Complicating "achievement" in adolescent literacy: Exploring patterns among and differences between higher and lower achieving adolescent readers

In a time when learning is defined in terms of achievement, and adolescent literacy is framed as “in crisis,” many scholars of adolescent literacy learning are expanding the discussion by exploring both what it means to achieve literacy In this paper, we present a study of literacy achievement and identity among adolescents from one Midwestern urban area using multiple data sources..

Literacy under and over the desk: oppositions and heterogeneity

In this paper I argue that a dominant theme in New Literacy Studies research, the differences between literacy practices inside and outside school, has sometimes involved conflating ‘home literacy’ with private, unregulated ‘vernacular literacy’, and the use of an idealised abstract notion of schooled literacy to represent students’ actual everyday experience in the classroom. Drawing on linguistic ethnographic research in two British primary schools, I use examples of ‘unofficial’ and ‘official’ literacy activities from 10-11 year-olds to show that a wide range of different forms of literacy can be found in the classroom and I argue that the division between ‘vernacular’ and ‘schooled’ is not as clear-cut as is sometimes assumed. My analysis of children’s literacy activities suggests that, on the one hand, unofficial activities orientate towards and index official knowledges and the macro-level institutional order and, on the other hand, official activities are interpenetrated with informal practices and procedures. I also comment on some implications of using the New Literacy Studies ‘events and practices’ conceptual framework for understanding what is going on in classrooms

Supporting Teachers in Integrating Digital Technology Into Language Arts Instruction to Promote Literacy

A systematic review of relevant literature was conducted to provide a source of information and practical guidelines for teachers and teacher educators to consider instructional methods for using digital tools in elementary language arts classrooms to promote literacy. Focal studies are highlighted to provide rich descriptions of practical uses and considerations of integrating digital tools into literacy instruction. The following nine digital tools are discussed to provide methods, affordances, and potential obstacles to their use: (a) wikis, (b) digital video production tools, (c) blog/online threaded discussion, (d) iPad apps, (e) digital games, (f) Kindle e-reader, (g) podcasts, (h) digital cartoon creator, and (i) e-mail. Barriers from the research for each tool are also discussed to provide a comprehensive resourc

Toward a Multifaceted Heuristic of Digital Reading to Inform Assessment, Research, Practice, and Policy

In this commentary, the author explores the tension between almost 30 years of work that has embraced increasingly complex conceptions of digital reading and recent studies that risk oversimplifying digital reading as a singular entity analogous with reading text on a screen. The author begins by tracing a line of theoretical and empirical work that both informs and complicates our understanding of digital literacy and, more specifically, digital reading. Then, a heuristic is proposed to systematically organize, label, and define a multifaceted set of increasingly complex terms, concepts, and practices that characterize the spectrum of digital reading experiences. Research that informs this heuristic is used to illustrate how more precision in defining digital reading can promote greater clarity across research methods and advance a more systematic study of promising digital reading practices. Finally, the author discusses implications for assessment, research, practice, and policy

‘Getting the seat of your pants dirty’: space and place in ethnographic educational research

In this paper I consider the importance of space and place in ethnographic educational research. The paper draws on research that took place at Educational Video Center (EVC), a non-profit media education centre in New York City (NYC). In this paper I articulate EVC as a place imbued with meaning from the pedagogical practices that take place within and regarding it and argue for a consideration of spatiality in ethnographic educational research. I consider the role of the city landscape in order to identify how knowledge is emplaced and represented through digital, visual technology and conclude by outlining the criticality of spatialising our ethnographic practices

From wise humanising creativity to (post-humanising) creativity

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Palgrave Macmillan (Springer) via the DOI in this record.This chapter demonstrates that the concepts of creativity in education put forward to date can only go so far in addressing the rapid, unpredictable changes inherent in the 21st century and the accompanying policy and practice challenges we face. The chapter shifts away from conceptualisation such as ‘wise humanising creativity’ and proposes a different articulation of creativity which may allow us to think about and action creativity to meet these challenges. This (post-humanising) creativity overcomes problems of humanistic conceptualisations as it allows for a full range of ‘players’ within the creative process, it incorporates a different, emergent take on ethics and is willing to see the future too as emergent, rather than always ‘to-bedesigned’. The chapter culminates by offering examples of (post-humanising) creativity in action, aiming to bring alive how it can address our policy and practice dilemmas.In writing this chapter, I would like to acknowledge the support and critical friendship of Professor Teresa Cremin, Dr Lindsay Hetherington, Dr Fran Martin, Professor Karen Mattick, Dr Deborah Osberg and Alex Schmoelz. The CREATIONS project was funded by Horizon 2020 Framework of the European Commission, Grant number 665917. The C2Learn project was funded by the 7th Framework Programme of the European Commission Grant Number 318480. The Next Choreography project was funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation; with Figures 1 and 2 credited to photographer Pari Naderi