Review--social diversity within multiliteracies: complexity in teaching and learning.

Willis, Linda-Dianne

Review--social diversity within multiliteracies: complexity in teaching and learning Boyd, F.B., & Brock, Cynthia, H. (Eds.). (2015). New York, NY: Routledge.

Boyd and Brock's (2015) edited text, Social diversity within multiliteracies: Complexity in teaching and learning, asks educators, researchers and policymakers to reconsider what multiliteracies curriculum and pedagogy might look like if social diversity were the driving consideration. Although not new, this emphasis on social diversity seeks to honour the multimodal literacies and social practices of the myriad linguistic, racial, cultural, sexual, and gendered identities of children in classrooms without diminishing the need for multiliteracies curriculum and pedagogy to transcend traditional literacy--reading, writing, speaking and listening--to include digital tools and technologies. Boyd and Brock therefore challenge anyone with a stake in education 'to rethink why we teach what we teach, what we teach, and how we teach content to ensure the success of all students' (p. 2, emphases in original).

In response to this challenge, Boyd and Brock's text first includes six chapters in a section that explores languages, language varieties, culture, ethnicity and identities that encourage educators to learn more about their students by first learning more about themselves. Chapter 5--White male teachers exploring language, literacy, and diversity: A self-study of male perceptions of diversity(ies), for example, examines how three teachers engaged in a graduate course entitled, Language, Literacy and Culture, to examine their personal perspectives of racial, ethnic and linguistic diversity. The learning they gained from bringing significant, sometimes surprising, and even unsettling insights to the surface helped them critically rethink teaching and learning in their different contexts and settings. Through narrative, self-reflection, generative discussions, and reading books presented in the course such as, Holler if you hear me by Michie (2009), Of borders and dreams by Carger (1996), and Literacy with an attitude by Finn (2009), the teachers recognised ways they may inadvertently be silencing underprivileged students in their classrooms rather than empowering them with a voice to express themselves as unique individuals. Heightened self-awareness helped the teachers to expand their notion of what can be read as a text to include their own lives and the lives of the children they serve. Subsequent close reading of these texts revealed lives that are 'intricate', 'multimodal', 'multifaceted' and 'meaning-filled' (McVee, Fronczak, Stainsby, & White, 2015, p. 68). The teachers were therefore challenged to see curriculum and pedagogy beyond a 'one-and-done' (McVee et al., 2015, p. 67) approach to consider ways students could use their knowledge, together with their own, to develop the curriculum of which they are a part so that mutually beneficial outcomes could ensue. By adopting an inward focus to critically reflect, ponder, explore and question their personal and professional perspectives, the teachers were motivated to reflect transformed pedagogy with an outward focus on their students and their individual and collective futures (McVee et al., 2015, p. 72).

Boyd and Brock's text further responds to ways multiliteracies curriculum and pedagogy might look if social diversity were foregrounded, with a second section comprising six chapters that explores the languages, language varieties, culture, ethnicity and identities in classrooms and communities. Calling upon case studies, stories from teachers and researchers provide ideas and examples of how the linguistic and cultural diversity of students can be honoured in practice. Chapter 8--Code-switching and contrastive analysis: Tools of language and culture transform the dialectically diverse classroom, for example, presents strategies of contrastive analysis and code-switching (style-shifting) to show how the language of a child's home community can be maintained while simultaneously adding the linguistic tools needed for success in broader society (Wheeler & Swords, 2015, p. 115). This approach requires teachers to relinquish conventional assumptions about standard English as 'the only real language' to build upon the strengths of the language/s children bring to school (Wheeler & Swords, 2015, p. 116). The chapter includes useful examples of how this may be achieved. These include the use of informal and formal clothing as a simple yet effective means to highlight differences between informal and formal language use so students may recognise how language choices are made to suit the setting. Making code-switching explicit for students can further cement the idea that patterns of language change according to audience, context and purpose. Other ideas include reading and discussing appropriate literature, for example, Flossie and the Fox by McKissack (1986), to highlight how different language varieties are reflected. Students can then reflect their understandings of language varieties through the use of character dialogues in stories that they construct jointly with the teacher or write independently. Afterward students may be asked to explain the decisions they make about code-switching and language varieties.

In this way, an example of a third grader showed how even very young children can demonstrate not only impressive understanding of language patterns but also considerable control over language use. The chapter thus provides persuasive evidence about code switching and contrastive analysis as 'potent tools of language and culture for transforming language arts practice ...' (Wheeler & Swords, 2015, p. 123).

In other chapters, examples of where multiliteracies curriculum and pedagogy harnesses and celebrates cultural diversity include multimodal storytelling projects, self-portraits, identity charts, and participatory approaches that encourage collaboration and networking. One such approach is the, All around the neighbourhood farm stand project (McMillon & McMillon, 2015), in which the teachers involved learn that the community is their classroom. In this project, the multicontextual, multimodal, multidirectional, and multigenerational ways that social equity teaching can cultivate important literacy and life skills are showcased. Hence, the ways students, teachers, parents and community members connected in authentic ways to precipitate actions that improved not only students' academic achievement but also the entire community's quality of life hold important lessons for all educational stakeholders.

Although, Social diversity within multiliteracies, mostly draws on research from America and includes examples from secondary schools, the political, social and cultural issues of language and literacy teaching and learning highlighted are no less important or significant for Australian early and primary years contexts. At a time when the newly introduced and lately reviewed Australian Curriculum along with high-stakes testing such the National Assessment Program--Literacy and Numeracy have narrowed possibilities around curriculum and pedagogy, Boyd and Brock's text disrupts singular notions of literacy by conceiving multiliteracies through the lens of social diversity(ies). These diversity(ies) take account of essential literacy components (for example, phonics, phonemic awareness, comprehension, vocabulary and writing) while at the same time confront issues of power, privilege, poverty, injustice and inequality of opportunity (Brock & Boyd, 2015, pp. 208-209). Hence, the text speaks to the heart of (literacy) education everywhere: to provide all children with full access to society's resources, benefits, opportunities and advantages for becoming confident successful individuals with the knowledge and skills to continue transforming and improving society. After reading, Social diversity within multiliteracies, readers are sure to want to revisit its pages to dwell more deeply on the different viewpoints, new learnings, fresh ways of thinking, and inspirational ways of acting--within a multiliteracies framework--it offers.

Social diversity within multiliteracies: Complexity in teaching and learning is available to order/purchase from any Australian bookseller that has a trading account with Taylor and Francis, Australia.

Children's literature

McKissack, P. & Isadora, R. (ill.) (1986). Flossie and the fox. New York: Dial Books. A smooth talking, egg-stealing fox meets his match when he encounters Flossie, who is on an errand to deliver a basket of eggs.

References

Brock, C.H., & Boyd, F.B. (2015). Transforming practice in action. In F.B. Boyd, & C.H. Brock (Eds.), Social diversity within multiliteracies: Complexity in teaching and learning (pp. 201-212). New York, NY: Routledge.

Carger, C. (1996). Of borders and dreams. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Finn, PJ. (2009). Literacy with an attitude (2nd ed.). Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

McMillon, G.T., & McMillon, D.B. (2015). Social equity teaching in action: My community is my classroom.

In F.B. Boyd, & C.H. Brock (Eds.), Social diversity within multiliteracies: Complexity in teaching and learning (pp. 154-167). New York, NY: Routledge.

McVee, M.B., Fronczak, D., Stainsby, J., & White, C. (2015). White male teachers exploring language, literacy, and diversity: A self-study of male perceptions of diversity(ies). In F.B. Boyd, & C.H. Brock (Eds.), Social diversity within multiliteracies: Complexity in teaching and learning (pp. 58-73). New York, NY: Routledge.

Michie, G. (2009). Holler if you hear me (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Wheeler, R., & Swords, R. (2015). Code-switching and contrastive analysis: Tools of language and culture transform the dialectically diverse classroom. In F.B. Boyd, & C.H. Brock (Eds.), Social diversity within multiliteracies: Complexity in teaching and learning (pp. 109-126). New York, NY: Routledge.

Linda Willis coordinates the Master of Teaching (Primary) program at The University of Queensland and is Lecturer in Curriculum Studies teaching courses in English and literacy and Social Education. She is the co-editor of Practical Literacy and a committee member of Brisbane's Meanjin Local Council of ALEA. Linda's publications may be viewed at UQ eSpace and QUT ePrints. Email: l.willis@uq.edu.au