Engaging Literacies: Improving Literacy Outcomes for Students in Low SES (Socioeconomic Status) Schools Through Media Arts and Literacy Pedagogy Reform

• In Event: Roundtable Session 104
  In Roundtable Session: Exploring Issues of Literacy, Equity, Access, and Change in Classroom Settings

Abstract

Current contexts of literacy education encourage teachers to take a ‘back-to-the-basics’ approach to literacy teaching. This has the potential to narrow the curriculum and pedagogical approach taken. The collateral damage that may result from this focus relates to a de-professionalization of teachers, and a generation of students who are ill-prepared to engage with new contexts and the increasingly complex literacy practices that will be required for success in their futures. This paper reports one research project that engaged media arts and literacy pedagogy reform as a way of providing spaces for teachers of year 4 students to engage with digital texts, media arts and print-based literacy teaching and learning toward improving literacy outcomes for students living in low SES communities.

Author

• Annette Woods, Queensland University of Technology