men in the "My Brother's Keeper" (MBK) Program, playing with language and style seemed central to literacy practice. Even their body was a tablet that rendered the self textually, allowing powerful forms of composing to be accomplished and shared. Regularly, we observed the young men of MBK-who, by school accounts, were thought to be barely literate in the narrow, print-based sense of the term-operate within multiple symbolic systems to define themselves and shape what they saw as "cool." They made literate decisions, indeed, scribing identity texts in unstable social situations, for example, in the events of dress and speech. The texts that defined these events-and we include here "cool" vernacular and apparel in addition to traditional print and other multimodal semiotic forms (Hull & Nelson, 2005), such as songs, films, etc.-were circulated, shared, and picked up by the young men in sophisticated ways. The texts they produced were also symbolic, offering a narrative of who these young men were and wanted to be.As we sought to locate meaning in their texts, this study took shape around a particular set of literacy practices firmly rooted within black masculine and popcultural models. Although a growing body of literacy research on urban youth has seemed to harden literacy into a performance of race and gender, we have resisted this impulse. Instead, we present the constructs of race (blackness) and gender (masculinity) merely to present a telling case (Mitchell, 1984). What follows is an examination of literacy revealed through the language and style of 11-to 14-year-old black boys.The initial purpose of the study was to examine the critical literacy practices of the young men of MBK. As we became more familiar with the young men, we became more aware of the social ecology of the group. Important to us was understanding how the literacy practices of seven of its members, "the cool kids" (the phrase "the cool kids" is actual language taken from one of the students in the program), had lifted literacy off the page. As two young black men ourselves, the literacy practices of these young men were both unique and familiar. However, we experienced difficulty finding theories of literacy that acknowledged t...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Critical Analysis of Research on Reading Teacher Education

Risko

Roller

Cummins

et al. 2008

Reading Research Quarterly

133

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…For example, in their studies of graffiti writing, both MacGillivray and Curwen (2007) and Weinstein (2002) explored how "tagging" allowed urban minority youths who were marginalized elsewhere (e.g., school) to signal affiliation, or disaffiliation, with other taggers, gain respect from peers, and perhaps acquire "positive self-image" (Weinstein, 2002, p. 33) as writers. In a study of affiliation based upon sexual identity, Vetter (2010) reported on an adolescent girl who positioned herself as an invested reader and writer when completing a multigenre research project that allowed her to engage her sexuality and ref lect upon what it means to be a lesbian in contemporary society.…”

Section: Role Of Voluntary Writing In Adolescents' Livesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Loops, Lyrics, and Literacy: Songwriting as a Site of Resilience for an Urban Adolescent

Kinney¹

2012

J Adolescent & Adult Lit

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This case study explores Christopher's (pseudonym) sustained participation in a nonprofit, afterschool community center, as he wrote and recorded music and lyrics in a digital recording studio. It examines the ways in which Christopher, in contrast to his performance in school, was highly participatory and engaged with textual production at the center. In particular, the author explores the purposes and functions that songwriting served for Christopher, and considers the ways in which songwriting functioned for Christopher as a “site for resilience,” or as a space in which he could navigate aspects of his lived experience. Analysis of Christopher's lyrics suggested three major areas of lived experience on which his songs centered: family experiences, peer relations, and issues in his community.

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“…Second, staff members were not aware of any book talk, schoolwork, or pleasure reading and writing by the older children and adults. It is clear that although family literacy activities may have not been traditional storybook reading or explicit public displays, they did exist and were often linked to the literacy social practices of connecting with others and claiming competence (also see Gonzalez, 2001;Heath, 1983;MacGillivray & Curwen, 2007;Taylor & Dorsey-Gaines, 1988). As these often occurred both within the private space of a family's room, as well as in the midst of the frequently frenetic life that comes with multiple mothers and young children cooking, cleaning, playing, fighting, and crying, literacy events often went unrecognized.…”

Section: Reflections: Literacy In Shelter Livingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Libraries, Churches, and Schools: The Literate Lives of Mothers and Children in a Homeless Shelter

2009

Self Cite

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This article addresses the question, "How do mothers and children in a homeless shelter interact with literacy?" We drew on the theoretical framework of social literacy practices in which cultural context is foregrounded. Data for this qualitative study included participant observation in one homeless shelter and interviews with one shelter's residents and other stakeholders, including teachers, administrators, shelter staff at various shelters, and homelessness experts across Los Angeles County, California. While examining the literacy practices of women and children living in one transitional shelter, we identified three institutions that were part of their lives (a) the public library, in which choice was a major factor; (b) the church, which focused on reading the Bible; and (c) schools, where literacy was tied to evaluative outcomes. Although families were overwhelmingly positive about their participation in each of these institutions and all three were referred to as places for learning, children's talk about reading and writing in school focused on procedures such as daily routines and testing. This may reflect the current mandated curriculum as well as the cost of frequent moves, which necessitate that children learn how to succeed in each new school. This study captures the *As a team the authors wrote collaboratively and have equal authorship. 222Urban Education 45 (2) influence of different institutions on the literacy practices of families in crisis and suggests ways to further support reading and writing for children living without homes.

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Tagging as a Social Literacy Practice

Cited by 36 publications

References 16 publications

A Critical Analysis of Research on Reading Teacher Education

A Critical Analysis of Research on Reading Teacher Education

Loops, Lyrics, and Literacy: Songwriting as a Site of Resilience for an Urban Adolescent

Libraries, Churches, and Schools: The Literate Lives of Mothers and Children in a Homeless Shelter

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