References

Allen, J. (2009). Diverse families, welcoming schools: Creating partnerships that support learning. In C. Compton-Lilly (Ed.), Breaking the silence: Recognizing the social and cultural resources students bring to the classroom (pp. 125-140). Newark, USA: International Reading Association.

Astbestblog. Evolution of literacy, [image]. Retrieved from http://www.asbestian.de/blog/index.php?/archives/565-evolution-of-literacy.html

Franklin, S. (2011, April 4). The Three Little Pigs – Disney Story Book, [video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c65157C56-M

Highdef Films, (2012, April 19). 21^st Century Literacy, [video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGTl-OdkVIE

ICT Multimodal Texts. IICT multimodal texts multiliteracies, [image]. Retrieved from http://ict-multimodal-texts-multiliteracies.wikispaces.com/ICT+Multimodal+Texts+and+Multiliteracies+for+English+Classrooms

Kalantzis, M., & Cope, B. (2012). Literacies. Port Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge.

Live Oak Elementary School. Home School Connection, [image]. Retrieved from http://www.fuesd.k12.ca.us/domain/918

Phillips, L. (2013). EDUC1707 The what & why of literacies. University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia.

Phillips, L. (2013). Multiliteracies. University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia.

Phillips, L. (2013). EDUC1707 Literacy Learners. University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia.

Phillips, L. (2013). Home school connections. University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia.

Read to Succeed. [image] Retrieved from http://www.evansvillereadtosucceed.com/RTS/Welcome.html

Social Media in Business. Social Media in Business, [image]. Retrieved from http://socialmediainbusiness.com/social-media-applications-guide

Week Four – Home School Connections

Much like the exploration of lifeworlds discussed last week, creating a home school connection allows teachers to gain greater insight into their students and their backgrounds and therefore cater an appropriate pedagogical approach (Allen, 2009).

As Phillips (2013) and Allen (2009) discuss, in order to develop effective literacy practices for students, it is important to build connections between home and school life. For these connections to be effective, they must be positive, trusting and share responsibility over the learning of the child (Allen, 2009).

An effective method for creating a positive and beneficial home school connection that was discussed in both the lecture and the reading this week (Phillips, 2013; Allen, 2009) was constructing a cultural memoir. Allen (2009) states that allowing culture to become an important aspect of the home school relationship, means that differences are able to be respected and discussed openly so that appropriate teaching methods are able to be used in order to assist the student in their learning. It also places value on diversity within the classroom environment and encourages students to learn about other students’ cultures, traditions and lifeworlds.

This discussion prompted me to explore a cultural artefact of my own and reflect on how it has impacted on my learning.

The picture above displays cultural artefacts that are very important to me as they are cultural influences that reflect my core values and who I am as a person (Phillips, 2013). The artefacts that I have chosen have been collected on various trips to Fiji and Papua New Guinea. I have been travelling here my whole life, making many friends and learning about and embracing their culture and traditions. These experiences have made me the person I am as they have changed the way I view others and view myself. They have also impacted upon the values that I hold dear and my future goals. I have seen the way in which those who are much less privileged than myself live and I therefore place great value on education and family and am appreciative of my circumstances and opportunities.

Week Three  - Lifeworlds

This week’s emphasis was on lifeworlds. I found this week’s topic very interesting because I believe it is a very important aspect of education. It is something I wish to be aware of within my future classroom and therefore was very keen to know more!

As Kalantzis and Cope (2012) articulate, your experiences, culture, beliefs and all other aspects of self contribute to constructing your personal lifeworld. You lifeworld is constructed without your knowledge and is a natural, unconscious process (Kalantzis and Cope, 2012). It is important for teachers to know and understand the lifeworlds of individual students so that they are able to cater their teaching practices appropriately so that all students are privileged and supported (Phillips, 2013).

I also believe it is important to know accurate lifeworlds so that assumptions aren’t made and stereotypes formed.

The discussion of lifeworlds prompted me to think about my own lifeworlds and reflect on how these contribute to my literacy practices.

I believe that my experiences with travel - a variety of cultures, people, practices and traditions – the values, beliefs, attitudes and opinions that I have gained from family and friends, and my overall life experiences, allow me to bring a great deal of knowledge and perspective to my literacy practices. My lifeworlds affect the way in which I view and interact with a variety of texts. I believe that if I had teachers at school that took more time to get to know my lifeworlds I would have gained a lot more from my learning experiences.

Week Two – Multiliteracies

I found the topic this week very interesting and eye opening. As discussed in the lecture (Phillips, 2013) and by Kalantzis and Cope (2012) we are constantly engaging in a variety of modes including gestural, tactile, linguistic, oral, audio, visual and spatial, often without even thinking. 

We are constantly shifting between different modes in order to make meaning and Kalantzis and Cope (2012) describe this process as synaesthesia or cross-sensory synthesis. This means that we are all constantly participating in literacy practices often without even thinking – meaning each and every one of us can be defined as literate! I very much like this concept as it is a positive view of looking at literacy and out abilities.

An example of shifting between different modes is when children are read a story book, much like in the following video. Children are able to engage with the written text, the images and words that are spoken and therefore make meaning from the text.

In this week’s tutorial we discussed the texts that are found within our bedrooms and what these say about us as learners. In my bedroom I found books and textbooks, CDs, pictures of friends and family and artwork. I think that these texts illustrate how I like to be educated and in the know but also creative and inspired. These also represent many of my daily literacy practices. 

Week One - What is Literacy Anyway?

Before commencing this course I had a very limited view of literacy and idea of what it meant. To me, literacy was reading and writing and entailed little more than simply that. This week’s experiences however, have opened my eyes to a whole world of literacy and an exciting new definition. As was explained in this week’s lecture (Phillips, 2013), literacy is so much more than just reading and writing but rather a way of making meaning from a variety of social practices. Literacy therefore includes visual, gestural, oral, audio, tactile, linguistic and spatial modes (Phillips, 2013; Kalantzis & Cope, 2012). This new definition of literacy – well new for me – was exciting as I felt as though there were so many facets of literacy that I could explore through the course! I was ready to learn!

As Kalantzis and Cope (2012) explore, writing is no longer the most effective mode of meaning making across time and space and has been replaced by a world of technological communication that allows us to communicate visual, oral, audio and gestural meanings with ease.

This shift is reflected in my own literacy practices. As someone living in 2013, many of my literacy practices centre around social media where I view, display and critique written texts, images and videos. I also engage with television, magazines and newspapers in my daily literacy practices.

I believe the following video describes perfectly the shift that has been made to becoming literate in the 21^st Century.

Reflecting on my own literacy practices has highlighted the relevance of literacy within my own life and ignited an intrigue within the subject and a desire to learn more - an engagement I hope I am able to ignite within my students in the future!