Multiple Literacies in English Language

This course focuses on curriculum issues related to writing and expression as mediated by the various conceptions of literacy among students and teachers in ELA classrooms. We will pay particular attention to the ways in which literacy, defined as social practice, is informed and mediated by students’ identities. In addition to considering historical and political assumptions and functions of literacy in an increasingly globalized and digitized age, we will engage in our own explorations of a variety of rhetorical modes and critical literacies, as well as examine the benefits and challenges of broadening definitions of literacy in contemporary ELA classrooms. As we work toward developing culturally sustaining (Paris, 2012) curricula and pedagogies, we will also examine the contexts in which students develop identities as writers as well as which of students' multiple literacies (including digital, hip hop and/or home literacies, for example) are supported and/or excluded by "academic" conventions and other mainstream literacy practices in the current educational context of standardization and accountability.

035069