Access to multiliteracies: A critical ethnography

This paper reports the key findings of a critical ethnography, which documented the enactment of the multiliteracies pedagogy in an Australian elementary school classroom. The multiliteracies pedagogy of the New London Group is a response to the emergence of multimodal literacies in contemporary contexts of increased cultural and linguistic diversity. Giddens' structuration theory was applied to the analysis of systems relations. The key finding was that students, who were culturally and linguistically diverse, had differential access to multiliteracies. Existing degrees of access were reproduced among the student cohort, based on the learners' relation to the dominant culture. Specifically, students from Anglo-Australian, middle-class backgrounds had greater access to transformed designing than those who were culturally or socio-economically marginalized. These experiences were influenced by the agency of individuals who were both enabled and constrained by structures of power within the school and the wider educational and social systems

Fundamental Researcher Attributes: Reflections on Ways to Facilitate Participation in Community Psychology Doctoral Dissertation Research

As novice researchers, Community Psychology doctoral students encounter fresh challenges when they attempt to facilitate participation by members of the community in their dissertation projects. This article presents the merit in adopting fundamental researcher attributes, which have been described in published academic literature as personal characteristics that facilitate participation by members of the community in research studies. The value of these researcher attributes is exemplified in the discussion of one of the author’s experiences in the early stages of his dissertation research process. This article also presents new researcher attributes for facilitating participation by community members that the author recognised after critical reflection on his experiences during the same research process. Cultural humility, shared vulnerability, reflexivity, methodological flexibility, academic assiduity and creative resourcefulness are researcher attributes doctoral students should consider adopting and developing if they intend to facilitate participation by members of the community in their dissertation projects

Enabling identity: The challenge of presenting the silenced voices of repressed groups in philosophic communities of inquiry

This article seeks to contribute to the challenge of presenting the silenced voices of excluded groups in society by means of a philosophic community of inquiry composed primarily of children and young adults. It proposes a theoretical model named ‘enabling identity’ that presents the stages whereby, under the guiding role played by the community of philosophic inquiry, the hegemonic meta-narrative of the mainstream society makes room for the identity of members of marginalised groups. The model is based on the recognition of diverse narratives within a web of communal narratives that does not favour the meta-narrative. It reports on the experiences of moderators and students from weak and excluded sectors of society in two countries whose participation in communities of philosophical inquiry gave them not only a “voice” but also a presence and identity

From the voice of a ‘Socratic Gadfly’: a call for more academic activism in the researching of disability in postsecondary education

In this article I use the lens of voices and silences to frame my review of research in the field of disability and postsecondary education. I argue that we need to view research in this field as a necessarily political act that seeks to turn voices of silence into voices of change. Researchers therefore need to re-think their role in order to understand how they can use and direct their political voices. In order to persuade researchers to heed my call for more academic activism I draw on the arguments of Allan (2010) and adopt the role of a ‘socratic gadfly’ to identify six political areas of research where I argue that voices and silences need more critical examination. In discussing these six areas I hope to illuminate the implications for ‘genuinely investigative’ research in the future

From Absent to Active Voices: the participation of disabled students in higher education

The value of involving under represented groups in the development of policy and provision has become increasingly recognised by legislators, policy makers and practitioners. This is clearly evident within equality legislation, with the most recent disability legislation recognising that a key principle in promoting disability equality within public services is by the meaningful involvement of disabled people. This paper will pose two questions: • Why is participation so important? and • How effective is the voice of a marginalised group in practice? Findings are drawn from a doctoral study examining the experiences of disabled students studying in Welsh higher education and analysis will focus on the views of students concerning their involvement and contribution to disability policy and provision. Discussion will include the reluctance of some students to participate in consultative exercises due to a questioning of disability identity and possible stigma, together with concerns about the genuineness and effectiveness of consultation. The benefits of participation will also be explored in relation to sharing experience, providing an alternative expertise to the professional and strengthening the interests of a marginalised group

Children and young people’s voices in employability: Engaging with primary school pupils, student placements and the employability agenda: A report to the national children's research centre March 2015

As a consequence of the UNCRC it is expected that children and young people have a voice in the policies and practices that affect them, yet the ‘employability’ agenda cedes power to employers and government in deciding the skills and qualities required by professionals entering the workforce. This report focuses on student experiences on placement in a primary school setting in the north of England and their engagement of children’s voice in that experience. Focussing on students as upcoming professionals, the discussion considers how placement is organised by the employability agenda and how children’s voices can be marginalised