Multimodality in Instructional Design for Literacy: A Portraiture Study

• In Event: 14.045 - Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: 14.045-19 - The Materiality and Multimodality of Writing in the 21st-Century Classroom

Abstract

How do teachers incorporate multiple modes of literacy when creating their own versions of literacy education? This study employed the research approach known as portraiture (Lawrence-Lightfoot & Davis, 1997) to investigate the varying ways in which three English teachers conceptualized and designed their multimodal practices at a visual and performing arts high school that gave much emphasis to both arts and academics. Data for case studies came from observations, teacher and student interviews, artifacts, and a research journal. Cross-case analyses showed interesting commonalities as well as differences across the teachers in their conceptions of multimodality and their pedagogy associated with multiple modes. The “portraits” affirm the important link between educational practice and teachers’ own life experiences, values, and expectations.

Authors

• Cecelia Joyce Price, University of North Texas

• Nancy Nelson, University of North Texas